The Advantages Of A Solar Home
July 8, 2009 by Tariq Ajram
Filed under green living
Have you driven by homes that have these large tinted windows and wondered why? It may seem odd for people to have such tall windows in their homes. The most common explanation for this is the homeowners are creating solar energy to power their homes. With just a few minor alterations most homes can be built to make solar power, in turn saving you money by cutting out your monthly electric and/or gas bills.
When you are ready to build your solar powered home, you might consider some of these ideas. It is common in most parts of the country for the sun to shine southward towards your home. The best location for most of your windows would therefore be on the south side of your home. By strategically placing your windows, you are letting the sun flow naturally through your home making it easier to heat with solar energy. You should also consider how many trees are close to this side of the house, because they can block the suns rays making it more difficult for the solar panels to absorb the sun light for the solar energy. When decorating your home you might also consider decorating with lighter colors which help distribute the heat from the sun more evenly than darker colors do.
Adding a home solar panel kit when building your home, works by collecting heat from the sun then converting it into usable energy for powering your home and heating your water. The cost for setting up solar power may be more than that of a conventional home, but your savings over the years can not be measured. You will not only save money for your family but you will also be part of saving the environment. The cost of electricity has dramatically increased the past few years while solar photovoltaic products have become more affordable. Spending the initial investment on building a solar powered home makes more sense now than ever before.
Effectively heating and cooling your home using solar power by following these simple steps:
1.) By using ceiling fans, you reduce the amount of time you run your air conditioner.
2.) Ceiling fans also distribute the amount of heat and air more evenly so you do not have hot and cold pockets throughout your home.
3.) Insulated metal doors can be used to repel the cold and retain more heat.
4.) When the sun is shining the most on a particular side of your home, you can keep those doors closed to help retain the heat inside your home.
The many advantages of building a solar powered home also include the peace of mind that you are building an environmentally friendly home and preserving our natural resources. Another great benefit is being free from the burden of a monthly energy bill, and the constant worry of rising gas and electricity prices. You are taking the first step in creating efficient homemade energy by acquiring a home solar panel kit and building your new solar home.
Three Tips To Making Your Home Office, and Your Finances Greener, In An Economy Crisis
July 7, 2009 by Alexandra Vrugt
Filed under green living
It’s already a huge savings, cost- and stress-reducer working from your own home office. There are no commuting expenses and you can work in a t-shirt and boxers if you really want. For some people, they wouldn’t want to work any other way, and during this economy crisis, there is a certain level of personal “security” with not being exposed to the day-to-day stresses of office politics.
Though you are probably wracking up a great financial saving, cost-conscious people can still save a little more by doing more when it comes to the environment. It actually doesn’t take a whole lot to be more green, it just means that you have be a little more conscientious about how you use what you already have. Here are 3 great ways to green up your office and your company’s financial state:
Buy for cheap the paper that you need for your daily work and use it “all” up. You can find lots of quality paper that you can buy for cheap right at your local thrift stores, office surplus shops, or even at a neighbor’s garage sale a lot of times. Get as much as you can when these deals are presented. If you just have to have a specific kind, make sure to use the coupons and in-store discounts that office supply retailers usually. Pretty much, you never want to pay full price.
But, once you buy for cheap, then it’s time to use as wisely and conservatively as possible. Always use both sides of the paper, when it won’t affect your professionalism or business image. For home files, use both sides. If you make mistakes when printing, use the blank sides for scrap paper or convert a bunch of “half” printed pages into a little scratch pad or notebook.
Another way to save more green and get the office greener is to not use paper at all for things like incoming faxes or emailed files. Take advantage of the free faxing services or find one that you can buy for cheap a membership or subscription so that all of your faxes are directly converted to electronic files. In doing that you will not only eliminate the need for so much paper, but you will also eliminate the need for those file folders and file cabinets! Hey, saving space is a real office refresher also. During this economy crisis, most people can appreciate a little more breathing room.
The other way to max out the savings and get the maximum green effect in your home office is to decorate it and furnish it with recycled furnishings. Buy for cheap good quality furniture from office surplus stores, clearance sales, thrift stores, and of course, yard sales and you will be able to have a beautifully furnished office for pennies on the dollar. In this economy crisis, finding ways to help our pockets can mean the difference between a successful business and one that struggles through this difficult financial time. In the long term, if our efforts help the environment, that’s an even better endeavor.
A great place to find free office supplies and furniture is FREECYCLE.com or Craigslist.org. On these sites, you will be able to find tons of free stuff for your office that is offered by people that want to help our planet by reducing waste. You can always rehab the furniture, cover it, paint it or whatever to give it the exact look that you want. But, with it being free, you can save a significant amount of green for your pocket and still do the “green” thing for the world!
Creativity, planning, and a little research are key to finding items that will work for your home office that can save you money and be a part of saving the environment. During this economy crisis, people are looking for ways to get more for less or get more out of what they have. Research, recycle, and reuse to get your office as green as the money that you’ll be saving with your effort!
Are You Tired Of Being Held Up By The Power Company? Learn How To Build A DIY Solar Panel And You Can Live Free
July 6, 2009 by greg thomas
Filed under green living
Did you know that merely 1 DIY solar panel may save you as much as 20% of your power bill? And did you know you can without difficulty learn how to build a DIY solar panel? In fact it is so simple and easy on the pocket the power company doesn’t care for you to comprehend how it is done.
For only $50 you will learn how to build DIY solar panels. For less than two hundred bucks worth of supplies and 1 weekend out of your existence you will be making your own electricity with DIY solar panels. That single solar panel will pay for itself three or four times in the course of just 1 year!
It is very easy, any person can be taught how to construct professional looking and optimally performing DIY solar panels. All you need is the right set of DIY solar panel plans and a little bit of elbow grease. Plus if you are ambitious you may be entirely power independent, you can even have the electricity company paying you each month!
Whether or not global warming and climate change is factual, it simply makes sense to be making your own electricity with DIY Solar Panels. Even if you are simply generating a little bit of your power requirements you will be helping the planet – and saving money.
You know, it won’t be long until making your own power with DIY solar panels is as widespread as recycling is at the moment. Every few homes on every avenue will have a DIY solar panel or a windmill or something. In actuality we need to get there, we can’t continue to make use of petroleum the way we are now.
Be part of defending our planet’s future. Discover how to build DIY Solar Panels and be free from rising energy costs, be free from the unknown future of petroleum addiction. It’s simply like the old saying – Give a man a fish and he will be satisfied for one day. Teach a man to fish and he will in no way be hungry again. Same applies here with solar panels – never go power hungry again.

