By MIKE CORN

mcorn@dailynews.net

When it comes to alternative energy, talk's cheap.

Chuck Bonner and Barbara Shelton have lived a life of alternative energy since 1985, as well as the all-important task of conserving energy.

With satellite Internet, laptop computers and other amenities, such as a high-tech refrigerator, it's easy enough to show they don't have to be hillbillies to live a life of conservation.

It does, however, take some effort and a dedication to ensure certain practices are followed.

But it's all simple enough, right down to the bank of batteries that are housed behind their Logan County residence, almost within eyesight of spectacular Monument Rocks.

In addition to living there, Bonner and Shelton also operate Keystone Gallery, a haven for Bonner's art and fossil discoveries and Shelton's scenic photographs.

Virtually all of it is powered by 12-volt batteries, recharged through wind- and sun-generated electricity. In a few instances, the 12-volt power is inverted, making it suitable for appliances using 110 volts of electricity.

The key, they agreed, is to turn off whatever they are not using.

There are other nuances to living a life "off the grid." In the winter, they must use solar heat when possible -- opening and closing blinds as the sun makes its way from east to west.

Wood -- in an otherwise treeless prairie -- provides heat for both buildings. And yes, they do wear an extra or heavier shirt perhaps, but it is a life they are comfortable living.

"We've had our own power since 1985," Bonner said. "It can be done, but no one talks about conservation."

Bonner and Shelton could have decided to live the energized life when they first moved to the Keystone Gallery site. But they would have had to run a line in from the nearest transmission line, a little more than a mile away.

"I've always thought it would be an interesting thing to do," Bonner said of living off the grid. "And this had nothing. If this would have had 110, I wouldn't have cut that out."

They started with a kerosene lamp, and a friend was in the windpower business.

They ended up buying a tower from near Liebenthal and installed a turbine on it.

"We didn't even have the house wired," he said. "So we had a trouble light."

Fitting the house with wiring to handle 12-volt electrictiy was a snap.

"It's real easy to wire," Bonner said. "It's like an RV (recreational vehicle) that doesn't go anywhere."

Regular switches, he said, work just fine with 12-volt power. Appliance plugs, however, are 12-volt plugs rather than the two-prongs that 110-volt plugs use.

They even operate a refrigerator on the 12-volt power.

"We bought a 12-volt refrigerator that runs on 50 watts," he said, adding it cost "twice as much as a regular refrigerator, but it pays for itself."

A normal, if you will, refrigerator would use about 600 watts of power.

While the wind-powered generator requires winds of up to 8 mph to do much good, its blades are showing signs of age.

"I can buy a new prop for a couple hundred bucks," he said.

"But I'll probably make do for a while."

While they rely almost exclusively on wind and solar power, Bonner and Shelton do have a backup plan -- in the form of a small generator -- for when the wind doesn't blow or the sun fails to shine.

Just this year, they were forced to purchase a new set of batteries that stores electricity for their use.

"With the new batteries, we haven't had to do that," Bonner said of using the generator to recharge the batteries.

They have six 6-volt batteries, wired together to form three 12-volt batteries.

Being forced to rely on alternative forms of producing energy, Bonner has his favorite form.

"I'm really a big champion of solar," he said. "There's no reason every house couldn't power itself with solar. It's an old technology."

But, he admits, he's not using solar to supply a 110-volt system, and there could be problems.

"Skyscrapers in the city should have a solar panel," he said. "I'm saying no matter what, there's energy to be had."

While virtually all of his house is 12-volt based, he does have appliances that require 110 volts of electricity.

"Laptops are good for us because we can run them through the inverter, and then we can use the battery and it doesn't cost anything."

Bonner opted to go with a high-quality inverter, capable of providing up to 600 watts of power.

That's enough, he said, to run computers and the satellite dish that offers Internet access.

"We still haven't done dish TV," he said. "That's not that important to us."

There are other little things that can be done to use 12-volt electricty, with little demand.

Rather than use a regular 12-volt truck-type, clip-on fan, Bonner has wired together three smaller computer cooling fans.

They put out more air than the other fan, and draw considerably smaller amounts of power.

"This whole array takes 8 watts," he said of a bank of three computer fans. "I just wired them together. In the summer when we don't have wind, we can put it in the window."

While Bonner is looking at the prospect of using LED lights -- low in power demand and high in light output -- he currently uses existing lamps, with an adaptor that maintains polarity.

Then, he said, 12-volt bulbs are installed.

In addition to the gallery and the house, there's also a work shed Bonner uses as a gallery and workspace.

It has its own solar panel and its own inverter to recharge batteries for a power saw and drill.

Ironically, Bonner isn't quite so concerned about conservation in the shed, and sometimes even has to bleed off power.

Wood is the source of heat for all three buildings, "plus the solar gain from the greenhouse" on the front of the house.

"If we just burned wood for the house -- not for the shed or museum -- I believe we'd only burn a cord of wood."

The greenhouse, Bonner said, was constructed lower than the house so any extra heat flows into the house.

Even on cold days, the greenhouse provides enough heat that some is allowed to escape.

They also use solar heat in the house, opening blinds as the sun moves about. Heavy blinds -- anchored by means of magnetic strips -- are then closed as the sun goes down or moves to another side of the house throughout the day.

Bonner said they have combined technologies in the house.

He personally likes some of the older techniques "because it's hands-on."

But, he said, it's not like they have to separate the old and new technologies.

"I love solar," Bonner said of the technologies available. "I could probably get by without the wind charger."

Had they moved someplace else or if their current location would have been connected to the grid, it's unlikely they would be living a life of alternative energy.

"We started this because it was never hooked up to the grid," he said, "It was an experiment."

Without conservation, Bonner cautions, it would not work.

"Places I visit, the computer is on all day. There's three TVs on. There's no way we could do that.

"Our batteries wouldn't hold it."