Have solar panels installed on your home for an easy, renewable way to power some or all of your home’s appliances. Consider some things before you do this, as you will benefit from the thought process. The most important thing you need to consider is the amount of sun your home gets regularly. If your home is mostly in the shade, or if you live in a location that receives little sun, your power gain may be minimal.
TIP! Do you own a farm? If you have a lot of land, energy companies will pay you for the right to set up a wind turbine on it. The turbine will provide free energy to you and close neighbors, and won’t take up much space.
It has become very popular for people to use green energy. People who support green energy say it is much better than alternative sources of energy, while also helping to save the planet and cut down on your own energy costs. Is this absolutely true? Here are a few tips for incorporating green energy in your life, and you can then make an informed decision for yourself.
Use window treatments to shade the inside of your home when you aren’t home. This keeps your house cool and your energy costs down when you’re not there. Pay particular attention to covering the windows on the south side of your house. They typically admit the most sun. Make sure that all the windows are covered with dark curtains, blinds, roman shades, or whatever shade you choose.
TIP! You can get rid of your old, tank style water heater and switch it out with a new, greener, tankless one. Tankless water heaters still require power to heat the water, but they heat only the water that you want to use, rather than heating a tank of water that you’re not always using.
The government has grants available to those who are willing to invest in alternative renewable energies. Ask your local authorities what kinds of programs are available in your area. Some areas provide rebates for green energy product installation, or provide tax relief as an incentive.
Electric heaters are an energy hog and should be avoided as much as possible in the winter. They are not environmentally friendly. Dress more warmly when around the house. Wear slippers and a heavy top, and light up your fireplace or pellet stove for increased warmth at low cost. Cool air while sleeping is better for your breathing.
TIP! If you’d like to be more environmentally friendly and cut down on your energy costs, try wearing warmer clothing. A light sweater offers 2 degrees of more warmth, and a heavy sweater adds 4 degrees.
Be a smarter energy consumer by unplugging your electronic device chargers when they are not in use. Chargers for devices like phones, music players, computers and others use small amounts of power any time they are in an outlet, even if you aren’t charging anything.
Pay attention to the watts used in your home. Use great gadgets such as the Kill-A-Watt or the Watt Minder to find out which fixtures and appliances use up the most energy. All you have to do is plug the appliance directly into the device so that it can calculate how much energy is being used per hour, month, or year. You can get a real idea of what your appliance is costing you and the environment.
Window Coverings
A good, old common sense tip for saving energy is turning off the lights as you leave the room. Get yourself into the habif of always turning lights off and you can save a lot of energy. Additionally, it decreases your electrical spending.
TIP! A water heater that provides hot water on demand is a wonderful appliance for green energy. Old fashioned heaters run constantly, heating the water even when not needed, therefore wasting energy.
Window coverings should remain closed while you are away. Heavy drapes help keep you home cool, resulting in energy savings. Try to close all your window coverings, but it is especially important to cover any south-facing windows. When possible, however, cover all of your windows with special shades like roller shades, roman shades or dark, thick curtains.
You may want to get bamboo items when you’re in the market for something made out of wood. Bamboo is a very green product and is technically a grass, but it is stronger than many commercially available woods. Since bamboo grows quite fast it is one of the best renewable choices you can make. You can find a variety of bamboo products, from floors to furniture to cutting boards for the kitchen. This can save energy for by way of recycling and less manufacturing of parts.
TIP! Add motion-detecting light sensors to the rooms in your house that you use most. This turns the lights off in rooms that have nobody in them, which saves a lot of energy (and money).
Using solar energy is one good way to heat water. Simply put, all you need is a hot water system that uses solar energy. Indirect or direct circulation systems are both available. You’re better off with an indirect system if you are worried about pipes freezing during the winter.
When you are sleeping, or not at home, set your thermostat to 60 degrees to save energy. This setting effectively reduces your energy use while not allowing the temperature to vary too far away from the human comfort level. The resulting effect is energy usage cuts and money saved.
TIP! Get your home greener by being more responsible with how much light you are using. In the months with longer days and more light, don’t turn your lights on until a certain time.
Use a tankless water heater instead of one that uses a tank. Tankless heaters still use electricity or gas to provide hot water, but they only heat the water you actually need. You can purchase tankless heaters that supply the whole house, or ones that supply just one faucet.
The laundry room is a great place to cut energy usage. Use the correct setting to turn your dryer off once the laundry is dry. Use the high speed setting on your washer to make drying time shorter. Dryer lint filters should be cleaned prior to use.
TIP! Move your frozen foods from the freezer to the refrigerator when you are thawing them out. This way of thawing food is safer than leaving it out, and the cold air the food releases helps to cool the inside of your fridge, so it needs to run less often and consumes less energy.
Make your home more energy efficient by purchasing energy saving products to help you save energy. Use products such as double-glazed windows or eco-friendly doors to help reduce your energy usage without sacrificing your home’s needs. Using this type of product will cut down on heating and cooling energy costs.
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. A good place to start would be by replacing your hot water heater. Replacing this one appliance can save you a lot of money.
Green Energy
Try out one of many available home energy monitors so you can see your energy usage as it happens. These devices collect real-time measurements of your electricity usage and estimate what your bill will be. Research shows that people are likely to reduce energy consumption if they know how much the bill will be.
TIP! There are many jobs becoming available in green energy. Think about working in green energy if you’d like to make a career change.
After reading the article, what are you thoughts about green energy? Most would agree that it is beneficial. Keep these tips in mind to improve your life. Start using them today to start seeing the benefits of green energy.
Environmentally-conscious consumers should check out front-loading washing machines. Not only do they consume less water than a typical top-loader, they are also more efficient in cleaning your laundry. Not only will you be consuming less energy, but you will be saving money as well.
