How can I use green energy affordably? What changes do I need to make to my own home to take advantage of it? These questions and more will be answered within this article. We’ve provided you with many tips and tricks, which make using green energy, easy and cost-efficient.
Speak with your utility company about receiving your electric power from a renewable source. Many metropolitan areas get some of their power from hydroelectric, geothermal, solar, or wind powered plants. Often, the electric company can simply apply a certain amount of your electric bill to renewable energy without you needing to make any other changes.
If you are interested in saving energy, utilize the warm summer months to help you dry your clothes. Forgo the use of your dryer, and hang your wet items out in the bright sunlight. Not only will you save energy, but your clothes will smell fresh and feel wonderful.
If your property has a small stream running through it, you can install a micro hydropower system. These systems divert a small amount of the water through a turbine or wheel, providing energy that can be used to light and heat your home. If the flow is strong enough, you can power multiple homes on one of these systems.
You should never use a small amount of warm water all at once. Doing this will just gradually increase your overall energy usage. Instead, try using all the warm water you plan on using immediately. For example, you should try having all your family members take a quick shower at once.
Find out more about ground source heat pumps. These pumps are located under your home and pump the natural heat of the earth to keep you warm. This system can be costly but the pumps use very little power and can last up to fifty years. Invest in this system if you are going to stay in a home for decades.
A very easy and cheap way to save on your high energy bills is to try installing some low flow shower heads and faucets. Switching from the standard, 2.5 gallon/minute shower heads, to the low flow 1.5 gallon/minute ones, can help you save a lot with your hot water energy costs.
Take advantage of the wind. The cleanest source of alternative energy is wind energy. It can even cut your electric bill by up to 90 percent. You can run an energy audit before you determine what size turbine you’ll need, but most houses require 5 to 15 kilowatts to produce 780 kilowatt-hours per month. month.
Many people who own homes with air-conditioning fail to realize how much energy is used by these units. If you have an air-conditioned home, consider a greener way of cooling off by saving the energy used to cool the air. Try to save air-conditioning for the hottest days. Keep blinds and drapes drawn during the hottest hours and open windows and doors after the sun goes down. Ceiling fans can also help a great deal!
Think about getting a hybrid car. Electric cars have many flaws, including the low number of charging stations. With a hybrid car, you can use either gas or electric power, depending on what is available. Invest in a hybrid vehicle if you live close to a charging station or can get your own.
Keep up-to-date with tax rebates for making your home more energy-efficient. Your local utility company may be offering green energy rebates to apply updates. The federal government offers tax write-offs and other credits in return for your changes. These rebates and credits can substantially reduce the cost of installing green energy technology in your home.
If you want to “go green” and do your part to help save the environment, you have a lot of options. While you might not have much money to spend on going green, you can begin by cleaning up furnace filters every month and set the heat to 60 degrees when you aren’t home. You can also help reduce energy usage by reducing the temperature of your water heater to 120 degrees. Little things like this add up!
If offered in your location, try to switch your electricity company to a Green Power service provider. This is a great way to protect the environment and save you money. If you are unsure if you have one of these providers in your area, the Internet is great resource to find out.
Replace an old washing machine with a high-efficiency model for a greener way to do your laundry. High-efficiency machines come in both top-loading and front-loading designs that use less water than standard machines. They also spin clothes at high speeds to wring more water out of them, helping them dry faster.
When you are shopping for items made of wood, consider things made from bamboo. Bamboo is a product that grass-based and a lot stronger than many of the commercially available wood products on the market. Bamboo is becoming very popular and growing to be made for cutting boards for hard wood floors. Because bamboo is so renewable, the need for recycling is lessened, which saves energy.
A great way to go green is to replace your regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights or LED’s. These light bulbs use about one fifth of the energy as regular light bulbs but can last up to twelve times longer. They also don’t generate as much heat so they are particularly useful in the summer months.
Avoid using your clothes dryer whenever possible. Drying your clothes outside on a washing line is one of the simplest ways to save energy costs. The clothes dryer is the third-largest energy user in the home, accounting for almost 6 percent of yearly energy consumption, and costing more than $100 to operate.
Green energy is going to be the way of the future, as we’re running out of fossil fuels, yet demand continues to grow. It’s important that you take what you’ve learned here and start using it today, so that you don’t feel the energy crunch, which is rapidly coming upon us!
