It can be overwhelming when you think about making your home greener. There are many things that you can easily do to help protect the environment. Take time to read the following guidelines to determine the things that could greatly benefit your house.
Do your best to consume the least amount of energy possible in your home. Do things like unplug any electronic device that you aren’t using that may still be plugged into an outlet. 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.
Are you the owner of a farm? If you do happen to own some farmland, try renting some of the land to a power company that specializes in wind energy solutions. The turbine will provide free energy to you and close neighbors, and won’t take up much space.
Dishwashers that are not full when run, are not making efficient use of your energy. The dishwasher cycle uses the same amounts of water and energy, whether it is full or not. When you do run the dishwasher, make sure to use the energy saving setting, which will allow your dishes to air-dry.
When you plan a solar system for your home, try calculating what the energy generation of your system will be when you use hours worth of sun in the winter. That way you won’t run out of energy during winter months, and you will have more than enough in the summer. An even better benefit is that you can sell your energy back to the grid in the sunniest of times!
Storm Doors
Storm doors and windows offer better air flow in the home. Storm doors and windows will reduce the entrance of drafts and cold air. When homes have windows and doors that are stormed, 45 percent less energy is used, which can decrease electric bills.
Use a laptop computer instead of desktop, which uses much more energy. Laptops use up to 75% less electricity than desktops, especially during non-demanding tasks like surfing the web or word processing. The other benefit to using laptop over a desktop is that it is portable, so it can be taken anywhere!
When you put up lights during the holidays, avoid the normal light strands and hang LED lights instead. According to one study done by the DOE, the United States could save more than 2 billion hours of power, simply by having everyone make this change. Department of Energy, LED lights over the holidays could save as much as two billion kilowatts of energy consumption annually. That’s enough electricity to power 200,000 houses for a whole year. All that said, you can at least save some money on your own energy costs!
Use biofuels as a heat source. What these fuels are composed of are wood, oil and vegetable or animal fats. You can hire a professional to adjust your propane furnace to be capable of using any type of fuel you desire. The blend you would use could be made up of 20%-99% biodiesel. Just be sure to consult with a professional before attempting to use this fuel in your home.
If you really want to take a bit out of your fuel consumption, try making more extensive use of carpools, even to destinations other than the office. Kids can also form carpools to school by alternating parents days. You can also schedule grocery shopping and other errands with friends that live near you.
Less Energy
Get rid of your old appliances and replace them with Energy Star-certified appliances. This is your guarantee that your new appliances will use less energy, and therefore cost you less to run. You will find that Energy Star rated refrigerators use about 20% less energy, and clothes washing machines use about 50% less.
Turn off lights when you exit a room. This is a tried-and-true energy saving trick. It is amazing how the energy savings add up once you get into this habit. An additional advantage is lower electric bills.
Try using a toilet that is built to save water. Some estimates report that about half of the water consumption in a home is from the toilet. Older toilet models use up to 70 percent more water per year than newer ones.
An on-demand hot water heater is a good way to stay green. Water heaters normally run all the time, even if hot water isn’t needed. The water heaters that heat on-demand only heat water that is immediatly needed and save a lot on energy costs.
Add motion-detecting light sensors to the rooms in your house that you use most. The lights in these rooms are turned off by the sensors when not in use, resulting in energy and money savings. Add these sensors to your outdoor lights, as well.
All homes are built differently and are located in different areas. These differences will make green-energy technology needs vary. Some things work well for most homes, and others don’t work at all. Use the advice that works in your situation and come up with some of your own money saving, earth friendly tips.