Green Tips for Your EnergyThere are so many more obvious choices these days when it comes to our energy generation, especially in sunny Southern California.
And now, with CFL’s and LED’s on the market there shouldn’t be any reason why we can’t flick the switch in our favor. LED’s use far less energy than a traditional bulb which would lighten our footprint immensely and we’re just talking light bulbs here.
Firm Green Energy, Inc.
www.FirmGreen.com
2901 West Coast Hwy., Suite 200
Newport Beach, CA 92663
2901 West Coast Hwy., Suite 200
Newport Beach, CA 92663
Green Solar Systems
223 South Glendora Ave Ste. 100
Glendora CA 91741
800-476-8504
• An LED light bulb can reduce energy consumption by 80-90% and last around 100,000 hours. They even light up faster than regular bulbs (which could save your life it there are LEDs in the brake lights of your car). They are almost always more expensive presently, but we have seen the cost go down steadily. It’s no coincidence that the Millennium Technology Prize went to the inventor of the LED.
• The best source of light we know is the sun, which gives off free, full-spectrum light all day. Make the most of daylight by keeping your blinds open. If you want to go a little farther, put in some skylights, or, of you are designing a home or doing a renovation, put as many windows on the south-facing side of the house as possible (or north-facing if you live in the southern hemisphere). To take it even further, sunlight can be “piped” inside via fiber optics and other light channeling technologies.
• Motion sensors can be a good way to keep lights turned off when they’re not needed, and dimmers can give you just the right amount of life, and timers can be set to turn things on and off when needed.
• The better you draft-proof and insulate your home, the more you’ll need good ventilation. Pollutants (especially from unflued heaters) can accumulate and excess condensation can cause mould and mildew to grow. Open some windows for a few minutes several times a day (cross-ventilate, if possible), rather than leaving a window partly open all the time.
• Who knew a fan could be useful for heating your home? Turns out that a well-positioned and slow-rotating fan can help ensure that heat from your radiator or heater doesn’t just drift up to your ceiling but spreads throughout your room, warming you toe to head. One great option is a heater fan, which sits atop woodstoves or gas room heaters and relies on a thermodynamic module to keep them running on heat alone (look ma, no batteries!).
• Heating the rooms to tropical temperatures isn’t just unnecessary, but uncomfortable. Throw on your most comfortable sweater and turn your thermostat down a few degrees. Each degree Celsius less will save about 10% on your energy use. And don’t forget to close doors to keep the heat contained in the rooms you’re actually using. Also, reduce temperatures at night, when you’re under the blankets. A programmable thermostat might be your most effective weapon.
• A home energy audit is a way to inventory your home’s energy use, where energy is lost, and where it can be saved. You can do an energy audit yourself or get a pro. Many utilities also offer home and business energy audits for free.
• Replace your light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) or even cutting-edge LEDs.
• Turn off lights and other devises when they’re not needed.
• Electronics that sleep on a standby setting continue to pull a current even when “turned off.”
• Clothes driers gobble up a lot of power, so line drying can be a great energy saver.
• Homes consume an enormous amount of energy, especially in heating and cooling, and American homes consume around six times the world average. Once you’ve audited your home for energy use (even if you haven’t) some simple moves can cut your electricity bill.
• Electronics like computers and audio equipment can be big power suckers, too. See below for more on greening your computer usage. Being smart with lighting is another key way to green your power usage.
• Make your own electricity from the sun, wind, or water. Installing a home alternative energy system is becoming more and more cost effective as technology improves and assistance programs spread.
• Photovoltaic, or solar electric, systems are the most common. Depending on your available space, local climate, budget, and local utility, a solar electric system can provide all the energy needed for a typical home (and possibly more). Check with your local power utility about subsidy programs or other available programs.
• For all the portable electronic gizmos in your life, consider feeding them green power with a solar charger. Some look like notebooks, cell phones, flowers, or are built into backpacks. Your MP3 player, laptop, PDA, cell phone, and camera can all be charged with portable solar, and you’ll never find yourself searching for a plug.
• A home or building designed and constructed around energy efficiency can realize enormous savings. Everything from the positioning of the house, use of daylight and natural ventilation, lighting and appliances, and renewable energy system can push a building closer and closer to net zero energy consumption. If you are considering building a home, do serious renovations, or an addition, make sure that energy efficiency is a key design criterion.
• Getting green power may be as easy as checking a box on your energy bill. About 600 of the U.S. ’s 6,000 power utilities offer a green power option of one kind or another. In this sort of program, the local utility buys renewable energy (wind, solar, etc.) and then passes it along to customers. It often costs a bit more, but not much, and it helps support the industry for clean, green power.
• Another way to support renewable energy and “offset” your own environmental footprint is to buy renewable energy credits (RECs). There are many web sites that will help you calculate your energy consumption and buy a requisite amount of RECs to compensate for it.
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