How Green Is Your Energy ... Information No. 11 From 108
Support your local green energy providers by purchasing energy from them. You can check online to see if any of your local energy providers sell wind, hydro, or solar energy. By switching from the standard energy, you will send a message to your provider; you prefer cleaner energy. You will also be support the development of green energy in your area.
Insulating your hot water cylinder can help you to save large amounts of energy in your home. Putting insulation around your pipes helps your hot water to run more quickly as well. If you are unsure of how to do this yourself, you may want to enlist the help of a professional.
If you want to conserve energy, adjust your air conditioning unit so that it is set two degrees higher in the summer and two degrees lower in the winter. You will probably not be able to tell that you have changed it, but taking that step will save you on your monthly bill and bring down your carbon emissions.
Start using batteries that have been recycled or система вентиляции и кондиционирования else use rechargeable batteries. Disposable batteries are full of toxins and actually take about half of the energy they put off, in order to produce. If you are using disposable batteries, be sure to recycle them. Rechargeable batteries, however, can be used over and over again.
Make small changes if you do not have a lot of money to invest or do not have access to the kind of resources you need. Get a small solar power installation to provide power for one room only, and get a few solar cells to charge your cell phone and other devices, for instance.
A wind turbine could help you cut down your electric bill by as much as 90%. Before you invest in this type of equipment, find out if the wind is strong enough to produce the amount of energy you need and get a professional to help you choose the right size of turbine.
Before you start shopping for a wind power system, know how much power your home consumes. In order to get the most out of a residential wind power system, it needs to be the proper size. If your property is hooked into a utility grid, your wind system should be sized to provide about 50 - 80% of your power needs.
Check out all the different resources your community has available for energy. Look into the cost of operating your home with each of your options, keeping in mind any recent changes to legislation about energy costs. You may choose, for example, to go from electric to natural gas for heating, or using a well instead of city water.
For green energy use in your home, you should change all your incandescent bulbs to the new energy efficient fluorescent bulbs. Not only will you save a bundle on your energy bill, but you will help conserve energy for future generations and reduce your own impact on the power grid in your city.
Clean your air filters monthly to see if they either require cleaning or if they need replaced. This can help your unit run more efficiently. You can also purchase a permanent filter that you can wash and re-use. These can save you a lot later and can prevent more waste in the landfills.
You can save electricity by unplugging chargers when they are not in use. Chargers used for cell phones, laptops, mp3 players and other electronic devices use power when they're plugged in, even if they aren't charging your device.
Always have a backup power source for a wind generation system. Your system needs to be able to account for вентиляция и кондиционирование воздуха low-wind days. This backup could be another type of renewable source, such as a battery system powered by solar, or a diesel generator. Another option is to have the home plugged into the utility power grid.
A high-efficiency furnace becomes far less efficient with a clogged, вентиляция и кондиционирование dirty filter, so change your furnace filters often. This is especially important if you use tightly-woven pleated filters, because the HVAC system must work much harder to draw in air through its tiny openings. Most filters need to be changed or cleaned at least once every 3 months.
Recycling is one of the easiest tasks that can make a greener home. Some towns automatically include costs for recycling in their garbage collection, so look into this! If not, certain states including Michigan will pay consumers to return bottles after use. Recycling is one of the best ways to cut energy costs!
When you consider solar heat for your home calculate potential hours of sunshine for energy generation during the winter months. This will ensure that you are not caught short during winter, and you have excess during the summer. An even better benefit is that you can sell your energy back to the grid in the sunniest of times!
One option available to you for heating your home is biofuels. These fuels come from vegetable or animal fats, wood, and oils. Many times, furnaces that are propane can be changed by a pro so that you can heat using this blend of fuels. This could be anywhere up to 99% of biodiesel. Talk to a professional before you use these types of fuels so you can do it safely.
