You probably hear friends and TV personalities extolling the virtues of green energy, but just what is this green energy stuff? If you don’t know where to start to lead a greener, more environmentally conscious life, you must read this article. Keep reading to find out what you can do to bring green energy into your home.
If you are considering purchasing outdoor lighting look into solar lamps. This type of lamp is cost-effective and needs no power other than sunlight. This will save a lot of energy. It also means you don’t need to wire your outdoor lights.
Start paying attention to your energy consumption. Unplug the charger for your iPod and XBox 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.
Find out what energy options your community has available. Determine which energy source is cheapest for your home. Don’t forget to account for any government incentives that might be in effect. You might find that you could save money by switching from an electric furnace to a natural gas one, for instance, or from using municipal water to your own well water.
If you clean your dishes using a dishwasher, don’t run it until it’s completely full. It will use the same quantity of water or energy even if one dish is in it. When you do operate your dishwasher, be sure to make use of the energy-saving feature, which air-dries your dishes.
Keep your refrigerator well maintained. You have to ensure it is in great working condition, as it sucks up energy like a sponge. Clean heating coils regularly to get rid of dust. In addition, be sure your door seal is tight and clean.
Use a model which is tankless and more green instead of a tank style heater. These still use gas and electricity to heat water, but they heat only what you use instead of continuously heating the whole tank. Tankless heaters can supply the entire home or certain faucets.
Electric heaters should only be used when necessary in order to be more green. Use a fireplace in place of the heater and wear warm layers of clothing. Also, it has been shown that people sleep better in cooler temperatures.
Switch as much of your correspondence as possible to email. Go paperless with any company that has the option. This kills two birds with one stone: you save energy and encourage businesses with whom you correspond to do so, as well. In addition, it will help protect the environment for all.
Make use of a solar-powered oven for baking. You can make these with boxes, old windows or old pieces of foil that can be used for reflection. The internal temperature of these easy-to-build ovens can top 300 degrees, and they do not require any energy besides the sun’s rays.
A good green energy tool is a tankless water heater. The old-fashioned water heaters run constantly, even running when not needed and that wastes energy. These heaters only heat water when necessary, which will increase your energy savings.
If you spend the money on green appliances and electronics now, you’ll save over time. Green technologies cost a little more initially, but you will save money on your utility bills, making them a wise investment. It also has the long-term benefit of saving the planet.
60 Degrees
When you are sleeping, or not at home, set your thermostat to 60 degrees to save energy. Having the heat set at 60 degrees uses the minimum quantity of energy possible. The resulting effect is energy usage cuts and money saved.
Make your home greener by adding solar panels. Although the upfront costs for solar panels are significant, they will pay for themselves in just a few years. Once you have the panels installed solar energy then becomes free, and with any excess power you gather you can potentially sell that to electric companies.
Hopefully, you’ve learned something from this article that can help you use green energy technology to make your home more energy efficient. Use the information in the preceding article to make green technology a part of your life. Not only will the environment thank you, but your wallet will too.
