Econ Solar Inc

When the salesman arrived, we determined that our house could actually utilize solar panels. So, we sat down to discuss the costs involved and potential return on investment. Or, so we thought. The salesman ended up giving us a long, drawn out presentation showing the history of the company and solar panel technology. He said that in some cases, electric bills can be taken down to zero or even go negative (meaning you are actually creating power). However, he was also clear that this is only the case with a certain number of panels and in certain situations. He also had us complete a questionnaire as to why we are interested in solar technology, which I can only now assume was his way of determining how best to bully us into buying them. At the end of this presentation, we finally were given an estimate of cost for the panels. (Around $30,000 for six panels). It has been long enough since we met with him that I cannot remember exactly, but I believe the time for return on investment given to us for 6 panels was between 15 and 20 years. (The electrical savings was minimal). We told him that was too much money to spend on our home for such a long time to return. He changed the amount of panels and added supposed "credits" to make it cheaper, but it was never something that was feasible for us. At this point, this man had been in our home for 3 hours. After being mentally drained from this long exchange, we felt pressured to buy something they were selling. So, we ended up purchasing the e-shield attic wrap, programmable thermostat, "custom" water heater blanket, and energy auditing system. I say "custom" because he described this water heater blanket as custom fit on site to our water heater and not "just a wrap like those other guys." Ends up, it's just a wrap taped down the front. The programmable thermostat and water heater blanket could have been bought just as easily at a home improvement store. The energy audit system is interesting to see how much energy you are using on a minute by minute basis, but the software is really useless unless you have solar panels. The e-shield was not very aesthetically installed, and I'm not exactly sure how we will determine if it is helping with heat control. We take sole responsibility for not being able to say no to this salesman. We were worn out during this process, and we are newer home owners, so we consider it a lesson learned. However, for anyone who is considering inviting this company into their home, they should be prepared to sacrifice their time as well as money. Start to finish, this person was in my home for 4 hours. I could have been educated about solar panels and given an estimate in less than 1 hour. I can only assume that their sales tactic is to wear you down until you finally buy something to get them to leave. It worked for this sucker; I wish everyone else better luck. *Also, for anyone who has had trouble with Gutter Magic, they are the same company. This was the first warning sign that I ignored as I had trouble with Gutter Magic in the past.