Abhishek is an avid Environmentalist and he has got some great Alternative Fuel Secrets up his sleeves! Download his FREE 70 Pages Ebook, “Energy Conservation And Alternative Fuel” from his website http://www.Wonder-Homes.com/643/index.htm . Only limited Free Copies available.
Such as Televisions, Stereos, Refrigerators, Doors and windows for your home, Compact Flourescent Bulbs.
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Most people, in spite of all of the evidence that we are destroying our environment, will not take the steps necessary to reduce their impact. It either takes too much time, too much money, too much research, etc. We, as a society, need to figure out what would motivate people to make these changes. Is it only money? Are there other motivators? What would get you to actually go out today, sell your car and buy a hybrid? What would get you to actually go out today, and buy a more enrgy efficient refrigerator or replace all of the lightbulbs in your house with compact fluorescent lightbulbs?
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Copyright (c) 2008 Mervyn Rees
Wherever we go we’re made to feel guilty for driving our cars, and some of us have started using alternative methods of transport in order to help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide that’s being pumped into the air. But did you the knowledge that more carbon dioxide, also known as a greenhouse gas, comes straight from our homes than from our cars?
It just doesn’t make sense that we’re told we should leave our cars at home, even though many of us are dependent on them to get from A to B, and yet we rarely hear about the amount of damage we’re doing by choosing the wrong kind of appliances. Strange, considering that every home has the potential to save around 2 tons of carbon dioxide every year - and that’s before we start considering how much we can save in terms of a healthier bank balance.
“Energy Star” Appliances
By purchasing energy-efficient “Energy Star” electrical appliances, not only will there be fewer emissions from the power plants that create the energy needed to drive the appliances, but you’ll be saving money on your utility bills as well. In fact, if you’re in the United States, by switching to an “Energy Star” fridge you can save up to $70 a year, and in the UK even more as the cost of fuel escalates, and that’s just one appliance! Add your air-conditioning, your clothes washer, your dryer, your dishwasher and other major appliances to the equation and you’ll probably save enough to take a well-earned holiday
If you want to save even more both in your pocket and in terms of a healthier planet, you could try following these fridge/freezer tips:
* Avoid leaving the door open longer than absolutely necessary, as any cool air that escapes will be replaced by warm air leading to more energy being used in order to cool it down.
* Avoid putting hot foods into the fridge as this will warm up the air, leading to greater energy use in order to cool the air down again.
* Defrost the freezer regularly as a certain amount of air circulation is needed in order for it to run efficiently.
Lagging the Tank
Insulating jackets for hot water tanks are cheap. So cheap, in fact, that they pay for themselves within a couple of months, so from thereon in all savings made on your energy bill are yours for doing absolutely nothing at all. Talk about money for nothing!
In fact, if every household in the UK alone fitted an insulating jacket on their tank, £150 million of energy would be saved every year! That?s a lot of fossil fuel that wouldn’t have to be burned and a huge amount of money! If it’s free for the taking, why not take it?
Curtains
What’s the point in heating up the air outside your house during winter? That isn’t where you sit and enjoy your home life, is it?
Even if the privacy afforded by closed curtains isn’t important to you, by keeping curtains drawn during cold nights you’ll be stopping energy escaping through the glass and saving even more money on your heating bills.
Lighting
By switching off lights in rooms that aren’t being used, the average energy bill can be reduced by around 15%. Think about it. That’s a lot of cash jangling in your pocket.
But why stop there? It’s also worth taking a look around the house and thinking about each light bulb. Do you really need 100 watts in the hall or bathroom, and what about special energy efficient bulbs? Would they work just as well? They last up to twelve times longer and use only a fraction of the energy used by normal bulbs; even something as seemingly unimportant as keeping windows and skylights clean can make a difference in how much artificial light you’ll need. The same goes for keeping lampshades and other light fittings clean.
1. 2 degrees warmer on the A/C and 2 degrees cooler on the heater will not only reduce your consumption, it will markedly decrease your bill.
2. Switch out your incandescent light bulbs for mini-florescent ones.
3. Change the A/C filters every month.
4. Leave all the interior doors open to promote circulation of air.
5. Re-caulk around the windows and doors at least once a year, please be sure and remove the old caulking first.
6. Make sure your exterior doors are properly aligned in order to minimize gaps and air leaks.
7. Try microwave cooking rather than the oven, you won’t be heating up the house at all.
8. Turn off the lights when you leave a room.
9. Buy energy efficient rated appliances when replacement time comes.
Water Conservation Tips:
1. Never walk away from a running tap/faucet, always turn it off first.
2. Don’t dawdle in the Shower and don’t make the water extremely hot causing the water heater to be used excessively.
3. Only flush the toilet once.
4. Hand watering the garden/yard uses less than sprinklers.
5. Use 2″ less water when taking a bath.
6. Use a lower water level setting in the washing machine for small loads.
7. When hand washing dishes, do not just let the faucet run for rinsing. If you have a double sink, then fill one with clean water to rinse with. If you don?t have a double sink, place the clean but unrinsed dishes in a pile and rinse them all at once very quickly.
In the laundry room
Use energy efficient washers and dryers, and unless you have children who like to play in the mud you really don’t need to use anything more than the “economy” cycle on your washing machine, along with cold water, to still get nice clean clothes. And instead of drying your clothes in a dryer, take an idea from your grandmother’s bag of tricks and hang your clothes out to dry. No fabric softener can compare to the smell of air-dried clothes!
In the car
With fuel prices on the rise, you need to count the cost before you go out. Got an overdue movie you need to bring back to the rental store? With fuel prices what they are today, it might be cheaper to keep it for an extra day and pay the fine rather than to get in your car and drive there. You will also want to group projects together before you go, as this will help you from making several trips in a day.
If your home runs a septic system, you can keep that system working smoothly by putting a quarter cup of baking soda down the toilet or drain once a week. Baking soda creates a favourable pH environment for optimal bacterial action, which will help break down the waste, cut down on smell, and reduces the amount that you?ll be calling the septic cleaning company.
And, instead of using chemicals to clean around your house, consider using natural ingredients, like vinegar and water to wash down your kitchen, bathroom, and windows. And, if you find the smell to be over-powering, add some lemons to it.
And when you’re cleaning your home, avoid using wasteful paper towels and other products that need to be thrown out after use. Instead, use rags, which can be washed and reused. Just be careful to let them dry thoroughly before putting them away since wet cloth with chemical traces can combust in some circumstances!
Then, afterwards, don’t use an aerosol can to make your house smell nice. Instead, use pot-pourri because it creates less waste since there?s no empty aerosol can!
No one likes to dust, but you might be more inclined to do so if there was a savings involved! When you’re cleaning around your home, don’t forget to clean your light bulbs. Dust build up can reduce the light intensity by 25%. A moment cleaning your light bulbs will mean brighter, more inviting rooms, a reduced chance of fire, and less need for so many lights!
Mervyn Rees is an active young 72 year old with a lifetime of experience to share. He is a Fellow of the Institute Motoring Industry and built his own Dragonfly Roadsters before retiring as a Motor Vehicle Manufacturer. He is the author of, ‘The Secrets of Biodiesel’. http://www.whybiodiesel.com . Having tried retiring twice and given up, he has now created an additional website http://www.mervtech.com to share his many interests with other likeminded people.
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There are very few purchases one can make that truly make a difference in the environment. Hybrid vehicles immediately come to mind, as well as anything made from recycled products â paper and plastic goods especially. Well, there are also major appliances and even lighting fixtures that can make a positive impact on our planet; all you have to do is look for the little blue and white sticker that says âEnergy Star.â
The Energy Star program was created in 1992 by the EPA as a means to promote energy efficient consumer products in an attempt to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by power plants. Energy efficient computer products were the first to be labeled, with major appliances, office equipment, home electronics, and the topic of this article â lighting â soon to follow.
Energy Star qualified light fixtures, when used with compact fluorescent bulbs, use about 75% less energy than standard light fixtures. This translates into two things â a positive impact on the environment and a lower energy bill to pay each month. To maximize both the energy and money savings, consider replacing the five most used lighting fixtures in your home, or, at the very least, replacing any standard incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents. In most homes the light fixtures with the highest usage are kitchen ceiling lights, living room (family room) table and floor lamps, and outdoor porch lights. If every American home did this, we would save close to $8 billion in energy costs each year while preventing the greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions from nearly 10 million cars.
Putting Energy Star lighting in your home used to mean sacrificing style for the energy savings. Not anymore. More lighting manufacturers have started producing Energy Star qualified fixtures in a wide variety of styles and designs as the demand for these energy efficient lights has increased. You can now find Energy Star pendant lights, sconces, chandeliers, and lamps. For a wide variety of Energy Star qualified and solar light fixtures, check out Eco-Lights.com today.
Check out the Eco-Lights website today for a great selection of Energy Star qualified lamps, table lamps, and sconces.
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Astonishingly, Americans generally spend $1600 or more a year on their utility bills. Not only is much of this wasted energy, but more carbon dioxide is emitted into the air from one home than two average cars. The following tips will help you save energy costs both at home and in the car.
*Set your thermostat comfortably low in the winter and comfortably high in the summer. Install a programmable thermostat that is compatible with your heating and cooling system.
* Use compact fluorescent light bulbs.
* Air dry dishes instead of using your dishwasher’s drying cycle.
* Turn off your computer and monitor when not in use.
* Plug home electronics, such as TVs and DVD players, into power strips; turn the power strips off when the equipment is not in use (TVs and DVDs in standby mode still use several watts of power).
* Lower the thermostat on your hot water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
* Take short showers instead of baths.
* Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes.
* Drive sensibly. Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gasoline.
* Look for the ENERGY STAR label on home appliances and products. ENERGY STAR products meet strict efficiency guidelines set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Energy.
Energy Auditing Tips:
* Check the insulation levels in your attic, exterior and basement walls, ceilings, floors, and crawl spaces.
* Check for holes or cracks around your walls, ceilings, windows, doors, light and plumbing fixtures, switches, and electrical outlets that can leak air into or out of your home.
* Check for open fireplace dampers.
* Make sure your appliances and heating and cooling systems are properly maintained. Check your owner’s manual for the recommended maintenance.
* Study your family’s lighting needs and use patterns, paying special attention to high-use areas such as the living room, kitchen, and outside lighting. Look for ways to use lighting controls - like occupancy sensors, dimmers, or timers - to reduce lighting energy use, and replace standard light bulbs and fixtures with compact or standard fluorescent lamps.
Insulation Tips
* Consider factors such as your climate, building design, and budget when selecting insulation R-values for your home.
* Use higher density insulation, such as rigid foam boards, in cathedral ceilings and on exterior walls.
* Ventilation plays a large role in providing moisture control and reducing summer cooling bills. Attic vents can be installed along the entire ceiling cavity to help ensure proper airflow.
* Recessed light fixtures can be a major source of heat loss, but you need to be careful how close you place insulation next to a fixture unless it is marked IC.
These tips, and more, are provided to you in a larger PDF file by the US Department of Energy.
David Tanguay is dedicated to providing research, reviews & helpful information to consumers and businesses. For more information related to Green Energy and Alternative Energy please visit http://greenenergyonline.org
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Homeowners are paying more attention than ever to energy efficiency when renovating, but you do not have to commit to a major renovation to improve the efficiency of your home. In fact, you do not have to renovate at all; small steps toward improved energy efficiency can save you money in the long run while reducing your home’s environmental impact. Here are some renovation-free upgrade ideas that will give you a more energy efficient home:
Look for the Energy Star label when replacing appliances and electronics. The Energy Star certifies that a product complies with precise efficiency guidelines put forth by the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Department of Energy. The Energy Star qualification can be found on products ranging from light bulbs to kitchen appliances to new homes. Please visit www.energystar.gov to find Energy Star Qualified Products.
Replace incandescent light bulbs in your home with compact fluorescent light bulbs. Replacing incandescent lighting in your home with compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs, is an inexpensive and easy step toward improving the energy efficiency of your home. According to www.energystar.gov, Energy Star CFLs consume around 75% less energy than incandescent ones, and that translates to real energy and money savings over time.
Install a programmable thermostat. A programmable thermostat allows you to set your heating and cooling system to automatically adjust at certain times of the day based on your schedule, allowing for reduced energy consumption at times when no one is home. Because heating and cooling accounts for a sizeable percentage of energy consumption in most homes, a programmable thermostat helps keep utility expenses down while making daily life a little more convenient.
Replace drafty or single pane windows. If your windows and doors are old or not properly sealed, a portion of your utility payments are going, well, right out the window. Though new windows require a more sizeable investment than most of the other upgrades mentioned here, homes with updated windows appeal to home buyers and the investment can likely be recouped at resale.
Want to learn more about energy efficient home upgrades? Please visit the home improvement section of the Energy Star website.
Maria Polidoro is the owner of Ace Tool Online, a Wantagh, New York based dealer and service center for over 70 brands of hand and power tools. Find the right Milwaukee miter saw, Festool router and more at Ace Tool.
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In America today, we spend over $100 billion each year on fuel and electricity for our homes. Even Seascape condos, often models of efficient living can have utility bills that can make the owners cringe. Nearly half of this cost is taken by the heating and cooling of the home, with water heating accounting for 14% and appliances account for approximately 41%. If you’re interested in lowering your overall energy bills, there are a number of household items that can help you in your quest.
Changing the appliances in your home is one of the easiest ways to not only reducing your overall energy bill, but also your overall impact on the environment. Two great places to start are your washer and dryer. Prior to 1998, washers were significantly inefficient. In fact, if you have an older washer, you might be paying almost $150 more each year on your utility bill than if it was more energy efficient. Unlike the older washers, today’s energy efficient models use a small amount of water since they don’t have a central agitator. Advanced top loaders and front end loader machines use a sophisticated wash system to spin and spin through a smaller stream of water. These newer designs dramatically reduce the amount of hot water used in the wash cycle, reducing your water consumption, and the cost of heating it. Plus, the higher spin speeds of these more efficient motors allow more moisture to be extracted from the clothes. This means less time spent in the dryer. These are just a few of the many reasons why Seascape resort condos make use of these more efficient machines.
Of course, a washer or dryer can be a sizable investment. If you want to start on a smaller scale, there is still a lot that you can do as a home owner. One of the easiest and quickest ways to reduce your utility bill and help the environment without sacrificing is by changing your light bulbs.
Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Incandescent light bulbs are remarkably inefficient, both in their manufacturing, and in the amount of light emitted by the bulbs themselves. There are a number of more energy efficient choices available. Two of the most popular are Compact Fluorescence Light Bulbs (CFLs) and LED lights.
CFLs use significantly less energy to produce the same lighting effect. In fact, a CFL bulb can use only 13 watts of electricity to provide the same light as a traditional 60 watt incandescent bulb. According to the Department of Energy, an Energy Star qualified CFL bulb can use up to 75% less electricity, and can last up to 10 times longer. Since lighting can account for almost 20% of the cost of your electric bill, using these more efficient bulbs can be a great way to not only save energy, but also a lot of money. In fact, if every home in America replaced just one traditional bulb with a CFL bulb, enough energy would be saved to light nearly 3 million homes in just one short year.
Of course, CFL bulbs are not the only energy efficient choice when it comes to lighting in your home. LED lights, or light-emitting diode lights, use approximately 15% of the energy of a traditional light bulb. They’ve been around for quite a number of years, and are very durable. A quality LED has a lifespan of approximately 60,000 hours, almost five times longer than the compact fluorescent bulbs described above, and almost 60 times longer than a traditional bulb. In fact, these bulbs use so little energy, that they are often used in outdoor lanterns, since they can easily be powered by solar energy or a small battery. As the cost comes down and more manufacturers integrate them into household lighting, they will become more familiar and available.
Another way to conserve energy and help the environment is by installing a programmable thermostat. This thermostat can allow you to automatically adjust your home temperature based on your daily routine. By making sure the house is warm or cool only when you need it to be, you can potentially lower your energy bill by almost a third. When you’re not using your Seascape home, you’ll be helping the environment by conserving energy by just pressing a few buttons.
By installing and learning how to program an energy saving thermostat, you can make sure your home furnace, and air conditioning systems operate only when they are needed. Depending on your family’s schedule, you will be able to see significant savings in your electric bill, and the reduction in power usage will also make your environmental impact less. The key is to make sure that you use the programmable thermostat so that your home is heated and cooled only when you need it to be. Programmable thermostats on the market today are extremely user-friendly and often come with pre-programmed settings that match average settings for daily, weekly and monthly schedules. If your daily schedule tends to change, a 7 day model programmable thermostat is the best choice. It gives you the most flexibility for those times when your children come home early from school or your mother-in-law stops by for Sunday dinner. Seven day programmable thermostats usually have four possible temperatures period for the day, so you can change things as you need to. If your schedule isn’t as dynamic, other options for thermostats are available.
These are just a few of the easy to use household items that can help reduce your environmental impact as well as your energy use. There are many more, and a number of websites can give you great ideas. One of the easiest to use and understand is the Government’s Energy Star website, energystar.gov. You’ll be able to read about which items have be awarded the Energy Star certification, and get helpful hints on what you can do to make your home more energy efficient.
Gregg Camp is an experienced Santa Cruz real estate broker who has spent more than 20 years working in the beautiful Santa Cruz home market. Search for homes with a Santa Cruz Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES)
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The protection of environment depends on the usage of the electrical appliances. They are invented in order to minimize the power consumption and pollution created by electrical appliances.
With the help of these bulbs, saving our planet as well as reducing pollution is possible. They are good in extending lamp life to 15000 hours and the power consumed is less as well.
There are plenty of brands available such as; GE, Osram, Pro Lite, Philips, Impact, Sylvania, Omicron, Megaman are some of them.
They are designed in such a way that they attract everyone. Candle, capsule, Clusterlite, Globe, Glofball and Multi tube are the shapes of some energy saving bulbs available in the market.
Ultra violet fluorescent and energy saving bulbs are the types of bulbs available in the market. They come in attractive colors such as very warm white, warm light, black light blue, cool light and day light. They come in varieties of sizes as well.
Another two essential things are learned about the energy saving bulbs are; the wattage and voltage required by them. Their voltage ranges between 110-130V, 12V and 220-240V. The power consumption wattage available in different varieties like 100W,11W,12W,15W,18W,19W are in the market.
For example, an energy saving candle light bulbs will cut the cost by 80%. The mini spiral bulbs are available in the wattage of 17 and 18 watts.
Some of the bulbs that are extremely good in cutting the cost are; Compact fluorescent light bulbs, halogen bulbs and Led light bulbs.
The compact fluorescent bulbs’ working is explained below. They produce more diffusive light when compared to the incandescent lights. The power consumed by them is one-third when compared to the power consumed by incandescent bulbs.
A 60w bulb can be easily replaced by the 15W bulb. The only set back is; they should not be placed close to any electronic devices as it may cause interference. By using those away from these devices will provide you a handful of returns.
The energy saving light bulbs are useful to reduce the cost of the electricity. There are more details about energy saving light bulbs available in the internet.
I have completed post graduation and passionate for writing articles.
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How to reduce your electricity bill
If you have been bogged by the enormous electricity bills you have been getting, it is time to take some concrete steps. You can reduce your electricity bills by following very simple steps.
This article will list some simple, easy-to-do things to reduce your electricity bill.
Limited use: Start with the room you are sitting in. If you were to take a call in another room or join your family at the dining table, would you just step out of your room without any concern for the electrical appliances in the room? If you would, stop right there, and look around. Switch off all the appliances even if you would be back in five minutes. Yes, even that will help. Every drop of water constitutes to the ocean.
Another thing to take care of here is what you perceive as an electronic appliance. Would you switch off the television set, turn off the fan, but not the light bulb? Yes, you need light, but not now when you are leaving the room. Taking care of these small things will go a long way in reducing the dreaded huge electricity bills.
Smart investments: Make some smart power investments by replacing your incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. These bulbs are a great power-saving investment.
Buy the Power Save gadget. The gadget helps monitor the power supply to your house and uses the minimum that is needed.
Home appliance usage: Most of us complain that the electricity bill touches the sky because of the number of electrical appliances they have at home. However, the electricity bill is not directly proportional to the number of gadgets you use but the way you use them. Let’s see how you can avoid the typical power-wasters.
• Use the washing machine only when there is a full load of clothes.
• Keep the geyser on for the minimal amount of time.
• Keep the air-conditioner at the minimum low or high temperature, just enough to keep you off the heat or the cold outside.
• Switch off the computer monitor even when you take a one-minute break. It takes just a second to switch on the monitor again!
Yeah, you have to stick to this way of life for saving power at home and for the world.
Remember, reducing your electricity bill is equivalent to saving power, thus helping the world save power for its future generations.
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