Learn how to Run your Home with Green Energy-Save

How To Reduce Energy Consumption

noreply@blogger.com (Oliver Ohene-Dokyi) — Thu, 27 Feb 2014 14:26:00 +0000

Ways To Reduce Energy Consumption  

One often overlooked step in converting a home to green power is reducing your energy needs in the first place. The average home uses inefficient lighting, power hungry appliances, and poor heating/cooling solutions. An important step to reducing your energy needs is to look at the inefficiencies in your current system.  

Consider:  

1. Replacing old incandescent bulbs with fluorescents or led bulbs will cut your power consumption from light in half. 

2. Replacing old, inefficient, appliances may reduce your energy bills by as much as 30% by itself.  

You should also look at your current heating/cooling solutions. For example an electric hot water heater could potentially be replaced by a solar water heater. Maybe that inefficient air conditioner can be replaced with a more efficient heat exchanger.  

If you need help choosing more efficient appliances, an excellent resource for this is put out by the Canadian government: http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/EnerGuide/home.cfm. It’s called Energy-guide, and it covers everything power consumption of home appliance to energy requirements of large commercial air conditioners.  

Spend some time looking through that guide and calculating how much you can reduce your power consumption in different areas of your home. By simply taking a look at everything in your home that consumes energy, you will find ways to reduce your energy needs before you start.  

You don’t necessarily have to go all out and spend $10,000 replacing everything – but things as simple as changing your lighting will reduce your energy needs before you start your conversion project.

An Alternative Energy Education Method

The best method of educating young people about alternative energy production that this writer has ever witnessed is the use of the PicoTurbine Company's kits, books, and projects. The PicoTurbine Company produces these things for the purpose of advancing the cause of renewable (alternative) energy and getting young people to look into the future and see that the environment that's being seeded now is the one they will inherit then. As the late, great Gerry Ford said, ìThings are more like they are now than they have ever been before.î If we are to change the future world for the better, then it starts right here and now with the advent of ìgreenî energy systems.

One of the core concepts of PicoTurbine can be stated: Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I might remember some of it. Involve me, and I will master it. Based on this old tried and true adage, the kits that the company produces come with activity suggestions to get the young people into hands-on learning situations. One suggestion of the company is to demonstrate how heat can be produced by wind energy (the company's specialty) through using a ìpicture wireî for the heating element. PicoTurbine has found that people typically think of wind energy as being ìcoldî energy, and are pleasantly surprised to see how wind can be used for generating heat in the home. Another project suggestion that the company offers is to have different groups split off in the classroom and then compare their respective wind turbines that they have built. They can see which ones produce the most or least electricity; which ones start up with need of the least amount of wind power; and for very young children, which ones have the most aesthetic appeal.

There is a core curriculum that PicoTurbine has in mind for teachers to instill in their pupils. Renewable, alternative sources of energy include solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, and biomass in addition to wind-produced energy. When we use more alternative sources of energy, we decrease our nation's dependence on foreign oil supplies, which often come from nations who cannot really be called our ìalliesî. Alternative energy is already becoming cost effective when set against the fossil fuels that we are so reliant on currently.

PicoTurbine points out that wind farms and solar arrays are already letting their makers enjoy commercial success. In the last two decades, the cost of photovoltaic cells expressed in terms of per-watt has gone from nearly $1000 to just $4! It has been predicted by analysts that by the year 2015, the cost per watt should only be about $1 (in today's dollars). Students also need to be taught about the hidden cost of fossil fuels: pollution and environmental degradation. Air pollution from burning fossil fuels has been shown through studies to increase incidences of asthma attacks, heighten the effects of allergies, and even cause cancer. Switching over to clean, green energy found in the alternative forms would prevent air pollution and help bolster the environment.

For some small energy generation;)

Just Discovered! Green Gadgets

noreply@blogger.com (Oliver Ohene-Dokyi) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 06:17:00 +0000

Greener Gadgets

What are the benefits of Solar Power?

noreply@blogger.com (Oliver Ohene-Dokyi) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:27:00 +0000

Are home electricity costs driving you
out of your house?

Have you seen the price of gasoline? Sure it’s come down a bit
recently, but it still isn’t cheap like it was ten or so years ago.

But what does that have to do with running your house?

I’m glad you asked, because it’s something most people don’t
understand...and it’s costing them crazy money they don’t have to
be spending at all.

You see, gasoline comes from crude oil, and crude oil is what you
call a scarce commodity. Only a few countries have huge amounts of
it, and they charge the rest of us through the nose to get it.

Now oil is what’s called a fossil fuel, and it’s limited. But there
are other fossil fuels like natural gas and coal.

The silly thing is that when oil gets more expensive, it pulls up
all the rest of the fossil fuels with it...because they’re all
relatively limited in supply.

And that’s why it’s probably going to cost you outrageous amounts
to run your house in the future, and ALREADY is squeezing your
wallet.

**********
Want to slash your home energy costs by 80-100%? That’s not crazy.
You really CAN run your house almost for free. Here’s the secret:

Look at the Ecofriendly Product Now!
**********

Here’s how it really works...

Oil costs a ton, and if you think the recent price decrease for a
barrel of oil means prices will stay down there, you’re nuts. They
won’t. They’ll skyrocket again as soon as OPEC decides to restrict
supply and make more money from us.

As oil gets more expensive, so does natural gas, and so does coal.

What most people don’t know is that most of the electricity in
major industrial countries like the U.S. comes from power plants
that burn...you guessed it...COAL.

Burning the coal drives the turbines that generate the electricity
you use when you turn on the light switch in your living room, or
run your electric air conditioner, or use anything in your home
that requires electricity.

So expensive oil is costing you a ton of money in more ways than
one, and especially in your house!

That’s why I was so happy to find the Run Your Home For Free guide.
It literally shows you how to cut your home energy costs to nearly
nothing.

That might sound too good to be true, but it’s not, because the
claim comes from SCIENCE that you’ve probably heard of before.

If you step outside your house on a sunny day with a slight breeze
blowing, you’re right in the middle of 100% free energy...but I bet
you’re not using any of it. Well, the Run Your Home For Free guide
shows you how to do it!

Here’s a taste of what’s inside: * You’ll learn how to build your
own wind or solar power generator using simple instructions a child
could follow...and you’ll be able to do it for less than $200

* You’ll find out how to set everything up so you can slash your
home electricity costs by 80% or more, probably within a month of
when you start to use your new power generator

* The guide actually shows you (don’t pass out when you hear this)
how to PROFIT from the energy company!

**********
Check out Run Your Home For Free yourself, and laugh as energy
prices go through the roof:

Look at the Ecofriendly Product Now!

**********

Imagine how much money you can save with this.

What if your monthly home electric bill right now is $300, which is
WAY low for some households. If that went away completely, what
else could you use that money for?

A vacation? College savings for the kids? Home repairs? The list is
endless. And it makes what Sarah’s charging for this guide seem
ridiculously low. You’ll probably save several times more that it
costs in your first month!

Stop being an energy slave, and start running your home for free.

Here’s to slashing your home energy costs,

Oliver Ohene-Dokyi