The most efficient way to to make use of solar energy for your home is with solar hot water. Your electric hot water heater is probably the biggest consumer of power in your house. An electric hot water heater is much more expensive to operate than a simple solar hot water system.

Solar hot water

With solar hot water you can make your own system, buy a system and install it yourself, or hire the entire project out to a solar contractor. When you get down to it, it is a matter of time, money and skill.

Preheating your hot water with a solar collector is the easiest way to use solar energy. This is easy to do and can make a real difference, with a minimum effort and expense.

In fact, you don’t even need solar collectors in the usual sense. For very little money you can have a passive solar heating system by using a plastic barrel and a sunny room. This simple arrangement is easy to do and can make a huge dent in your hot water bill.

New construction

The best way to have solar energy for your home is to include it as an integral part of the design, before anything is constructed. With new construction you can orient the house to the best possible angle, set the roof at the optimum angle for the sun, and many, many other things. With new construction, you receive the most benefits of solar energy.

It is so important to hire a contractor who knows about energy efficiency in home building. Some builders are more able and willing to use efficient approaches to building.

Ask a solar expert, do research, find out for yourself. Your reward will be a beautiful home that is easy to heat and cool!

Do it yourself kits

Obviously, most people are already in the house they are hoping to make solar, at least as much as possible. For starters, you should consider a kit to do it yourself. These kits come in a variety of forms, but generally they are inexpensive and made for the average person to use.

From the kit you will learn how to make a solar panel, windmill and a generator, all out of hardware store materials. Even though you will not be able to generate enough power for your entire house with one of these kits, there are fully functioning systems. However, you can supplement you regular source of electricity and help reduce your power bills.

Climate

In the not-so-distant-past solar energy for your home was unrealistic in northern areas that have many cloudy days. Things have changed as the technology advances. Nearly every area can make use of solar energy now that the photovoltaic cells have become more efficient.

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Jon Arnett, Randy Hough and company have been involved with energy saving programs for many years in such places as Alaska, Wisconsin, Norway and Croatia. Recently they constructed a passive and active solar heated villa in Croatia, which is beautiful and efficient at the same time (plus it is right on the Adriadic Sea). Check out their website: http://www.SolarOnYourOwn.com to help you in your quest for reducing your energy dependence. Find out how you can save money, save energy, and save the earth!

Tags: Heating, Cooling,

Tags: , Heating, Cooling

You’ve heard about solar power and you want to learn more about it, but you’re not sure of the advantages and disadvantages of solar power. The thing about solar power is that the sun’s rays are free, they beat down naturally on earth, however, it costs a lot of money to actually set up the solar cells and other equipment on your home. However, there are other advantages and disadvantages of solar power so it’s best to research them all before you actually have the system installed on your home. If the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, then you’ll know that setting up your home for solar power is the right decision for you.

Talk To People Who Use It

The best way to learn firsthand the advantages and disadvantages of solar power is to talk to people who actually have solar cells set up on their homes. These people have nothing to gain by lying so you should get a very honest account of what it means to live off of solar power. You may hear things like, “It’s very expensive to set it up initially but otherwise it’s great, or, you have saved so much money from solar power it’s not even funny”.  However, you may also hear things like, “If there’s no sun, you don’t get that much power. The reserves don’t last that long and I’m sick and tired of all this solar nonsense.” If you get mixed reviews from several people, make two columns and add the two up. Then, you should get a good idea how people feel about their solar power.

Solar Power Forums

Forums are another great tool to hear, or read, firsthand how people feel about their solar power setups. When people post things on a forum, they know it’s anonymous so you should also get a very honest representation of the advantages and disadvantages of solar power. Compare the list you get from the forums with the list you got from talking to people and then make your decision.

Once you have a good idea of the advantages and disadvantages of solar power, you’ll know whether it’s a good idea to start installing those solar panels on your home or not. You could end up saving yourself a lot of money in the long run and the best part is that you won’t ever have to send money to the electric company ever again.

Tags: energy savings, Heating,

Tags: Heating, , energy savings