As described by the US department of energy, heating and cooling accounts for 56% of a typical home, these expenses represent a great portion of our electric bills and can be a serious burden to energy plants according to peak hours during summer or winter seasons, thats why we need to learn how to lower our energy consumption which will in term help us save money.
In some cases, changing the heating and air conditioning system doesn’t solve our problems, while energy star certified appliances do save money the best way to improve the efficiency of such devices is by making sure our homes have proper insulation. Homes with professional insulation are designed to capture the energy received by the sun in order to retain it during cold seasons, insulation can also keep our homes cool when the temperatures become very high.
During the cold season it is recommended to keep the temperature dial between 70-76 degrees and dress in layers in order to preserve body heat. Spending the day out in the Mall or in the pool can prove to be quite effective in order to keep us cool, however we can’t spend the entire summer in these places so we need to come up with more efficient ways to harness energy and reduce our dependency on energy plants, this is the reason why solar cells and hydro-generators have been invented and put into action in many US homes.
Solar cells can capture the energy which comes from the Sun even during cloudy days, this energy is then distributed throughout the house and can reduce our electric bill. Also, if you have several electric devices such as computers, home entertainment systems, TVs, stereos and other similar electronics, make sure to unplug them from the main power source because some of them may draw electricity even when they are turned off.
Hydroelectric power has been a great alternative to generate power which doesn’t’ produce any waste and is nature friendly by not producing CO2 emissions. The hydro model is so efficient that many countries have even scaled down the generators in order to produce electricity for small towns, such is the case of may towns in Asia. Most hydroelectric models are actually quite big but people have actually worked a way around this and brought the models down to size in order to produce power for one house, if you have a water stream near your house such as a river, you can take advantage of it by building your very own micro-hydro-generator which will help you save a lot on your electric bill.