“Heating assistance more necessary than tax cuts.”
We’ve all seen opinions that are headlined like that during the winter heating season. But what about assistance with the high energy cost of operating golf carts and swimming pools? Isn’t that important, too? Isn’t something like that important enough to discard all limitations on governmental power so it can come to the rescue?
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal titled, “Something New Under the Sun,” we’re already getting this essential government service:
One of the products shown was the Sunray SX2 golf cart. Made by Cruise Car Inc. of Sarasota, Fla., the cart comes equipped with a 48-volt battery that is charged by electricity generated from a sheet of black solar cells on the roof. The cart can travel as long as three days without having to be charged again, the company says, and retails for about $7,000 — or $6,000 after federal tax credits. That’s in line with the average price of an electric golf cart.
Also on display were redesigned heating coils for swimming pools. Heliocol USA Inc., for instance, displayed plastic tubes that collect heat for pools and come battened down with high-strength alligator clamps to withstand winds from hurricanes and severe thunderstorms. For a typical backyard pool in, say, Arizona, the system runs around $6,000, or $5,000 after tax credits. Since it costs as much as $650 a month to heat pools when the weather cools in the Arizona desert, Heliocol vendors say the system can pay for itself in two years.