By Elizabeth Cloutman

Quiet Comfort Engineering offers radiant heating, solar electric systems

Amid California’s energy crisis, home and business owners are seeking ways to conserve energy and save money as well. Gunnar Galsgaard and Jeff Bullen said they believe their new business, Los Altos-based Quiet Comfort Engineering, can help.

Quiet Comfort installs radiant heating and solar electric systems as well as conducting energy assessments of homes.

The name Quiet Comfort comes from the fact that a radiant heater system does not have fans like forced-air systems. Instead, warm water is pumped through plastic pipe embedded in the floor, walls or ceiling of a home.

Usually a high-tech boiler heats the water, but other sources such as water heaters, solar water heating or ground-source heat pumps can also be used.

Galsgaard, a native of Denmark, said he first became aware of radiant heating in Europe about 25 years ago, but only since his retirement after 31 years as a mechanical engineer for industry and government, has he had the time to start a business that installs radiant heating.

“Now that I’m retired, here’s my chance to make people comfortable, happy and healthy because the room air is not so hot,” he said. “It doesn’t dry up the sinuses. It lends itself to retrofitting. Fifty percent of heating in Europe is radiant heating.”

What Galsgaard likes best about radiant heating, which he’s in the process of installing in his own home, is the quiet. “It started 25 years ago when I was sitting in my chair. I heard a jet engine come on in my closet,” he said, laughing. “Then I came across radiant heating.”

Quiet Comfort also installs solar electric systems, said Bullen, a certified energy manager. In such a system, light rays from the sun help produce electricity in solar panels that are mounted on the roof of a home or office.

The solar cells in the panel produce direct current which is converted into alternating current by a device called an electrical inverter, mounted inside the home, in a basement or on an outside wall. The system is connected to a home’s existing wiring through the circuit breaker box.

A leaflet from Siemans Solar Industries states that a solar electric system can reduce the need for conventional power 10-50 percent.

“We have the perfect climate for it and it means net metering,” Galsgaard said. “If you’re producing more electricity than you’re using, the meter starts going backward so you get credit from PG&E.

Bullen added, “It’s a law that (helps keep PG&E) from having to buy outside electricity. There’s also a state rebate plus a tax credit (for installing a solar electric system).”

As Quiet Comfort’s energy specialist, Bullen does residential energy audits for homes, small businesses, insulation contractors and architects. His computerized heat loss analysis contains an account of energy gained and lost in a structure, a sketch of the floor plan drawn to scale, comparison of which surface areas are responsible for percentages of heat loss or gain, projections of savings or losses due to structural changes, a cross-check with actual energy bills and a structural energy-efficiency rating.

After conducting his analysis, Bullen makes recommendations for improving energy efficiency. Upon request, he will provide recommendations on products and specialists in particular fields.

Galsgaard and Bullen have worked together on projects for the last four years. Both have done work in Los Altos. Galsgaard’s company worked on the addition to the Los Altos main library, and Bullen worked as an energy consultant on the Bus Barn Stage Company theater.

To contact Quiet Comfort Engineering, call 941-6180.