Guest Blogger: Saving Money with Sustainable Energy Sources for your Home

Guest Blogger #262, Entry #769, November 18, 2011

Creating your own energy is both good for the environment, and for your long term finances! Reducing your reliance on the national grid and ‘paid for’ services also creates an overwhelming sense of well being. Sustainable energy is not only a financial investment, but an investment for the prolonged future of our planet.

Below you will find a number of energy creating solutions that are environmentally friendly and perfect for home installations.

Save your energy bill this season!

Image via: Tiktock2u

Solar Photovoltaic Panels

Solar energy systems are an extremely clean and effective way to produce your own electricity. Solar photovoltaic panels capture the suns light, converting it in to usable electricity. This can be used within your home to power appliances, or stored for later use. Unused energy can often be sold back to the national grid, helping to pay off the initial investment for the solar panels even sooner! There are also numerous government incentives to make the installation of solar panels an even more attractive prospect.

Wind Turbines

Wind turbines are another clean and effective way to create energy for your home; they use the power of the wind to spin the turbine, which is connected to an electricity generator. Small scale systems, called “microwind” turbines, are perfect for those looking for a more low key solution. They supply enough energy to help power the lights and appliances of a typical home. This reduces the costs of your electricity bill, as well as making you applicable for the government incentives and subsidies of installing renewable energy in your home. Similarly to the solar photovoltaic panels, unused energy can either be stored for later use, or sold back to the national grid.

Wind turbines can help you use save energy to heat your home

Image via: Household Wind Turbines

Wood Stoves

Wood stoves have been used for centuries to heat homes, and they are experiencing a resurgence in popularity in recent years. The contemporary name for a wood powered stove is a “biomass” system, but the principles are the same as they always were. The stove burns logs or pellets, and can even be integrated with a boiler to heat water. Biomass systems are extremely effective at heating homes and water, thus saving substantial amounts on heating bills.

Wood stoves are a good alternative to traditional heating of your home

Image via: Stovax

Ground Source Heat Pumps

Using pipes buried in your home’s garden, ground source heat pumps extract naturally occurring heat from the earth. Heat taken from the buried pipes is used to heat radiators and underfloor heating (if your home has it installed). When combined with a biomass system, you may be able to eliminate traditional heating bills altogether!

Although all of the above systems require relatively high initial investments, the costs of renewable energy are constantly being lowered. When combined with government incentives, reduced energy bills, and the opportunity to sell unused energy, the installation of renewable energy sources is an extremely attractive prospect, both for those looking to save money, and those looking to reduce their carbon footprint.

Evergreen PV specialize in MCS Approved Solar Panels; these meet government requirements for eligibility in to their feed-in tariff, meaning home owners who install MCS approved solar panels receive a cash back incentive. For more information, you can visit their website: Evergreen PV

For more green living ideas on Stagetecture, click here.