Having green energy in your house is a great way to protect the environment, while reducing energy costs. You don’t need an electric vehicle to make a difference! Read on for tips on how to make your house energy-efficient.
Solar powered outdoor lighting is a wonderful enhancement to your outdoor living areas. These lamps are cheap and don’t require any power besides sun exposure. This saves a lot of energy! It also means that you avoid having to go outside and wire up outdoor lights.
Shading your windows from direct sunlight can help you use less energy. Keep blinds closed and curtains drawn. Less heat will be allowed in, and your summer air conditioner costs will be greatly reduced with just these two simply steps You will save money and energy at the same time.
Be a better consumer of energy, and cut your home energy usage by unplugging your electronic chargers when they are not in use. Chargers for your electronics, such as an iPod or cell phone, are always using electricity, even when they’re not in use, so unplug them when you can.
Consult a technician for more information about switching to biodiesel heating if your home currently uses oil for heating. Many systems allow a switch to biodiesel or biofuel with slight modifications. Biodiesel is cleaner to burn than petroleum, making it more efficient to use in the wintertime.
Use window treatments to shade the inside of your home when you aren’t home. This cools the house and cuts energy costs. Windows that face south tend to get more sun due to their orientation. Therefore, it is especially important to use heavy window coverings on these windows.
If you clean your dishes using a dishwasher, refrain from doing a load until the dishwasher is completely full of dishes. A half load uses the exact same amount of water and energy as a full one. Also, use your dishwasher’s energy-saver setting so that the load will air-dry.
As you plan for a solar energy array, use winter time sunshine hours to calculate from. Using this metric means you will meet your energy needs in the winter, while greatly exceeding them in the summer. However, you should also include any refunds you will get from your utility company for excess energy generated in summer!
If you don’t know whether a green energy system would help you save energy, consult professionals in the plumbing or HVAC fields to assess your current system. They can let you know how much money inefficient appliances are costing you, and they can also provide you with an idea of the amount of money you would have to spend to make upgrades to your systems.
A good tip for saving energy is to change your boiler. Older boilers weren’t built to be energy efficient, and they’re costing you an arm and a leg compared to a newer unit. Newer boilers don’t produce as much carbon dioxide and use less energy, which saves on your energy costs and promotes better health.
When purchasing anything made from wood, look for bamboo options. Bamboo is technically grass and is a “green product”, but it is often much stronger than other available woods. It grows very fast and is being made into a variety of products from flooring to hard wood cutting boards for retail purchase. This saves energy on the recycling and production end of manufacturing products.
One of the easiest ways to get started with making your home more energy-efficient is to enlist the help of your electric company. You can look on the company’s website for tool that track your energy consumption and tips for saving energy. Be sure that you take advantage of programs that provide incentives for the purchase of green items like light bulbs or appliances.
Inspect the seals on your refrigerator and freezer regularly to make sure that they are tight. Refrigerators may use more energy if the seals are broken. This will, of course, cost you more. You can test your seal easily with a piece of paper placed in the door. Be sure that it doesn’t slide out easily.
Don’t forget to use ceiling fans just because it’s wintertime. Warm air is pushed down when the fan is running in a clockwise rotation. It does take a little electricity to operate the fans, but you will save more energy from not having to run the furnace on a regular basis.
Reducing lighting usage should be a top priority. During the brighter months, figure out when the sun starts to set and ask your family not to turn on lights until that time. Install dimmers so that you can adjust how much light you actually use. In other areas, consider using sensors or timers to make sure that lights are not left on for longer than needed.
Help keep the costs of green or renewable energy technologies lower by demanding them. You are entitled, as a consumer, to have any environmentally friendly products you desire. As demand and consumption of products made from environmentally green companies rises, the availability of these products will increase. This will also hasten the manufacturing changes that will be necessary to keep product manufacturers profitable as they enter the age of green technology.
You can watch the energy use in your home by buying a monitor to track it. These devices collect data about how much electricity your home is using, and provide an estimate of the next month’s bill based on this information. Research shows that people are likely to reduce their electricity consumption when they could see the costs associated to their appliances.
One of the most important green energy devices out there is the humble programmable thermostat. These types of thermostats will regulate the temperature in your home when you are not around and when you are sleeping so that your unit is not heating and cooling for no reason. The newer devices permit programs to be used so you can start and stop power at various times throughout the day.
Now that you have read this article you surely can see how easy it is to improve the energy efficiency of your home. Set a good example for your friends and family, and show them just how easy “going green” can really be. Keep the tips that were presented to you in mind and put them to use right away.