When you think about the cost of adding solar heating to your home, what numbers come to mind?

The thousand dollar price tag on solar heating scares away many buyers, but one Northlander made the cost more consumer-friendly as Shannon Murphy explains in, "Your Green Life."

Keith McKinzie is no stranger to the power of the sun.

"I was in the solar heat business back in the late 70s early 80s and I know quite a bit about solar heat."

Last year, when gas prices hit four bucks a gallon, his concern over fuel costs for home heating was also rising.

"And I thought, the average person couldn't afford to heat their house anymore, so I needed to see if there was a cost effective way to do it."

Keith found a simple and cost effective answer Solar Choice Blinds.
They take advantage of the sun's radiation through the process of conduction and convection.

"It's a high absorbing black surface that absorbs the heat. In the bottom, the bottom is open, so you're taking the cool air off the floor or your home or business and running the cool air up across a heated surface, so out of the top comes the hot temperatures."

On a sunny day, the blinds emitted air at temperatures over 135 degrees, and although the heat was only set at 60, the room temp was in the 70s.

Solar Choice Blinds are easily installed.

They can be hung from small hooks, snapped in where vertical blinds are already in place, or simply set into the window frame for easy removal when the heat isn't needed.

"If you're curious about cost of these blinds, all you need is the height and width of your south facing window, type it into their website, and get an immediate quote."

In Two Harbors, meteorologist Shannon Murphy, the Northlands NewsCenter.

The price tag on these blinds is in the hundreds rather than the thousands on conventional solar panels, and most people will see their return of investment in a year or two.

For more, check out Keith's website at www.solarchoiceblinds.com