Solar Panel Saves Electricity

12:10 PM Solar Panel Saves Electricity 1 Comment

Saving electricity usage in your home is really the first big step in the process of going solar. In most cases an average solar power system will not supply you with 100% of your energy needs, so to make the whole thing more cost effective it is vitally important to find as many ways as you can to make your home as energy efficient as possible. Whether you are looking for ways to make sure that your household is living in a more Eco-friendly manner or you are just searching for ways to reduce your electricity bill, you'll find that employing the following measures will help enormously.

Saving Electricity: Perform an energy audit

An energy audit is a complete and thorough analysis of your home and its energy usage. You can do this type of audit yourself but it is pretty time consuming. There are professionals that you can pay to perform an audit but most  energy companies will do this for you either at a low cost or for free. I suggest contacting your energy provider to see if they offer this service, and if they do, have the audit performed. It will give you a very clear picture of where you are at and exactly what you need to do to fix any problems and improve your energy efficiency. If you would like help with doing an energy audit there is a great product called the 'Kill A Watt' . It is a very simple and useful device that lets you assess how efficient your appliances really are.

Saving Electricity: Reduce the use of air conditioners

Your air conditioner is one of the of the biggest electricity hogs in your household. When you want to keep your home cool, why not turn on a ceiling fan instead? Another great way to make sure that you keep your electricity bill down and your home cool is to encourage a cross breeze through your living area by open two windows that happen to face each other. You can also install a solar roof vent and solar attic fan to get rid of unwanted heat from your attic.

Saving Electricity: Keep warm with space heaters

Conversely, when you are looking at making sure that you can conserve electricity, turn down the central air in your home and consider getting space heaters for individual rooms. This can help you make sure that you are going to be able to stay warm while keeping the heating-related electrical costs low. You may also want to turn the heater down when no one is going to be in the house as well.

Saving electricity: Put your computer to sleep

Especially if you have a desktop, you will find that putting your computer to sleep, or even turning it off when you are not using it can improve your electricity costs. Turning it off overnight, when you are not going to be using it, or while you are work can help you save some cash on the electricity usage in your home. If you own a laptop computer you may want to consider a solar charger as opposed to a charger that draws power off your electrical system.

Saving Electricity: When not in use, turn off the lights

This is certainly a basic trick, but the truth of the matter is that it is one that people forget about far too often. Consider all the rooms in your home and how often the light really needs to be on. Take some time to walk around your home and shut off the lights that are not being used. Some people put up little notes or reminders above the switches to help them to remember to turn them off.

Saving Electricity: Use energy efficient light bulbs

As your standard light bulbs burn out you should replace them with energy efficient fluorescent bulbs. They will last way longer and do not use up power like the standard bulbs do.
There is a brand of high tech bulbs called Earth LED that we use that, while pricey, can give you up to 50,000 hours of use. That's 11 years! Here is a couple examples, highly recommended: