Alternative Energy Explained For Home Owners

One problem for home owners today is the increasing price of the utility bill. This bill is feared every month, although we know it is coming and there is no way to get out of it. One of the utilities we most fear is electricity. Electricity is very important in our lives and will be in the future. It plays a very important role in our modern lives and we can’t live any more without it. Without electricity we are not save, we can’t produce the products we need and can’t use all the appliances we love so much. Most people feel that the price of electricity is too high for the amount they consume. Complaining will not be answer to lower the price. There are other alternatives to lower your monthly bill for electricity. One option is to make use of alternative energy. Let’s review the most used types of this ‘new’ energy source.

Although people think alternative energy is ‘new’ it really is not. We have used this energy source long before we even knew electricity. Just think about drying your washed clothes outside in the sun. In fact many of us still use this method to dry clothes and there is nothing wrong with this. Drying your clothes this way will save a lot of electricity!

Here we will list other types of alternative energy.

The first is wind energy. Today windmills are used in homes to run small generators. Using windmills is not a new concept. Windmills have been used in the past century before. They were primarily used to mill grain. Making flour from grain was hard work and using the power of the wind was an economical way to complete this task. Another use of the windmill was to pump out water from large beaks or lakes to gain land. One country which used this techniques was frequently used was the Netherlands. Acres of land were won this way and today home owners still benefit from this land.

Today the windmill has a renewed function and that is run small generators for home owners. These generators produce electricity to be used in running small home appliances. These windmills are commonly used outside the city area. It would be hard for home owner in the city to make use of technique because they are a few meters in diameter and a placed fairly high.

The second form is solar energy. This energy source can be used in several ways. Most home owners use it to produce electricity. The solar power can be used to power small appliances. Other home owners used it to heat there home. This can be done passive and active. The passive form works like placing your car in the sun. The temperature in the car increases fast making the inside of the car very hot. For homes it can be done by making use of glass and positing your home to the sun. Your home can be heated up very quick. By using certain types of stone walls inside your home this warmth can be held inside the house. The active method uses solar energy to produce hot water for central heating. The hot water can also be used for running hot water, the washing machine and dishwasher. The efficiency by which we are now able to convert solar power into electricity and hot water is of such a degree that it is very possible to power a whole house and use for central heating! Solar energy is much easier to use in the city area and so many people in cities can lower their energy by making use of the energy source. The roof solar-panels that are needed can be placed on the roof out of sight. Some people think this is ugly view, but that is an individual taste.

The third is hydropower. By making use of the power of running water small turbines can run generators. These generators in turn can store electricity which can be used for running the home appliances. This technique is also used in the past where waterwheels were used to grind grain into flour, just like windmills. But like the windmills this form of alternative energy is not feasible to use in the city area.

The fourth technique is biogas. Biogas is produced naturally via the decomposition of different biological material. This can be from animals and from humans. Farmers can successfully use this method to produce biogas. The biogas can be used for heating to home or can even be used to cook. This form is also not common to use inside the city area.

There are more ways to make use of alternative energy than mentioned here. The forms mentioned here are very common today and are evolving. In the early days of solar energy the efficiency was poor but today it has improved dramatically. If you live inside the city area your options are limited to solar energy. The advantage with this energy source is that is very versatile. You can produce electricity and hot water.

When you decide to use alternative energy you accomplish more than only saving money you’re also helping to create a better world. The big reason not to use alternative energy is the price tag. The devices to convert the ‘free’ energy source are not cheap. You need to realize that you’re investing in your home. But after good calculations you will realize that you’ll be saving more than you’ll spend. Don’t forget to apply for tax credits or other benefits for investing in alternative energy.

Source: article circle dot com

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Solardirect on googlevideo, Solar Faq mk 1 uploaded and ready for viewing!

Intro: what is this about, our mission, we are opening up our blog as a public forum to discuss energy conservation issues with a focus on renewable energy and solar tech. we will be taking questions and offering solutions using solar electric water heating, space heating, and pool heating, and we will be offering usage suggestions for our questioners

q1 how do you define the product categories:

Solar electric systems or Photovoltaic systems which take the sun’s energy and convert it directly into electricity
Solar pool heating is the most basic solar tech, it takes solar thermal collectors directly circulates pool water through it, heating the water.
Solar water heating, wide variety of devices, for making solar hot water for domestic purposes, or for industrial process heating in business
Solar space heating, is another technology which is basically an extension of solar water heating.

q2 what is the main focus:

allowing viewers to get answers to questions relating to their homes or businesses to justify the economics, or understand the basic function of the technologies to make an impact on their homes/the environment

q3 how many questions/how often,

we will try to handle ten questions per week

q3 what is the most cost effective use of solar tech.

the most cost effective use of solar would be solar pool heating, which generates the most btus per square foot of collector and the most btus per dollar of investment, these can be used for home swimming pools as well as commercial.

q4 what is the second quickest in returning the initial investment

solar water heating would be the next best technology one could use for their home or business, it has various configurations but generally the payback would range from between 2-6 years.

q5 why is solar water heating considered to have huge environmental benefits

the conventional home water heater creates as much in carbon emissions as a car being driven 12000 miles per year

q6 is there a benefit to installing solar water heating in a new home?

solar water heating in a new home is one of the few things where the savings on a monthly benefits would exceed the monthly cost amortization in a home mortgage

q7 what is solar space heating,

solar space heating involves a number of different technologies, it is basically an extension of solar water heating, but generally used to circulate/heat air with the use of solar water heating/various other technologies (see video for more detailed description)

q8 where does solar electricity fit in?

justification of Solar electricity, financially speaking, depends on where you live as there are various incentive/rebate programs, in those states it is very cost effective. The system will eventually pay for itself, and of course for offgrid applications this technology basically is self justified, in that it is one of the few solutions available in most cases.

q9 when can we expect another question and answer session.

This will largely be viewer dependant, however we hope to be able to answer at least ten questions per week. So hopefully within the week.

q10 where’s question ten?

this week we also did an intro for the entire faq which we are also counting as a question.
the faster the questions roll in the faster we will be able to answer them, so send all your questions to blog@solardirect.com and we hope to have them answered by the end of the week.

Thanks for watching!

also if the video doesn’t pop up for you above you can get to it here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1105461998969764464&hl=en

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Welcome.

Welcome to the Solar Direct Blog, dedicated to the on going discussion of the ways to enrich our lives with the help of the sun.

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