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Thursday September 17, 2009

Release Date: 09.17.09 | Location: All Metro Atlanta | Organization: Len Foote Hike Inn

Len Foote Hike Inn and Soenso Energy Partner to Heat Water with Schuco-USA Solar Thermal System

Len Foote Hike Inn, a lodge deep in Georgia's Chattahoochee National Forest, now offering guests solar-heated showers

(September 17, 2009) - Dawsonville, Dawson County, Georgia - Len Foote Hike Inn, a backcountry lodge deep in the Chattahoochee National Forest, is offering its guests solar-heated showers with a new state-of-the-art solar thermal system.

Len Foote Hike Inn, already a LEED Gold Certified facility, just got greener by including solar thermal water heating. The solar thermal system, that includes three Schuco-USA solar thermal collectors on the bathhouse roof supplying heat to two 120-gallon water storage tanks in the basement, is designed to reduce the Inn's propane gas consumption for conventional water heating by about 75-80%. "This solar thermal system is highly efficient and significantly reduces propane to heat water for our bathhouse," says Hike Inn Manager Stan Krajeski.

A partnership between the Hike Inn and Marietta, Georgia, based Soenso Energy will make the system an education tool. "Working with the Hike Inn was a great experience," says Roger Cone, founder of Soenso Energy. "Thousands of annual visitors will take solar-heated showers and learn how solar energy is key to our energy future."

For more than a decade, the Len Foote Hike Inn, accessible to its guests only by a five-mile mountain footpath beginning at the top of Amicalola Falls, has been a showplace of environmental sustainability. "We have solar photovoltaic panels, solar thermal water heating, composting toilets and worm beds to help dispose of our garbage," says Steve Skinner, board member of the nonprofit overseeing the Hike Inn. "Our guests learn about nature and sustainability while enjoying the outdoors."

Owned by the Georgia State Parks and operated by not-for-profit Appalachian Education and Recreation Services with Richard Judy as Board President, the Len Foote Hike Inn is Georgia's only backcountry inn. www.hike-inn.com

Soenso Energy in Marietta, Georgia, near Atlanta, is a renewable energy dealer and installer featuring commercial and residential Schuco-USA solar thermal water heating, Schuco-USA solar photovoltaic (PV) electric and Skystream 3.7 small wind turbine energy systems. The two PDF attachments accompanying this story have a diagram of a dual-tank solar thermal water heating system and a summary of generous Federal and Georgia income tax credits that are available for the installation of renewable energy systems. www.soenso.com, charles@soenso.com, (770) 434-7211