Best of Boston

1981 Best Consultant, Solar-Heat

Dan Dinoto, Cambridge Alternative Power Company

Chances are that, after last winter, you’re beginning to give some serious consideration to solar. Dinoto, who handles solar sales for this Cambridge company, isn’t surprise. “Solar is definitely a thing of the future,” he says. If not the present. Dinoto will analyze your house, checking it out from attic to basement, and assess the existing heat source. “Then I plug in the figures—how many people live there, what the hot-water consumption is—give a labor quote, and discuss financing.” After that, Dinoto will take you through the store to see what’s available. Figure on spending $3,700 to $4,500. But as Dinoto points out, you’ll probably get your investment back in savings in five to seven years.

Cambridge, 617-547-0400,