If you didn’t know much about living green, this article should help you appreciate how important green energy is. Here are few of the many tips on how to incorporate green energy in your home.
Solar panels can be an excellent investment for the typical homeowner. Before you do this though, you need to think about a few things first. A big consideration is how much sunlight does your home typically receive? If you home is under a lot of shade, or in an area where you do not have a lot of sunny days, the power gained from your solar unit will not be very significant.
Check with a technician and see if switching to biodiesel for your home instead of fuel oil is a viable option for you. A lot of times this can be done with minimal modifications to your existing system. When you use biodiesel it burns a lot cleaner than conventional petroleum, which reduces the impact your home has on energy during the colder months of the year.
As you plan for a solar energy array, use winter time sunshine hours to calculate from. As winter sunlight is much lower than summer, you will want to be able to plan for higher energy costs in winter. Net usage plans let you receive money for generated energy!
To save money on heating your water, buy a tankless system. While heaters that are tankless still need electricity or gas, they will not heat more water than you need, which is what a water tank heater does. There are models available that provide on-demand hot water for a whole house or just one faucet.
There are a great deal of products you can buy to increase the energy efficiency of your home. Installing efficient windows and doors, window coverings, and insulation are just some of the ways to save big. Your heat and cooling costs can drop dramatically by using these products.
Use a laptop for your computing needs rather than a power hungry desktop. Laptops use about 75% less electricity than desktops, especially if the desktop is being used for the Internet or software programs. The laptop has the added benefit of being portable, so you can use it anywhere!
Try not to set the heat very high in your home unless it’s an absolute must. When the temperature drops, reach for a sweater instead of the thermostat. High heat can use too much energy.
Explore the possibility of using a solar-powered oven for some of your baking needs. These can even be made yourself using items such as a box, a discarded window, and some tin foil. These ovens can be quickly assembled, and reach 300 degrees in temperature simply using the sun.
Watch how many watts you use. If you do not know the formula to figure out the energy each appliance uses, there are tools like a Kill-A-Watt that can give you the information instantly. By plugging any device into this gadget, it will tell you how much energy it consumes. This can show what your appliance is costing you.
You can heat your home using biofuels. These fuels are comprised of vegetable or animal fats, wood and oils. If you are currently using propane to heat your home, adjustments can be made to your system that will allow you to switch to using a blend of fuels. That is roughly 20 to 99 percent biodiesel. However, it is important that you seek professional advice before any attempt is made to utilize this fuel.
Less Energy
If you are purchasing new appliances, try to aim for Energy Star rated ones. Energy Star ratings mean that your new appliances are technologically built to use less energy than previous models. For refrigerators and freezers, the rating promises 20% less energy used, for dishwashers 40% less energy used, and for washing machines at least 50% less energy used!
A tankless water heater that heats water on-demand is a great energy saving device. Instead of constantly heating water, these newer heaters heat it only as necessary so that you don’t waste energy. These heaters only heat water when necessary, which will increase your energy savings.
Green Energy
Now that you have some tips to start using green energy, you will soon be able to see how beneficial it is to you. Naturally, green energy benefits the environment as well. Use what you’ve learned today and you’ll be amazed at how easy going green was!