Jay Leno's Green Garage Makeover Cost Almost $500K

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For a guy pulling in $25 million a year, $500K for a sweet, green setup certainly isn’t going to hurt. But damn! Comedian Jay Leno certainly has been throwing some green at making his personal garage as eco-friendly as possible.

$450K alone went for the 54-kilowatt solar-power system he installed atop his garage last month. Just to diversify (Because Jay says two-thirds of the day, there’s not enough sunlight to generate electricity), he also spent $19,000 on a 10KW vertical-axis turbine from PacWind.

What’s next on his list? His home. From the article,

“I guess I’m a rich guy,” said Leno, who makes an estimated $25 million annually as host of “The Tonight Show.” “I can afford to do it, so why don’t I be the one that experiments with it and tries it out? And if it works, if enough people like me try it, then it passes down and becomes more affordable.”

So far, Leno has installed solar panels and a wind turbine only at his garage because he uses a lot more electricity there than at his house. But his Beverly Hills home is the “next step,” said the comedian, who’s been frustrated by frequent power outages.

“Our power was out for 18 hours about a month ago, for no reason,” he said. “It was a beautiful day. Bink. What happened? It’s like you’re in a Third World country now in California.”

That’s part of why Leno believes “if you want to keep living the way you’re living, then, hey, you better make your own electricity.”

Good advice. Let’s hope such purchases like this one enable us “regular” folk to afford such an option in the future.

Jay’s 14,000 square foot facility has also received some updates to its flooring in the way of something similar to these rubber garage floor mats to protect the flooring from the sheer volume of vehicles that drive over it on a regular basis. This durable flooring solution is also very easy to clean and drain and is an affordable way to give any garage a professional finish.

via LA Times