Green Power Easy Review

Going Green - Reduce Your Energy Consumption First

You can now find easy step by step instructions on how to convert your home to green energy with  DIY wind power or home-made solar panels for around $200. This means a lot of people are starting to take alternative energy very seriously. Do you know what the first question most people ask when looking at a home electricity conversion project? I'll tell you anyway. It's usually along the lines of how big does my windmill need to be? or how many solar panels do I need?

There are far too many factors involved to answer those questions without looking at each individual case and anyway, for most people, that's actually the wrong question.

You should start by asking how can I make my home as energy efficient as possible? How can I reduce my electricity requirements in the first place. We will try and answer these questions here and take you through some steps that will help you reduce your electricity usage before you even start to look at converting to wind or solar power.

One thing you should realise is that the cost of a DIY home power system is directly related to how much electricity you need.  Reduce your current power needs and you will reduce the cost, and work, in building your DIY power system.

Lets look at Reducing Your Energy Needs

Like we said, reviewing your current power usage is often forgotten in the rush to go green. The average home will have power wasting electrical appliances, high consumption lighting, and inefficient heating or cooling solutions.  An key factor in reducing your energy needs is to review every power consuming device in your home.

Things to review

Consider putting fluorescent or led bulbs in place old incandescent ones. This will slash the power  you need for lighting by 50%.

All new electrical appliances come with efficiency rating and are far more efficient than older appliances. Replacing old appliances could reduce your electricity bill by as much as 30%.

Review your heating and cooling systems. Solar water heaters are very simple, inexpensive and efficient and can replace or subsidise your electric hot water heater. Air conditioning units are notorious consumers of electricity. Can you replace yours with more efficient heat exchangers.

The Canadian government has a great guide choosing more efficient appliances. Check out  http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/EnerGuide/home.cfm.  It’s called Energuide, and it covers everything from energy consumption of home appliances right through to commercial air conditioning units.

Take a little time looking through that guide and calculating how much you can reduce your power consumption in different areas of your home.  By simply taking a look at everything in your home that consumes energy, you will find ways to reduce your energy needs before you start.

Standby Power

Standby power is another huge drain on electrical resources. When your TV or stereo is 'turned off' with the remote control is goes into standby. What is not generally known is that in standby many appliances consume almost as much power as when they are left on. See this review of standby power waste by the UN  at http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sdissues/energy/op/clasp_mohanty.pdf. It covers many countries including USA, UK, Australia, Japan and many European countries and gives estimates of standby power consumption of various appliances.

You should also consider all the various passive energy saving methods like insulation and draft reduction.

It may not make financial sense to spend thousands of dollars replacing every old or inefficient appliance you have but things as simple as changing your light bulbs or lagging your loft can significantly reduce your power needs before you start generating your own power.

We have conducted a review of the top energy conversion guides. Click here to see full review.

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