With oil and natural gas prices rocketing, stoking terror of long, cold and and expensive winters, a renewed interest in keeping heating costs under control has has been sparked. Homeowner’s have an ignited passion in understanding energy saving methods. If you’re in this boat, stuck in cold waters, here are some tips for energy saving tricks of the trade.

If you’re living in a home with a furnace that’s more than 20 years old, you may have already attempted the “buy a sweater” method of keeping warm. This is certainly one approach, but these days upgrading your home’s conditioning system is a much better option, and will bode well for you in the here and now, and in the long term, should you decide sell your home. More and more, homebuyers are looking for homes with energy efficient systems already in place. So, think of these upgrades as a long term investment in the resale value of your home, as well a cost efficient and green alternative to your current conditioning system.

Now, with that old choker of a furnace huffin’ and puffin’ away, guaranteed it’s not as efficient as it could be, no matter what fuel type it uses. The newer gas furnaces are mid-efficiency (78-82%) or high efficiency (89-96%). Although the higher efficiency products can cost up to $1000 more than the mid-efficiency products, extra costs will be re-couped in a couple years, as they will burn less fuel. And, you’ll be the greenest frog on the block, sending less harmful emissions out into the atmosphere. “It’s so easy being green”, murmured Kermit, once he upgraded his furnace.

With oil furnaces, there are again, much more efficient products on the market as of late. But, a oil furnace does need to partner with a good chimney, and so this may be an additional cost to keep in mind

Take note, it’s still the case that electric heat is more expensive than oil and gas, although a smart combination of central woodstove heat, supplemented by electric heat can be cost efficient.

Let it Flow: Change Your Filters!

Whether disposable or washable, all forced-air heating/cooling systems use filters. And, these filters need to be maintained and changed. Some filters require monthly changes while other last up to three months, and much depends on the conditions within your home. A dirty filter will restrict air flow and with clogged filters you’re blocking heat that would otherwise be keeping you toasty warm. Do yourself a favor and keep on top of the regular changing of your heat filters. This is a pretty easy way to boost your energy efficiency and cut costs.

Pump it up: Install a Heat Pump

Air source heat pumps are the most common and they are generally used with a back-up heating system. In terms of function a heat pump works by extracting heat from the outside and bringing it in, (in heat mode), and by removing heat from the inside of the house and releasing it outside. ( in cooling mode).

The king of heat pumps, though, are ground and watersource, or geothermal. And while the initial investment may be great, the saving will be substantial in the long run. These pumps will use 25-50% less energy than conventional conditioning systems.

At the end of the day, another simple method to help with soaring heat bills, is to keep an eye on the set temperature levels in your house, What is normally described as room temperature is around 68 Fahrenheit (20 degrees celsius). Of course, only you can decide where to set the dial. But, if you’d rather avoid the ” put on a sweater” method of winter energy conservation, you might consider investing in an improved conditioning system that’ll bring you warmth today, and will be a smart investment in the re-sale value of your home.

How would you like to construct your very own DIY Solar Panels? By installing solar panel arrays at your home, you can reduce your monthly electric bill by as much as 80%. Not only that but you can happily utilize the suns energy for less than $200 and this is very possible for anybody to do, no matter what experience you have at DIY projects.

In fact, by spending just $110 it is actually possible to slash your household electric bill by up to 80%. Therefore, for a very minimal outlay, you can easily achieve substantial savings every single month. Is this the very reason why thousands of people the world over are making it a priority to turn to home DIY solar panel projects?

It is absolutely possible for you to make your own home solar panels from your own home or workshop and I will outline the step by step process for you.

Firstly, you will be well advised to build a 16 volt solar panel. This is a simple process which is made even easier as the parts required can be picked up from any good hardware store. The average price for a panel of this kind would be approximately $110.

Your next step will be getting a battery – preferably a small, rechargeable battery would be better. Generally speaking, a 12 volt lead battery will be best as it will almost constantly be in use. You might also like to consider purchasing a good quality battery box to provide some form of protection to small children or pets.

Finally, you will need to purchase a good quality DC meter that can handle the battery’s voltage and DC input. A DC meter allows you to efficiently convert the suns energy from the solar panel and supply the electrical power into your home.

Once you have your items, you will need to attach the DC input and meter into the top of the battery box using insulated wiring to physically attach the meter to the battery. Try to keep an order when doing this and only work with 1 wire at a time. Also, wire to the negative first if possible and follow the same procedure when connecting the solar panel and DC inlet to the battery.

You are now prepared and ready to convert the power of the sun into your very own home electrical energy.

You will of course need to place your solar panel into sunlight and it will take on average, approximately 10 hours to fully charge the solar panel.

In practice, it is a really simple process and if you want to slash your electric bill or even go “off grid” completely, then you should be making your own solar electricity panels. They are fantastic way to harness the power of the sun and use it to your advantage. Don’t also forget the significant positive environmental impact they would have also!

Of course, these steps are very basic and they are summarized but if you feel a little daunted or intimidated by the whole process of do it yourself solar panels, you should consider downloading a complete step by step home study course which will walk you through the entire process with easy to follow instructions.

Building your own solar panels is an incredibly rewarding and satisfying experience and they can genuinely save you thousands in the long term for a very small amount of effort in the short term.

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There was a definite chill in the air this weekend, the first time I’ve noticed it. I usually associate football season with cold weather but we’ve been so lucky so far that I think I was in denial. But Sunday morning definitely hammered home the fact that we’re running out of warm days and moving into fall.

But there’s still time for sunny day projects before the season really takes hold. I spent some time last week working with the kids on a solar panel, and it was a blast! If you’re looking for something to do outside, it’s a project that can improve your home’s energy consumption and provide neat lessons about solar power at the same time. Making a solar panel for your roof is easier than it sounds, and it carries the added benefit of potentially reducing your energy expenses as the winter arrives.

You’ve probably seen offers for a solar panel instruction guides before, and all of them have the same drawback – they’re not able to show you what to do, nor do they do that great a job explaining the science behind it. DIY Green, however, has solved that problem by creating a unique instructional video series that accompanies their plans and instructions. This way, you are able to learn by watching as well as reading the instructions. My family and I found this to be incredibly helpful. Video helps you do things the right way the first time, because you’ve seen someone else do it. They’re very professional and easy to understand, and they make this a great package for anyone who is looking for a project they can actually complete.

Having become the proud owner of a solar panel and inverter, I can say that this was a very worthwhile project! The instructions really work, and the materials came in a little bit under budget. I also got big compliments from kids, neighbors, and the Home Depot guys! It was really fulfilling to do a project that keeps on giving. We don’t have a good roof for mounting a panel, so we decided to build in a little stand for the panel. That way we can take it out wherever we need to plug something in.

And it really does work! I have to say that DIY Green did a fantastic job with this kit. I do wish the videos were a little slower, so that we wouldn’t have to rewind as much, but it’s so nice to see the steps on screen that this is a small quibble. Now that we’ve done one, my daughter wants to make one for [spin]a merit badge (which she hated two weeks ago!). All around, I’d say it was a major hit, and suitable for kids 10 and up with the help of an adult.

As the term suggests, bio-fuels are fuels that are formed when biological matter decomposes. The bio-fuels are mostly derived from plants. Bio-fuels exist in all the three states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas.

Difference between bio-fuels and fossil fuels Bio-fuels are different from fossil fuels in the following ways:
• Fossil fuels take a million years to build whereas bio-fuels can be made extremely fast, in a matter of days.
• Fossil fuels generate huge amounts of pollution. Bio-fuels are comparatively safer.
• Bio-fuels are renewable sources of energy unlike fossil fuels.

Different types of bio-fuels Bio-fuels have been categorized into four types: first generation, second generation, third generation, and fourth generation.

The first generation bio-fuels are derived from vegetable fats, starch, and sugar, which are in turn derived from food-crops. The first generation fuels are also derived from animal fats. Biogas, bio-diesel, and vegetable oil are some examples of this type of bio-fuels.

The second generation of bio-fuels is mainly derived from waste biomass, thus making it a more balanced option compared to the first-generation bio-fuels. Different kinds of alcohols and diesel generated from wood fall into the category of second generation bio-fuels.

The third generation comprises of bio-fuels derived from algae. Algae are farmed on large scales for creating these bio-fuels. The algae fuels are extremely environment-friendly as they can easily decompose into the soil without harming it.

The bio-fuels in the fourth generation are derived by a method in which micro-organisms are raised to work with carbon dioxide to generate fuel.

Advantages of bio-fuels
Bio-fuels prove advantageous in the following ways:
• Bio-fuels lessen the burden on gradually-vanishing fossil fuels.
• Bio-fuels are environment-friendly. They help reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
• Bio-fuels, especially, bio-diesel prove to be very cost-effective for consumers.

Disadvantages of bio-fuels
Bio-fuels are not bereft of criticism. Though beneficial for the environment, bio-fuels have its disadvantages, paradoxically in the environmental purview. Bio-fuels have received criticism for many reasons, a couple of which are stated below:
• Economists have long debated on the usefulness of first generation bio-fuels when compared to the lack of food they cause. Generating fuel from food crops makes food crops unworthy of human consumption. Some people believe that being a higher priority than fuel, food should not be farmed for making fuels but for human consumption.
• Making bio-fuels require acres of farming land, thus encroaching upon the natural habitat of plants and animals.

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