Cut Your Electric Bills

Solar Power from sunlight.

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how it was on the farm before and after elecric

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they think a new creation base to Japanese warrior. the sumo armor, and they tested hitting by car

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When planning your new house, an energy efficient green house floor plan would be an excellent alternative to a traditional stick built home. One improtant thing to consider is the orientation of your home on the property. One way to gain energy savings is to situate the house toward the northwest and use fewer openings and heavier walls on that side.

The house should open up to the southeast in order to take advantage of solar heat. Use louvers to block harsh summer sun angles and also allow weak angled winter warmth. With a southeast orientation, the slope of the main roof should face southwest with solar panels placed on that side.

Another way to save money is in the configuration and construction of the house. Heavy mass should be used on the north or northwest side in a green house floor plan to block the winter cold. It also is an efficient way to run plumbing and HVAC. The roof may be designed to collect rainwater in large barrels or cisterns which will cut down on city water costs.

The interior of a green house floor plan should be open and spacious to allow for natural airflow from open windows and stragically placed panels. This type of design cuts down on the need for air conditioning by making use of wind currents to bring fresh air into the home. Pick out the most energy efficient doors and window you can afford since they will provide an excellent return on you investment in lower energy bills month after month.

The true beauty of a green house floor plan is the ability to live “off the grid” with only a few extra features. A combination of features such as rain water collection,gray water reuse, solar panels and wind power with battery back up will afford a better lifestyle that is also easier on Mother Nature. With careful design and planning you can make your new home easier on the environment with a green house floor plan.

Solar cells are devices that have been designed to tap into the solar energy which is abundant on the surface of the earth during daylight. You would have seen small solar cells at work in your calculators, watches and other such devices and could have observed that some of these contraptions seem to be running on these solar cells alone, forever, as though they never need any other source to derive power from, as along as there is sunlight.

The solar cells we see everyday are also called Photovoltaic cells or modules-usually frames with groups of solar cells tightly packed and arranged in a systematic way. Photovoltaic are special materials which have the ability to convert sunlight into electricity. Hitherto used exclusively for space and related applications, it has now been extended to almost everything from water heaters to automobiles.

Photovoltaic cells are constructed using semiconductor material – materials which have the ability to conduct electric current. Silicon is one of most common materials used. When sunlight hits the solar apparatus, the solar cells absorb the heat and the electrons are let free or kicked out from their lodging places within the atomic structure of the semiconductor material. The electrons duly freed, thus begin to flow leading to an electric current. If two metal plates can be attached to the points of flow, electric current could be drawn out.

Earlier solar cells found use only for generating power for satellites out there in the space. Today, they are here in use for even less exotic applications like solar water heaters, cookers, calculators, watches and a few automobiles too. Solar cells could be used to provide electricity for your home or office too. However, while the operating costs of your power expenditures would come down drastically, you need to be aware that the installation and the solar cell set up itself is outrageously expensive. Since you would be using this power primarily to run your major appliances, you might have to find alternatives.

It is a matter of time before the energy from the sun is harnessed into a full-time energy source that could be used to produce electricity. It is already quite popular, but then, there are a few problems associated with this technology. The heat rays from the sun keep fluctuating and it could be snowing or raining sometimes. The warmer areas on earth are fine, but how do we help the colder areas? The lack of uniformity and reliability on the solar heat rays has remained a challenge for harnessing this technology.

When we move, we generally focus on the residence, the neighborhood, taxes, schools, and the like. There are occasions, though, when we want something specific in a location. Recently, one of our visitors asked for help finding a locale with very specific and unique attributes.

She and her husband live in southern California and wanted to move somewhere less expensive, near woodlands, not too hot, not too cold, and not too much snow. Seems like looking for a needle in the haystack, right? Not necessarily–thanks to all of the data available on the web.

We broke the request into three components: cost of living, climate, and forest cover.

Determining the cost of living for all locales across the state could be very complicated, so we made some simplifying assumptions. First, housing, food, and energy costs account for most of the average household budget. Second, food and energy costs tend to be consistent across regions. That left us with housing costs.

We then broke down housing costs into its major components: mortgage/rent and property taxes. The US Census collects housing value and property tax data as part of their decennial survey, so we decided to use that data to calculate a housing cost index by county. The results were interesting. While California as whole is one of the most expensive states, we found a lot of variance in housing cost by county within the state.

Based on our calculations, Modoc, Kern, and Kings Counties were the least expensive. Marin, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz Counties had the highest housing costs. In general, northern counties not on the coast were looking most affordable.

So far, so good…at least we could recommend less expensive areas. Now, how to find areas with moderate temperatures?

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration–the branch of government that includes the National Weather Service) provides maps of “Heating Degree Days” and “Cooling Degree Days”. Exactly, what are “Heating Degree Days” and “Cooling Degree Days”?

One heating degree day occurs for each degree the daily mean temperature is below 65 degrees Fahrenheit. So if the average temperature is 63 on a particular day, that’s two Heating Degree Days (2 degrees multiplied by 1 day). It indicates fuel consumption to heat your residence.

One cooling degree day occurs for each degree the daily mean temperature is above 65 degrees Fahrenheit. So if the average temperature is 67 on a particular day, that’s two Cooling Degree Days (2 degrees multiplied by 1 day). It indicates electricity consumption to cool your residence.

So all we had to do was compare those two maps with our housing cost map to find areas that weren’t too hot, weren’t too cold, and weren’t too expensive. Heating degree days are at moderate levels in the central valley and along the central coast. Cooling degree days are at moderate levels in the northern half of the state. Putting it all together, we were now focused on a few counties: Shasta, Tehama, Glenn, and Colusa.

Step two complete.

Next, we turned to the US Geological Survey for a forest cover map of California. Each of those counties had areas of forest cover, specifically pine, fir, spruce, and hardwood. Comparing the forestry map with the other three maps allowed us to identify areas within each county that would meet their needs. The western sections of Colusa and Glenn counties; the east and west ends of Tehama county; and everywhere except the south-central area of Shasta county.

Problem solved. Knowing what areas would meet their general needs, they could now focus on finding the best place to live in any one of those areas.

I believe that renewable energy sources is a better method, but it is more expensive. If you could also provide statistics/facts I would appreciate it!

Wind power is actually very cheap, but the only problem is it can't provide baseload power. It only provides power when the wind is blowing. However, it can provide power at 7-10 cents per kWh, competetive with coal.
http://climateprogress.org/2008/05/17/wind-power-a-core-climate-solution/

Geothermal is also looking extremely promising, and can also potentially provide affordable power. It can provide power 24/7 as well (baseload power).
http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/2199/76/
http://climateprogress.org/2008/09/27/us-geothermal-is-hot/

Concentrated solar thermal is another great option, and can store energy to be used as baseload. It can be potentially as cheap as coal.
http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/2205/83/
http://climateprogress.org/2008/07/28/solar-baseload-update/

There are others like solar photovoltaic, tidal, etc.

There's no question that renewable energy is preferable to traditional (mainly coal) energy, because it's clean and the fuel source will never run out.

I am building a log home several miles from the nearest power hookup. It will take nearly $30,000 to run power to my homesite. Solar appears to be a viable option, if it is possible to run the whole house. I can get propane delivered if necessary, but if I can do it all with solar, I'd be more likely to go that route.

Well, I think it should be possible, im sure it will be much more economical than the $30,000
the big question is: how much sun do you get?
sunlight would roughly have an incident power of 1000 W/m^2, and if u have a solar cell efficiency of say 12% that would give you 120 W /.m^2
also, u dont have to use solar cells for all your purposes:
build your hot water tank on a tower, make it to be out of some metal and paint it black, that would give you really hot water. ( you may need to cover it with insulation at night, or build two tanks, one to heat the water in, and a lower insulated tank to transfer the water once it is heated)
also, you can do your cooking on solar power, the cooker will look like a wierd contraption consisting of various lenses and mirrors, but it can be done, you can design it yourself with some basic knowledge of physics, i have built models in school projects which cook really great food. ( it may require a small opening on your kitchen ceiling, and apparatus mounted on your roof.)
finally, i would strongly advocate the use of solar power, and encourage you to use it, as it is THE cleanest way of energy, and THE solution to the world's upcoming energy crisis.

I am looking to convert my home to renewable energy to avoid pay high energy bills. How do I do this?

look at your electric bills…..they will show how many kiloWatt hours ( kWh) a month you use now. Thats what you have to supply from wind/solar….accept that you will have to have some "town" power to run A/Cs or refrigerators, then:

SouthWest Windpower and Burgey Windpower have good, sorta affordable wind turbines for home use.

Your State Energy Office or its equivalent has a ton of information and tax rebates and grant programs.

Start by putting in as many energy efficient devices as you can……fluorescent lights as an example.

You will need a battery bank and an inverter to run stuff when the wind doesn't blow or the sun isn't out…..windmill/solar panels charge batteries, inverter takes battery energy and feeds the house……

Go look at your local Weather Service home page for annual average wind speed…..if you're somewhere around 14 mph ( 7 m/s) you're good for wind power

There you go…..about 40 hours of information to start reading!

I wanted to see if anyone had any easy helpful tips that can help you save money on your electric and water bill. I am moving into my own place and have to pay some utility bills and just trying to figure out ways to cut costs.

One thing is to consider a programmable thermostat. You can set your heat / air for the right temperatures when you are or aren't at home. Think about one of those toilet tank regulators to avoid wasting water. Set your hot water to a decent temperature. Caulk your windows and doors to protect against heat or air escape. Learn to unplug things that are not in use all of the time like a microwave, coffee pot, etc. Get an energy saving showerhead. Don't run water when brushing teeth… get a little glass by the sink. Remember it adds up when you prevent a little waste per day, it saves alot over a year. Oh, and invest in those energy light bulbs. They cost more upfront but they save you in the long run.