Tips On Ways to conserve energy

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For Additional Energy Saving Tips Please Go To:
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For Green Energy Information Please Go To:
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Ways To Conserve Energy
The buzz today is all about alternative energy resources and renewable energy resources like solar,
wind and water and we can use these energy resources to get off the limited polluting energy resources
we use today. What's missing from this picture though is conserving energy; energy conservation can
have a huge impact on the amount of energy you use and will save you lots of money as well.

If you consider that just a few years ago a barrel of crude was well under hundred dollars and energy
cost were relatively inexpensive. Today the price of not only crude, but coal and gas have sky rocketed
putting a major dent into the wallets of consumers at all levels.

For homeowners this is most significant because heating fuel, especially during the winter months can
be quite costly as demand goes up across the board; and since crude is used in so many products today,
the painful expense of high fuel cost can be quite significant.

But there are steps you can take that will help you reduce your energy bill, allowing to use the cash you
save for other important things.

Tip#1
You need to consider is upgrading your lighting and how you use your light appliances.
Replace those incandescent lamps or bulbs with energy efficient ones like florescent or low voltage led
lighting fixtures. Though the up front cost is higher they last longer and provide the equivalent amount
of lumens while dissipating much less energy. This is especially true with led lighting fixtures; not
only that they will last between 10 to 20 years before they need to be replaced. While a typical
incandescent light bulb only last about 750 hours.

Tip#2
Install lighting sensors in you lamps and wall lighting fixtures. These sensors will keep the lights off
and monitor when someone walks into a living space turning on the lights automatically and then
turning them off when you leave the area. These are great for your outdoor lights so that they're not on
continuously, only when you need them

Tip#3
Use a light dimmer or three way bulbs and sockets, so that you're using the least amount of energy
possible. You can adjust the brightness of the bulbs to fit your needs eliminating that high energy drain
that a high wattage bulb consumes.

Tip#4
Use as much natural light as you can to conserve energy. Raise those shades and blinds, open the
curtains and let the light in. In winter this will also add some additional heat to your home

Tip#5
Since your refrigerator must be on 24/7 make sure that the coils behind the refrigerator are free of dust
and that there are no obstacles which impede airflow. Make sure your freezer is free of any ice build
up. Make sure you select a coldness setting that will keep you food from spoiling, but that it's not so
high as to waste energy. Make sure you follow the manufactures suggested best practices and
maintenance suggestions .

Tip#6
In winter reduce your thermostat to a temperature that is comfortable this can save you lots of energy.
A general rule of thumb is that if you reduce your temperature setting by 1 degree you can save about
3% in energy cost. Also make sure you seal those cracks around doors and windows to reduce energy
loss.

Tip#7
Upgrade to a zoned thermostat to put the heat where you need when you need. If it's programmable all
the better so you can set it to fit your style of living. Say you and your family generally go to bed about
11pm and no one is really using the bedrooms until that time. That means you can program the
thermostat to start heating the bedroom areas say at 10:30pm. When everyone is gone for the day the
thermostat reduce the temperature in the home to lets say 55 degrees. This can greatly reduce the
amount of energy you use and the upgrade will pay for itself year after year.

Tip#8
It's now summer and you're ready to use your air conditioner, make sure it's ready for summer use.
Ensure the filters are clean and that you've done the manufactures recommended maintenance. Your
units is old upgrade to a high efficiency unit that uses less BTU's (British Thermal Unit); better yet get
a ceiling fan it's cheaper and uses far less energy than an air conditioner. Get curtains, blinds or shades
for your windows. There are some many types available today; like those that block infrared energy
but allow light in. If your upgrading the windows in your home get the highest energy rated windows
you can afford. Another option is to get infrared window films that you can apply to your windows to
further block the amount of heat energy entering your home; causing you to operate your air
conditioner at a higher setting (Also See Air Conditioner Buying Tips Below).

Tip#9
Turn off your tech gear at night like your computer, DVD player, stereo, cellphone charger. Though
many of these devices operate in standby mode they still consume energy that adds up. Put these on a
distribution block so that when your ready to use them with one flip of the switch you turn everything
on. This is especially important for computers where you have a monitor, your desktop system, printer,
speaker system, tablet, scanner, external disk drives, modems, routers and the like. Also for
entertainment system where you have a host of devices plugged in the same thing applies (See Power
Saving Power Strip Conserves Energy Below).

Tip#10
If you have a drier, use it only when you need to as these device consume a great deal of energy to dry
your clothes. Go retro and do it the old fashion way, hanging your clothes on a clothes line. If you just
can't live without a clothes dryer purchase an energy efficient one. What you're looking for is a unit
that contains a moisture sensor to turn off the unit when the clothes are dry.

Tip#11
If you upgrading your dishwasher look for one that incorporates soil sensors. These sensors detect the
dirt in the water and can save you energy and water by shortening the wash cycle

Tip#12
Upgrade your washing machine to one that uses less energy and less water you'll reduce your energy
consumption on both ends as described in Tip#13. Do your best to always wash a full load instead
several smaller loads this will save water and energy. Whenever possible wash your clothes with cold
water or warm water instead of hot water, the savings will add up over the course of a year.

Tip#13
Reduce the amount of water you use to save energy, especially in the bathroom as experts say this is
where most of the water we use is consumed. In most communities water must be pumped into homes
this requires massive amounts of energy; by using less water you reduce the amount of energy required
to transport this vital commodity saving you money and energy.

Tip#14
Insulate your water heater. This is good advice in the winter to keep the heat where you need it and is
good advice in the summer to prevent the water heater from increasing your homes temperature,
causing you to increase the work load of your air conditioner thus increasing the amount of energy you
use. If you can upgrade your water heater to the newest high efficiency smart devices that are available
today.

Tip#15
Make sure that if you have duct work that delivers warm air throughout your home from the water
heater that there are no leaks, if there are seal them. Also if the duct work is not insulated, insulate it to
increase the energy delivery efficiency of the system.

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Air Conditioner Buying Tips

1) Determine what size air conditioner you need for example the Frigidaire FRA052XT7 is a small
air conditioner rated at 5,000 BTU which will cool an area of 150 square feet. While the
Frigidaire FRA106BU1 is rated at 10,000 BTU and will cool an area of 500 square feet. This
however is just a starting point for your air conditioner selection , as you must also take into
consideration what room will the air conditioner be in, are there appliances that consume large
amounts of power which give off heat, are there many windows in the room, what size are the
windows in the room, does the room face north or south, is there shading around that part of the
house, how well insulated is the room, how often is the room used... So just because the room
may be 150 square feet, if you have appliances and electronics in that room that are on most of
the time a 5,000 BTU air conditioner may not provide the necessary cooling.
2) Look for an air conditioner that has a high Energy Efficiency Ratio or EER. The EER is a
measure as to the efficiency of an air conditioning unit which relates energy usage to the
amount of cooling the air conditioner provides. As a guideline high efficient small air
conditioners will generally have an EER of about 10 or 11, while large high efficiency air
conditioners will have an EER of 12 and up.
3) Consider the features that come with the air conditioner. Does it have energy efficient features,
does it have more than one cooling speed, does it come with an adjustable thermostat, can you
adjust the units vents, is the air filter easily accessible, is the filter a washable one... or does the
unit have a built in air ionizer to kill that helps remove bacteria and allergens from the air –
which is a good feature to have for allergy sufferers. Does the air conditioner have manual or
electronic controls, or does it come with a remote control unit?
4) Is the air conditioner you are buying costly yo operate. This you can determine by looking at
your electric bill and seeing how much you are pay for electricity per kilowatt-hour. On each
air conditioner is an average nation wide cost per kilowatt-hour, but the reality is that in your
area that number can be significantly higher. So figure out how many hours per day you will be
using the unit to get a rough estimate as to what it will cost you per month in electricity cost.
Also don't forget to factor in the projected increase for the cost of energy. So even it the unit
fits the bill now a year or two down the road my be a completely different case.
5) Determine if the air conditioner can be installed by you or if it will have to be installed by a
professional. Does the unit come with all the parts needed for a complete installation or will
you have to buy an additional installation kit. Does the unit draw a low enough amperage that it
will run off of a 15Amp outlet or does it require a 20Amp outlet

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Saving Energy With An Energy Consumption Home Energy Monitor
Though there are many ways to save energy in your home (I've listed a few in this blog), one of the best
ways to track down those device that consume the most amount of energy is with a Home Energy
Monitor. These devices can monitor the power usage of all your electrical devices and give you an
energy usage report in dollars and kilowatts.

The price range for these device can run from under $20 to a few hundred dollars depending on the
features, connectivity and analytical software used. Most of us don't need much of the features that
manufactures provide, except for the basics like like how much energy your devices are using and
much that's costing on a monthly or yearly basis.

Once you have this info you can then purchase a smart power strip which turns off power to devices
that have been powered down to stop wasting energy unnecessarily.

The big question is what type of home energy monitor should you use or purchase; if you're not a
techie look for one that's simple to use and that provides you with the information you need. If you're
not a youngster anymore choose one that provides easy access. Many energy monitors plug right into
the outlet, such that if it's a lower mounted wall outlet you'll have to squat, bend down or get on your
knees to read the information.

Check to make sure that the screen is readable and that it's measurement accuracy is good. Some
devices have accuracy measurement deviations as high as 10 percent which quite high; 3% to 5%
variations is at most what you should tolerate. Now to be clear here much of this variation is based on
how the energy monitor obtains it's data.

You have clamp on sensors that clamp on to the wiring measuring current flow only and not electrical
fluctuations and then an estimate is made. Other devices plug directly into the socket or wall outlet
which gives a direct reading based on current and voltage for much better results.

One home energy monitor that I like due to it's low cost and easy of use, is the Belkin Conserve Insight
F7C005q Energy-Use Monitor. This unit cost under $30 as of this posting; it's unique in that for an
outlet plug-in device the monitoring unit is attached to a five foot cable. Which makes it easy to place
the display where you choose, eliminating the need to have to bend down to read the display.

This unit will give the amount of energy a device is using, it's cost over a 30 day or a 365 day period
and the amount of the CO2 footprint for the device that's plugged into it. The unit come preloaded with
average US electricity rates, but you can input the electricity rates for your utility so that you can get an

exact cost analysis. You are also able to enter the CO2 emission rates for your specific region.

Note the Belkin Conserve Insight F7C005q Energy-Use Monitor is designed to be plugged into a
standard United States 3 pronged wall outlet.

The information provide by this device is:
Watts
Cost Per Month or Cost Per Year
Pounds Per CO2 Per Month or Year

If you want cost per day, cost per hour or kilowatt (Kwh) you'll need to do the mathematical calculation
yourself; for most people this won't be an issue since they take this data and compare it to their monthly
electric bill.

Overall when compared to other home energy monitors the Belkin Conserve Insight F7C005q Energy-
Use Monitor is a very good device for the price giving you the information you to make an intelligent
assessment on how to reduce your energy consumption.

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Power Saving Power Strip Conserves Energy
Once you've determined what electrical devices are using the most amount of power in your home you
can take several steps to conserving the amount of energy you're using so that you can save money and
lower you carbon footprint. This includes following suggested manufactures practice to keep your
device operating in top form or upgrading those device that use to much energy. Tax credits and rebates
can help here and generally the more efficient a device is the bigger the credit.

Another option that you have and that is low cost is to purchase a power saving power strip. These
types of power strips use smart technology to monitor the devices that are plugged into, and when these
devices are turned off the power strip disconnects all power from the device.

This is great because many devices today use standby power modes which consume power that over
the course of the year can really add up. On top of that if you have a lot of device that are always on
standby these devices consume energy all day long costing you a bundle on monthly electric charges.

To power saving power strips you may choose to consider are the Smart Strip LCG3 Energy Saving
Power Strip and the Belkin Conserve Switch F7C01110q AV.

The Smart Strip LCG3 is a 10 outlet smart strip power strip that automatically turns off power to any
of it's 6 automatically switched outlets when a device has been turned off. It provides 52dB of
EMI/RFI (Electro Magnetic Interference/Radio Frequency Interference) Filtering, 2225 Joule energy
surge – and 84KA protection, while using less than one watt of power when all outlets are in full use.
The outlets are protected by 15A circuit breaker and two RC filter networks to eliminate false switching
and the outlets use passive current sensor technology for safe clean on off switching of connected
devices.

The Smart Strip LCG3 offers:
1 – Control Outlet
This outlet is the one that when you turn a device off all the other device get turned off. So lets say you
plug your computer into your control outlet and you monitor, printer, speakers, scanner, into the
automatically switched outlets. When you turn off the computer the other devices will be turned off by
the energy saving power strip.

3 – Constant On Outlets
For devices like clock radios, broadband devices, cable/dvd recorders...

6 – Automatically Switched Outlets
That are used as explained above

There is a tweaking control so that you can adjust the turn off setting to match the devices you have
plugged into the smart strip power strip, since different electrical devices have different energy
requirements.

The other power saving power strip is the Belkin Conserve Switch F7C01110q AV. This unit also has
10 outlets, 8 of which are switchable and 2 that are always on. What sets this smart power strip apart
from it's competitors though is the wireless remote which lets you shut off power to any device plugged
into anyone of the 8 switchable outlets. The wireless remote has a stated range of 60 feet and the
outlets have energy surge protection up to 1,000 joules, plus you get pass through coaxial protection for
your home entertainment system.

Overall Belkin Conserve Switch F7C01110q AV is a good energy saving power strip that like the Smart
Strip LCG3 Energy Saving Power Strip will save you energy, money and extend the life of your
electrical devices. These units can be used in your home or business and should be considered over
plain vanilla power strips.

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Solar Panels How Many Do I Need - Basic Solar Panel Information:
If you're planing on making the move to renewable energy using solar panels, the prevalent question on
your mind is “How Many Solar Panels Do I Need?” This question can be answered based on how
much electricity you use on average and in peak usage, where in the world you're living and the season.

For instance if your in the custom of having you computer on all the time have you home entertainment
system on frequently, use indoor lighting a lot, have many electric appliances that are always in use;
then your energy requirements will be quite high.

Now lets say you live in a part of the world where the sun shines some 10 to 12 hours a day – like a
southern region, you may require less solar panels because they are producing more electricity for most
of the day. On the other hand if your in a northern region of the world and the sun shines some 8 hours
in the day and you often have lots of overcast, then you're going to need more solar panels to increase
the amount of energy you can collect and store.

This means you must make some basic energy usage calculations – this is where your current energy
bill comes in handy, so that you can see your peak and monthly average usage. You'll need to
determine the amount of sunshine you receive on a a daily basis and then you need to look at the solar
panel specs to see how much energy they produce at peak sunlight exposure and when the sunlight is
not at it's greatest intensity.

This will allow you to get an initial ball park figure as to the number of solar panel units you will need
and what type of electrical storage system you will need to provide you with the power you need when
sunlight is unavailable or when it is an overcast day.

Also remember that the angle of the sun changes with season so this will also have an effect on the
amount of energy a given solar panel will produce. This is much more important in the high northern
and low southern regions of the globe. The closer to the equator that you are the less of a a concern
this becomes.

So lets say on average you consume 1500 watts per hour and a solar panel is rated at 500 watts in full
sunlight this would mean you would need 3 solar panels to produce the needed 1500 watts. But we also
need to consider how much energy the solar panel will produce on an overcast day, so for the sake of
argument lets say that it's around 250 watts. This means to meet that 1500 watt requirement you're
going to need 6 solar panel units. On a full sunlight day therefore your panels will be producing 3000
watts of energy and you should have an energy storage subsystem that is capable of storing this amount
of energy as well.

The picture though is a bit more complicated, because we all know that there are times where your
peak energy usage exceeds your average energy usage, and you must have enough solar panels to meet
the peak demands that may last an hour maybe more if you want to make yourself grid independent.

There are several guides and informational sources provided by governmental sources that can give you
the information you need to start making the determination on what type of solar panel system you will
need depending on where you live.

If your actually considering moving over to solar energy “Green DIY Energy” is an invaluable
resource for not only building solar panels, but for determining the type of system you'll need to meet
your energy requirements. Off grid living is the wave of the future and it's coming much sooner than
most people think; it's better to put these systems in place today than to wait when the demand for them
will drive prices sky high. The Proactive approach is the best move you can make so learn all you can
about solar energy and how to implement a solar energy solution.

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Tips On Ways to conserve energy

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Tips On Ways to conserve energy