A historic 1928 building in Hockinson has turned to solar. At one time, it housed the local post office and the Hockinson Co-op Association, organized in the early 1900s by local dairy farmers. A single gas pump stood out front. Today, it’s the Hockinson Market.
Being a historic one-story made it a challenge for the owner, Jim Van Natta, to increase the market’s energy efficiency. In 1996, he bought the market, which includes an addition that he rents out. The store has 12-foot ceilings and the almost 2,000 square feet are mostly open, with a 10-seat tap room in the one-time post office at the back. When he added insulation to the outside walls, the beams and the space between the ceiling and the roof made it impossible to insulate there without damaging its look. He also replaced a dying 1970s heating and cooling system. “The fan was weak, and all the heat stayed up by the ceiling,” Van Natta said. “And I added two ductless heat pumps.”
Since then, he’s worked with Clark Public Utilities to expand the energy efficiency of the market. In doing so, he took advantage of the small business commercial incentives offered by the utility for refrigeration, LEDs, and solar. These helped reduce the cost of his improvements.
“Like all groceries, refrigeration consumes the biggest chunk of my electricity bill,” Van Natta said. “Once, it was by far the largest part of my overhead.”
Depending on the size of the grocery, refrigeration takes up to 70 percent of the electric bill. The next-highest cost is lighting, but at just 7 percent of any grocer’s bill, it’s a distant second.
Beverage coolers also take up a lot of space. Ten span one side of the store — several of them less efficient models from the 1970s. Near the front entrance, two more cool ice cream and frozen treats.
In the past, the coolers worked harder because the old lights continuously heated them. This inefficiency worked their compressors harder. “The utility worked with me to replace the bulbs in the coolers with LEDs,” he said. “The change made them more efficient despite their age.”
Van Natta ultimately replaced more than 60 fluorescent tubes inside and outside with LEDs. “It seemed I was on a ladder every week replacing a tube,” he said. LEDs now brighten antique globes hanging from the ceilings inside, which preserve the market’s vintage ambiance but now cost much less to light.
While tearing away the fascia to install LEDs outside the store and remove the fixtures for the 18 tubes that lit it, Van Natta’s work team exposed the old sign for the farmers’ co-op. Now LEDs light the front of the store, and the old sign is hidden once again.
Back in 2014, Van Natta decided to go solar. “My electric bill was $1,200 to $1,400 during the peak seasons, summer and winter,” he commented. “I thought solar would help lower that.”
Working with Bart Hansen, solar program manager for the utility, Van Natta sought to decrease his bill. He first secured a state grant for rural energy assistance, or REAP, in 2015. Combined with the state solar incentives at the time, the grant further offset the cost of the solar investment, and installation work began soon after. He had contractors install an eight-panel solar array on the south side of the roof of the market. “I put as many panels on the roof as the incentive would allow,” he said.
The solar panels lowered his bills to $900 to $1,000 a month during the peak seasons, and about $600 in the offseason.
However, Van Natta’s quest for energy efficiency isn’t over. He recently touched the ice cream cooler near the counter and found it warm. Checking the case, he chuckled when he saw an old tube light inside. “Looks like I’ve got one more to go,” he said.
Energy Adviser is written by Clark Public Utilities. Send questions to ecod@clarkpud.com or to Energy Adviser, c/o Clark Public Utilities, P.O. Box 8900, Vancouver, WA 98688.
