Types of Alternative Home Energy
Home energy consumption is one of the main problems people are having in today’s economy. The fact is, we all need electricity to power much of our lives. We want the level of comfort that is provided by today’s electricity. However, most of us also know that the price we pay for that electicity is just too expensive now to just take it for granted.
In the true spirit of inginuity found in humanity, people today are doing what they have always done when faced with something that does not meet their needs in life… they innovate!
Alternative home energy has been on the roll ever since the first world wide energy crisis of the 1970s when the high costs of energy first made them feasible. I know that there are a lot of people who think that alternative energy methods is just a recent development, but in fact, alternative home energy has been around even before electricity was first discovered.
Consider these types of alternative home energy:
1) Wind energy – Currently, windmills that are also known as wind turbines or wind generators are used in many homes to run small DC or AC generators. These generators produce and store electricity to be used in running everything from small home appliances to the entire house. Windmills have been around for a long time – they have just been updated with better efficiency in lower winds. If you take a look at the word “windmill” you will realize that just from it’s name, this type of alternative home energy device was used for a purpose other than producing electricity long ago in the past.
Yes, the windmill was indeed, used to mill grain for flour. As you may well know, grinding grain by hand is very hard work. So in order to make life more convenient and the production of flour more efficient, windmills were used to turn the large stone grinders.
Seeing as how this was so effective, it was inevitable that the windmill would evolve into the 21st century in order to be used as an alternate power source for our homes and businesses.
2) Solar energy – Most everyone thinks of this type of alternative home energy as something that is very technologically advanced. In a sense, harnessing the power of the sun to produce electricity is an advanced technology… but, this alternative home energy has already been in use for centuries. We have just updated it’s efficiencies.
Think about this word for a second: CLOTHESLINE. Ah-ha, you get it now, don’t you? Yes, we have been using solar energy to dry our clothes for who knows how long. Think about that spin dryer or hair dryer you have and think about how much electricity it uses to do a task that the sun has been able to do for all it’s life, albeit at a little slower pace.
This true alternative home energy is harnessed these days for a large variety of tasks. Some use it to heat their homes (both passive and active), others use solar power to heat water, while still others use solar power cells to power small appliances and even totally replace that high electricity bill from the power company. The efficiency by which we are now able to convert solar power into electricity is of such a degree that it is very possible to now power a whole house or small business!
We are currently in the planning process for our dream home on 15 acres just South West of Deer Park WA. We’ll be using both passive (no special equipment) and active (solar panels and solar water heaters) solar techniques in a grid tie system. Grid tie just means that we’ll be hooked up to standard power too as a backup and to store our excess power by running the meter backwards when we use less than is being generated by our system.
3) Hydropower – This type of alternative home energy makes use of water currents in order to turn turbines to run generators. The principals are the same as a windmill, just applied to the water. Once again, this is not really a new technology and just like windmills, waterwheels were often used to harness the power of a nearby river in order to grind grain into flour or move water into cannals.
4) Biogas – This is one of the newer alternative home energy source. Biogas is produced naturally via the decomposition of different biological material. By using biogas instead of the common LPG (Liquid Patrolium Gas or Propane), home owners can cut back on their heating bills.
So, what do you think now? As you can see, there are a lot of different types of alternative home energy sources. What you really need to do is to explore these new options and discover which type is the best fit for your individual situation. Know that you know how we have used these energy sources in the past and how they are being used today… you should have a good idea on how you can apply them to your home and small business.
In this age of new green building methods, none of the methods of harnessing the different alternative home energy types should seem impractical to the average homeowner. Even as we begin to remodel older homes and businesses… as technology continues to evolve, you can be sure that the use of alternative energy will become more efficient and become more a part of everyday building practices.
By using alternative home energy now, you accomplish two things: you save on your expenses over a long period of time and you also help to create a better and more livable world for our families to live in.
You see, alternative home and business energy sources do not produce any harmful green house effects to the environment. By using these sources now available, you harness relatively free energy for years to come. Some people may try to tell you that the devices used to harness these sources may be too expensive – DON’T LET THEM! Depending on where you live, you could get your energy at less then half of what it costs for traditional power. As more and more states and governments mandate cleaner energy and provide credits and rebates… you may find that it’s even cheeper than traditional building methods. Especially as the price of energy continues to rise… and it isn’t going to stop, in the long run, you’ll end up saving so much more than you spend.
Wes Waddell
www.BuildingSolarNews.info
www.BuildingSolarNews.com
POWER-SAVE 1200 SAVES & PROTECTS
“I have owned and enjoyed my Power Save 1200 for several years now (I even bought company stock)…
My house was hit by lightning the other day and we had very little electrical damage. The cable connection got fried and things connected to it had some porblems. But I believe that the Power Save 1200 protected all of my electrical devices…” – Thanks, Jim Cristofori
