How To Effectively Utilize Your Green Energy

Saving power, heat or water is made possible thanks to alternative sources of energy. After making some small, and larger, changes to your home, you will drop your environmental impact and save money. This article contains tips and suggestions to help you get started saving energy.

Outdoors, solar-powered lights are very convenient for patios and garden paths. These lamps are cheap and don’t require any power besides sun exposure. Not only does this save energy. As an added benefit, you are spared the trouble of running an outdoor wiring system.

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 your home has a pool or hot tub, look into a solar water heating system. Installing a solar water heating system costs about the same as a conventional system, but operating costs for the system will be much lower. Repair costs for solar heating systems are often lower as well.

When building your home, pay attention to its orientation. An ideal home should be protected against overhead sun during the summer and be oriented so that it gets low-angle sun in the winter. This is a good way to save money on your heating bill and will keep your home cool in the summer.

Unplug your chargers when they aren’t being used to charge your devices. Whether you are charging your device or not, chargers for laptops, mp3 players, cellphones and other electronics keep drawing electrical power as long as they stay plugged in.

In order to save energy at home, plug your electronics, including televisions and DVD players, into power strips and when you are not using them, turn off the power strips. Not only will you be preserving energy by doing this, but you will also be saving money on your electricity bill.

It is easy to find the initiative to make your house greener when you consider the many tax refunds currently offered for energy-efficient improvements. Be sure to keep all receipts pertaining to such improvements as the U.S. government presently lets home owners deduct costs for everything from new windows to storm doors to furnaces and insulation.

An easy way to make your home greener is to replace your old light fixtures with ones, which are ENERGY STAR qualified. If you are unable to install ENERGY STAR qualified lighting fixtures at the moment, at least replace your standard light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) which use much less energy.

Replace your older appliances with the newer, energy-efficient ones that have Energy Star ratings. To receive an Energy Star rating from the government, appliances must meet minimum efficiency standards, unlike the non-rated appliances you may currently own. This rating can promise anywhere from a 20-50% difference in energy costs, depending on the brand and the specific appliance.

Those looking to save energy and live a greener life may want to consider reducing the amount of lighting in their house. Ask yourself if you really need four lamps in a single room, or read with a book light rather than using your rooms lighting at night. This simple tip can go a long way to reducing your energy consumption.

Many people believe that turning certain equipment and appliances off or unplugging them shortens the life of the said equipment and appliances. This is not true. This myth dates back to older computers, and many people carry this belief system into the current day. Turning appliances and equipment off or unplugging them cuts down on energy costs immensely and does not hurt the machinery at all.

Some forms of insulation do not require professional services but rather can simply be pushed into an open area. These types of insulation are an ideal way to improve the energy efficiency of everything from your attic to your crawl spaces to your basement and the spaces between floors. This type of insulation can also be inserted whenever you repair drywall.

Green energy is great to have in any home and can save you a lot on electrical bills that can seem to add up over months. Another great thing about investing into green technology is that you can use it as a tax write off which can help you get more back come tax season.

Unless it is absolutely necessary, keep the windows open in your home instead of using your air conditioning. One of the biggest energy users in your home is your air-conditioning system, and by keeping it on too often, you are going to spend a lot of money on your electricity bill.

One of the most important green energy devices out there is the humble programmable thermostat. Programmable models allow you to automatically set the temperature for times when you are away from home or sleeping, so you are not needlessly heating or cooling an empty home. The best models will even allow you to have specific settings for different days of the week, which will make it so you do not have to adjust it unless your routines change.

Plant trees. If you take the time to plant leafy trees in the southwest corner of your home, eventually they will provide much needed shade in the summer, and allow the sunlight through in winter. Trees not only provide shade, they also cool the air and give it moisture.

When you think about green technology you don’t have to think about solar panels and electric cars alone. There are many little things you can do in your everyday life that can contribute to the environment. Think about an electric lawnmower, or changing the light bulbs you use in your home. Every little effort counts.

Use the ideas and suggestions of this article to help you incorporate greener methods in your home. Energy bills will decrease and you will protect the environment, too! Keep at it and soon you will have one of the greenest homes around!