Archive for the ‘home solar energy’ tag

Converting Wind Energy Into Electricity – You Better Check This !

If it is the case that you are interested about converting wind energy into electricity join the club! take a look at the following few paragraphs – you are sure to find it extremely helpful. If you are like most people, your home is supplied with power by an electric company; but there is a little-known system that can supply all your needs direct from mother nature at very little expense to you.

You may find it very hard to believe, but believe me – people are now able to easily generate plenty of power for their personal needs and those of their family, without being tied to money-making public or private energy firms. This future can be yours – no more monthly bills, deposits of any kind, just an endless supply of green energy which will keep your home running efficiently.

Before you try to learn more about converting wind energy into electricity; it is very important that you hear the exciting news that there is a way which is already adopted by a large number of americans and people from all over the world that allows you to decrease your power bills by an amazing 80%, often doing away with them entirely. So this sounds great, and now you want to know how this new system works; it’s just a question of tapping into abundant energy sources – taking natural energy sources and transforming them into electricity, quickly and simply, without leaving your own home and without calling in extra help. The most amazing part about this is that you yourself can do this, even in the case you are not ‘handy’ and even if you have no knowledge of electricity.

Before you go on finding out about converting wind energy into electricity, here’s the best part of this article – by generating your own energy, you are not only using guilt-free green technology for your energy, using this special new technology, the electric company will even buy electricity from you! Try to envision powering your appliances, including heaters and air conditioners, without counting each cent, and even getting paid for the extra energy you produce. Sounds unreal? Don’t risk missing out on a good thing – look into this further; I’ll willing to bet you’ll be every bit as amazed as i was.

Easy Ways to Save Energy Costs in your Home

In the last decade, sparked by rising gas prices and energy shortages, there has been a marked increase towards newer methods of generating energy. Solar power, wind power, and hydrogen fuel cells are just a few of the newer technologies that are predicted to come into their own in the next decade. But before you rush out to invest in these newer energy sources, you should first take a look to see how you can save on your existing energy costs.

1. Use energy saving light bulbs. You can now find energy saving compact fluorescent light bulbs in all shapes, colors, wattages, and sizes. Not only can they save you up to 75% of your current light bulb energy costs, but because they burn at less intensity than incandescent bulbs, it’s not unusual for them to last as much as 10 times longer. When these bulbs first came out, they were very expensive, but every year the prices come down more and more.

2. Replace your normal thermostats with programmable thermostats. Depending on the size of your heating area, you can save hundreds of dollars of year by simply programming the thermostat to turn off your heat and air conditioning at times when you are not home. The prices of these have come down so much that you can get one with multiple day and hourly settings for under $100. You’ll typically recoup your cost in less than a year.

3. Insulate the walls in your home with cavity wall insulation. Heat loss through walls, ill fitting doors, un-insulated windows and doors can be enormous. Estimates range from 20% on the low end to 70% on the high end.

There are three main types of wall insulation materials to choose from – polyurethane foam insulation, urea formaldehyde foam, and blown mineral fiber. Prices will vary depending on the part of the country where you live.

Cavity wall insulation can easily be one of the most cost saving measures you can make to your home. The average home owner can cut their cost up to 35% and recover their cost within two years – possibly one. An additional benefit is that it usually helps to sound proof your home from outside noises and disturbances.

In addition to cavity wall insulation, it is also useful to seal window cracks in windows, doors, and the foundation with caulk and other forms of weather stripping.

4. Insulate your loft or attic. Heat rises, so it’s no surprise that in homes with lofts or attics, that’s where much of the heat loss occurs. A simple way to insulate the attic is to lay insulation materials over the attic floor, between the joists, and over the joists if they are visible. An insulation material with an R-38 rating is best.

5. Replace your furnace or boiler with an energy efficient one. If your boiler or furnace is near the end of its life span, replacing it with an energy efficient unit can repay its installed cost in three years. The important feature to look for is one with an AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency) rating of at least 85%. The higher the AFUE rating the more fuel efficient it is.

These are just some of the simple steps you can make to your home to improve your energy use and cut your energy costs.

No one of us can solve the energy crisis by ourselves. But we can all do our part by taking smaller measures to reduce our individual energy consumption.

Hydrogen As A Fuel Source

With the introduction of such things as the air car or biodiesel, it should not be all that surprising that hydrogen is also something that many believe to be a viable fuel source. Hydrogen is familiar to many people as one of the periodic table elements. It is also a natural resource that is a positive alternative to fossil fuel combustion for energy production. Though hydrogen is still not a main source of fuel currently, there is promising study and results proving its efficiency. With further investigation, perhaps hydrogen will be a means of living greener in the future.

There are actually two different ways that hydrogen can be used as fuel. One of these methods involves combining the hydrogen with oxygen in order to create water. Water cars are a whole field of promising study all on their own. Water cars are emission free and fully functional, though not without their drawbacks. The other method of using hydrogen is by combustion. This means that it is combusted within the engine much the same as the combustion that currently takes place with fossil fuels inside an engine. Of course because hydrogen is not a toxic fossil fuel, the emissions are not at all the same.

For awhile the Ford Motor Company had been debating on whether or not to launch a car that ran on hydrogen. They had planned to do so but that plan was later dropped. They decided that it wasn’t a risk worth taking at this time. Hydrogen may not be quite ready for the mass market. However, Ford did go on to develop their own hybrid and flex fuel vehicles which have been rather successful. Like many other auto makers, those currently remain the two leading fossil fuel alternatives when it comes to green cars.

At this time it would cost too much to mass produce hydrogen fueled cars. It is unlikely that it would be a worthy investment for either manufacturers or consumers, especially when other options are available at a lower cost. Perhaps some of the problem is that there are so many fuel alternatives being tossed around that it can be difficult to isolate which is truly the best. The fact that hydrogen has to be made also makes it more difficult to obtain. Fossil fuels come straight out of the earth. There is also plenty more research that still needs to be done on hydrogen before we can take full advantage of it globally.

Some experts believe that it will take up to 40 years before hydrogen is ready for the public. Hydrogen is very hard to store in its natural form and instead has to be converted to a liquid form which requires a lot of energy. Also, making it accessible to the public everywhere is a real challenge that will not be overcome in the near future. Hydrogen certainly has its advantages which should be explored further. However, for now it seems that hybrids and flex fuel are the best earth friendly options that are readily available.

How To Save Energy – Save Money – Save The Planet

How To Save Energy – Save Money – Save the Planet

Tips on Energy Saving in the Family Home

What a frightening and confused world we’re living in!

Global Warming, Climate Change, Britney Spears, Rising Energy prices, Rising Food prices, Rising Transport prices, Paris Hilton and, just to put the icing on the cake, House prices dropping like a stone.

All these things are VERY scary!

Words never heard, five years ago, like ’Carbon Footprint’ now conjure up visions of dried up fields and cities under water.

What can be done? I mean, really, this is getting way beyond a joke!

Well, the idea of ‘saving electricity’ is one that’s looking pretty good at the moment.

“Going Green” certainly is not viewed with the derision it was, sadly, twenty, ten, or even five years ago.

“Going Green” and “Energy Saving” are now responsible business practices.

It is finally being seen as good business sense to save the environment.

However, as energy costs continue to rise, you may be among the millions of people, all over the world, who are looking for ways to save electricity around their personal living environment – the family home.

Here are a few bright ideas that can save you small amounts of money in themselves, but they will add up to significant savings when taken altogether.

If you’re only preparing meals for one or two people, use the smaller burners on your stovetop. They use less energy than the big burners, and generally won’t take any longer to prepare your meals.

If you want to save even more, get a hot and tasty winter meal started in your crockpot before you head off to work. That way, it will be ready to eat when you get home, and you will have saved a surprising amount of electricity in the process.

You don’t always have to save huge amounts of energy to see a drop in your electric bill.

The simple act of leaving your computer monitor on all the time can cost you nearly $18 a month (approximately 60 cents a day). It’s not too friendly to your monitor, either, as I found out about 12 months ago, when I had to buy a new one!

If you leave your cell phone and battery charger plugged in, you’ll pay $1.50 a month for the privilege. That might not seem like much, but small things like that represent a giant energy drain on the country when you think of the millions of people that do it.

More than $8 billion a year, according to the Alliance to Save Energy.

Insulate your water heater, or “geyser,” with a special insulating blanket. This can save you about 2KW hours a day, possibly more in cold climates. Also put insulation around your hot water pipes, to further reduce heat loss and lower your family’s energy usage. Another way to save money and be kind to the environment!

Setting your thermostat a little lower in the winter and a little higher in the summer can also save money, and not just pocket change, either, significant amounts of money are simply wasted, every day.

If you’ve going to be out of the house for any length of time during the day, Turn Your Thermostat Down.

Even a few degrees up or down will save more than $100 a year on heating and cooling costs, according to Alliance to Save Energy calculations.

President-elect Obama’s “New Energy for America” plan correctly cites energy efficiency as the “cheapest, cleanest, fastest energy source” and calls for new energy efficiency policies and substantial federal investment in energy efficiency to help reduce U.S. oil dependence, create new jobs, and curb climate change, the Alliance said.

All in all, it won’t take a huge effort or sacrifice to save yourself significant amounts of money on your electric bills every month.

Look at your lifestyle and the things you use around the house every day. Do they really need to be on all the time? Can you do the various things you do on a daily basis in a different way that will use less electricity? All it takes is a little commitment to begin paying attention to the many small energy-draining details that can make a noticeable difference in your overall energy usage.

Utility companies offer energy audits, tips, and other help for customers who want to reduce energy consumption.

Call your local utility or log onto their website to see what they have to offer.

Consider How to Save Electricity by increasing your energy efficiency when buying new appliances. Appliances are labeled with energy usage comparison tables. Look at these figures. Also, you may be able to buy an adapter to make your older appliances more energy efficient.

Turn off appliances that no one is using. Turning off TV’s, lamps, computers, VCR’s, ovens, and other appliances that no one is using can reduce electric energy consumption. Even turning them off for short periods can produce noticeable results.

The ‘stand by’ mode, on most appliances uses about 60% as much electricity as when the appliance is being used. This electricity is a total waste, but YOU ARE STILL PAYING FOR IT. Something you don’t even use!

Your home will need LESS electricity, the wasted energy will be conserved and re-disbursed through out your home. This will result in a LOWER ELECTRIC BILL!

Make sure the refrigerator door seals are tight. Test them by closing the door over a piece of paper or a dollar bill so it is half in and half out of the refrigerator. If you can pull the paper or bill out easily, the latch may need adjustment or the seal may need replacing.

If you have an electric oven turn it off 5 minutes before the food is done. The heat will stay in the oven and will continue to cook your food.

There, that wasn’t too hard, was it?

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