If you are reading this website, chances are you will also be interested in green energy. This is energy that can lower your electricity bill and help you become more independent of the national power grid. Green energy is a thing! Let’s take a look at how it can help you reach your goals of independence, save money, and cut another cord.
Going green does not have to be costly, nor take too much of your time. By simply incorporating a few changes at home, you can lower electricity costs and help the environment at the same time. This article will show you how to benefit from using green energy.
Using environmentally friendly energy is a great way to improve your home life and helps save the environment, too. Change some small things in the home to save on your energy costs. Continue reading to learn more about the energy saving options that might be available to you.
An old, yet good tip, for those looking to save on energy is to turn off your lights whenever you leave a room. You would be surprised how much energy you could end up saving over time if you get into the habit of turning off your lights. You will also see a decrease in your power bill. Of course, you should do this, but there’s a lot more to it! Let’s talk about
- solar
- appliances
- heating
- community resources
- and more.
Solar
You may have heard of the benefits of updating your home with solar panels to conserve energy and save money. Some of the benefits of installing solar panels on your home include government incentives and contributing to an ecologically friendly environment. The following article will give you information on the benefits of solar panels and where you are able to purchase them.
Add solar panels to the roof for an immediately greener, and more energy efficient, home. Adding solar panels won’t require a big investment in the beginning, and the savings will be quite significant down the road. Solar energy is free once panels are installed, and you might even have the opportunity to sell off some of this power to local electric companies.
Have solar panels installed on your home for an easy, renewable way to power some or all of your home’s appliances. However, you must consider a few issues before getting started. One major factor to consider with solar panels is the amount of sunlight your home receives. If you home is shaded, the amount of energy collected from solar panels will be greatly reduced.
Solar isn’t just for the roof
Amazingly, you can find a lot of solar panels on Amazon! These are some of the most popular:
Renogy 400 Watt 12 Volt Monocrystalline Solar Bundle Kit
Use solar-powered lamps for outdoor lighting. Solar-powered lamps are usually inexpensive, and they don’t need any power source besides the sun. Not only does this save energy. You also don’t need to hang lights or wires outdoors.
Switch to solar heating systems for water to lower your cost of indoor water. Solar water heaters tap into the abundant and free energy offered by the sun. Water heated by other methods, like natural gas, propane, or electricity, is not an efficient method. While some upgrades cost more initially, they can qualify you for deductions on your tax return for using green energy.
Find out more about active and passive forms of solar power. Passive solar systems are less expensive but cannot store energy like active solar systems do. Active power needs solar panels installed, cells, and mechanical systems. Passive power uses the sun for thermal energy in the home.
A good benchmark to use when determining how much power a new solar system is likely to generate is the number of hours of sunlight in the winter. That way you won’t run out of energy during winter months, and you will have more than enough in the summer. Combining this method with a net utilities plan will mean getting back money from the electric company during the summer, too.
Green Energy is more than just Solar
Do you have a farm? If so, you can rent a portion of it so wind turbines can be installed. Your home and the surrounding residences will get some free power. Don’t worry, wind turbines don’t take up a lot of room.
Unplug your chargers when they aren’t being used to charge your devices. Chargers for laptops, mp3 players, cell phones and other devices use power when they’re plugged in. This happens regardless of whether you’re using the device or not.
Check your furnace and air conditioning filters monthly. Clean or replace them as needed. Also, you may want your warm-air registers to have filters. This will help ensure debris doesn’t enter heating ducts, thereby reducing your efficiency.
Cover your windows if you’re not going to be home. The result will be a cooler house because the window’s admit less heat. Windows that face south tend to get more sun due to their orientation. Cover all of these windows with curtains, blinds or roller shades.
Whenever possible, use cold water to wash your clothing. Almost 90 percent of energy consumed by washing machines is used when heating the water. Cold water will do the job just as well; all you need is an effective clothes washing detergent. Don’t forget to wait until you have a full load of laundry to wash; that is the energy efficient way.
Instead of using the dryer, dry your laundry outdoors when weather permits. Your laundry will smell fantastic after a day in the sun. They will smell a lot fresher than if you were to use a dryer. This will save you a ton on your utility bills, leaving you extra money to turn your air conditioning on instead.
Check monthly to determine if your furnace’s filters need cleaning and replace them yearly. It’s a good call to add filters to warm air registers. This will prevent a reduction in efficiency, which occurs when the heating ducts get clogged with debris.
Appliances are important too
Keep your refrigerator properly maintained. Your fridge consumes a ton of energy, so make sure it’s in good shape. Clean the dust off of the heating coils on a regular basis. In addition to that, make the seal near the door clean and tight.
Thawing frozen foods in your refrigerator is a good way to conserve energy. You will find that this is one of the safest options for thawing your meats, and you will also help to cool the other foods in your refrigerator by allowing your frozen products to release cold air as they thaw.
Put your freezer and refrigerator in a cool area of the house to save energy. Don’t put them in sunlight or over heating vents since this unnecessarily raises the temperature.
Turn you appliances off when you are not using them. When exiting rooms, turn off the computer, television or lights. Connect your home electronics to a power strip and unplug it when they are not in use. Phantom power draws from electronics in standby mode is a big problem.
When not using things, turn them off. When you leave a room, switch off the lights, computer or T.V. Try using a power strip so you can turn off all of your electronics at once, instead of letting power be wasted in standby mode.
including your water heater..
Use a model which is tankless and more green instead of a tank style heater. Tankless water heaters still use electricity or gas, but they do not run constantly heating a large tank all the time. They heat only the water you need. Tankless heaters come in various models that either supply a single faucet or the whole house with hot water.
One easy way to go green is to use an on-demand water heater. Instead of constantly heating water, these newer heaters heat it only as necessary so that you don’t waste energy. The on-demand water heater will heat water instantly and save you money on energy.
When doing laundry, there many things you can do to conserve energy. Provided your dryer has it, the moisture sensor setting will shut down your dryer as soon as your clothes have been dried completely. If your dryer has a higher spin speed, utilize this feature to cut drying time. Always clean your dryer filters, and check your dryer vent for any blockages.
Replace old, energy-hogging appliances with new versions that are Energy Star rated. Energy Star ratings mean that your new appliances are technologically built to use less energy than previous models. This rating guarantees 20% less energy for freezers and refrigerators, 40% difference for dishwashers, and 50% for washing machines!
The easiest way to find these appliances is to look on them for an Energy Star badge. The ENERGY STAR guidelines are set by the U.S. Department of Energy as well as the Environmental Protection Agency You can get a tax rebate from these type of items, as well.
If you spend the money on green appliances and electronics now, you’ll save over time. While greener technology is often more expensive initially, the long-term savings will more than offset this. It will also pay off in the long run for the environment.
Heating
If you want to save on your heat bill, you can start by heating the rooms separately. You can use floor heating solutions to accomplish this, and include one main board that gives you the ability to individually select the temperature in each area. This is an especially excellent idea for large homes.
A home heating alternative to be considered is biofuel. This type of fuel is made of oils, wood and vegetable or animal fats. Propane furnace mechanics can adjust your furnace so that you can use biofuels in it. This would change the conversation to around 20-99% biodiesel. Because this is a significant alteration, talk with a professional about the substitution before attempting to make any changes on your own.
Upgrading your home’s boiler is a smart way to save energy. Older boilers were not created with energy conservation in mind, but newer boiler varieties are more efficient. Newer boilers produce far less carbon dioxide and reduce energy bills.
Don’t turn your heat up too far in the home, unless you need to. If it is a little chilly, simply put on a sweatshirt, and pair of sweatpants. When heat is raised to a higher level you end up using a lot of energy you didn’t really need to use.
One way to make your home use less energy is to weatherize it. If you seal ducts, install energy saving windows and add insulation, you will be able to cut down on the energy your home uses. That’s not the only benefit; you’ll also have a lower power bill.
The flow of air in a home is better controlled when you have stormed windows and doors installed. Storm doors and windows lessen the amount of cold air drafts that come in. If you use storm doors or windows, you can save at least 45 percent on your electricity bills.
Community Resources
Every community offers different energy sources, so research the ones that are available to you. Compare costs and look up regulations on green energy and tax incentives. You may find that switching to one or another may provide a reduction in energy use and cost.
If you are apprehensive about what green changes to make to your home, there are many green energy consultants available today. They will let you know how costly your appliances are, and they can give a detailed estimate on how much the costs will be to replace or upgrade your existing systems.
Have the bulk of your correspondence sent to your email. This will help you use less paper and help the planet. You and the businesses you deal with can both save energy and money by going paperless. An added bonus is that everyone benefits by the protection of our environment.
Professionals can help to analyze your home and give you tips on making it more green. They can let you know how much money inefficient appliances are costing you, and they can also provide you with an idea of the amount of money you would have to spend to make upgrades to your systems.
An easy to get started in energy efficiency is to ask your electric company for help. Lots of utility companies have information on their websites about your energy consumption and tips you can implement to save cash. Check out programs that help you buy energy-efficient light bulbs or appliances.
Think about green energy regularly
Write a reminder to remain on top of goals for energy efficiency, and check each bill against last year to see if improvements were made. By being conscious of how you use energy, you can help significantly reduce the amount of energy you consume. It can be hard at first, but once you make conserving energy a routine it will become second nature to you, and will pay off greatly on your energy bills.
In order to cut down on fuel usage, you should consider using carpooling not only for work, but for other activities too. If you have children organize carpooling with other parents in your neighborhood. If you love in close proximity to family members or friends, try to synchronize your shopping trips with them, and you can each take turns driving.
You can also save money by installing a thermostat that is programmable. Then you can program your thermostats to use less energy when you are sleeping or are usually not home. You could also make them regulate temperatures during day and night hours.
Use a laptop computer instead of desktop, which uses much more energy. Laptops use only about one quarter of the power consumption of a full desktop, and is ideal for those that use their computer for surfing the Internet or word processing. You can also bring your computer anywhere if you have a laptop.
Conclusion
Though you may not have the option of whole-home supply through renewable energy, you can consider incorporating something like solar power to offset some utility cost. For instance, you can install just enough solar panels to heat your hot water.
Do your part to make green energy technology more affordable by demanding it, since prices come down as the user base grows. It is your right to demand that your elected officials find new green technologies and help you use them. The more that you demand them and buy them, more products will be manufactured utilizing these technologies reducing the price of such items. If we as consumers band together and buy green products, it will encourage companies to develop more green technologies.
Although some don’t believe in climate change, you can still benefit from green energy in your home. It saves plenty of money on the electric bill, by making just a few small changes to your daily life, such as shutting off the lights when not in the room.
The preceding article should have made it clear that low cost and reduced energy consumption aren’t the only reasons people install solar panels. These systems are not only easily obtainable, they can be expected to last. Putting in solar panels is one wonderful way to be “green” and keep your home updated simultaneously.
As you should now see, updating your home with green technology isn’t necessarily going to break the bank. Making a few easy changes can lower your electricity usage and save you money. Just like cutting the cord to the cable company, you can get more energy on your own. Remember the tips in this article and pass them on, so you can see an improvement in the environment.