5 Tips To Drive Smart And Save Money

Driving smart is a good way to save yourself some money, and help the environment, the whole world would benefit as well. How can you make a difference to the environment with your driving?

Here are seven nifty tips that you can do right to save you money and help the environment as well.

1. The very best thing you can do to help the environment with your car is cut down on your driving! All the same, you may not have that option, so drive slower instead. Most cars perform best at speeds of between 80 km/h to 100 km/h. Not too slow and not too fast is how to driving smart.

2. An astonishing 20% of your vehicle’s fuel consumption is used just to overcoming tire rolling resistance! How can you drive smart and save fuel in these conditions? Buy quality tires and make sure they are properly inflated will save on your gas bills!

3. Lighten up the load in your vehicle. I am sure there are many things in the trunk that do not need to be there. Go through each item and see if you really need it, remove it if is not needed. You can drive smart, save money with a lighter load. That will help your car be more fuel efficient too.

4. Turn off your engine while you wait if you are expected to be waiting more than a few minutes. Restarting your engine use up more or less about the same amount of fuel as one minute of idling time, so whenever you think you will be idling for more than a minute, turn off the engine. You will save fuel and money – saving wear and tear on the engine as well.

5. Drive smoothly. Erratic driving with sudden accelerating and hard braking uses up extra fuel. It puts excess wear and tear on your vehicle, which means additional costs to you and the environment.

Learning to driving smart, save money is mostly common sense. If you really need to drive, then be sure to drive with responsibly and sensibly. Notwithstanding, if you can walk easily to where you need to be, then do so! Use these 7 nifty tips to save you money when you have to use your vehicle to get to where you are going.

Cut Fuel Bill By Installing A Heat Pump In Your Home

With the costs of living ever rising, people are starting to think outside the box when it comes to their heating solutions. This year in the UK we have seen, for the second time, one of the coldest winters in a number of years and before the cold spell springs on us again this year now is the time to think about how you are going to heat your home without racking up a rather large fuel bill.

One method which is proving quite popular is the installation of heat pumps into your home – a method which has also recently been highlighted by the Government in their heat strategy as a way to slash heating emissions from our buildings and factories between now and 2050.

Looking at the profile of heat production in the UK, the grand majority is produced by burning fossil fuels – a resource which we all know will eventually run out. This is why, a fact urged on by the issue of rising oil and gas prices, we must act now if we are to change the way we heat our homes and plan for a sustainable future.

Heat pumps are installed right in your back garden and offer a range of benefits to the home owners: as previously mentioned they will reduce your heating bill considerably. If you are a UK resident, the government currently offers a Renewable Heat Incentive, your carbon footprint is lowered, the hassle of fuel deliveries is taken away and they can also provide your home with hot water.

There are two different types of heat pumps: ground source heat pumps and air source heat pumps. Ground source heat pumps operate by absorbing heat from the ground at low temperatures into a fluid in a loop of pipe buried underground. This fluid is then passed through a compressor which raises it to a higher temperature and allows it to heat water for the hot water circuits in the house. The process continues to repeat itself until your home is warm or your bath can be run! Air source heat pumps take less time to install because they aren’t placed underground (no digging required!) and are fitted to an outside wall of your home. They work in the exact same way as a fridge extracts heat from its inside – just on a larger scale. Like a ground source heat pump, a fluid absorbs heat – this time the heat coming from the air, the fluid is again compressed and follows the same method as a ground source heat pump.

The Renewable Heat Incentive has an extremely important part to play in the growth of heat pumps in the heating industry. They were set up as a UK Government scheme to encourage home owners, businesses and communities to incorporate renewable heat technologies into their premises. Depending on the type of technology you decide on payments from the government can range from £300 to £1,250.

There are, however, some barriers to the low carbon heat drive being initiated by the government. They include behavioural barriers, technological ones and those relating to geography and competitiveness. Large scale heat pump installations may have the largest amounts of practical hurdles to jump through and those wishing to install them may face problems with the planning regulations although this isn’t always the case – for example when installing heat pumps in Norfolk planning permission is not required.

We can only wait to see what the future will bring with regards to heat pumps, but the advantages speak for themselves, now is the time to act and there’s no reason why we won’t see heat pumps – be it air source or ground source gracing our homes in the near future.

Effects of Changes to Solar Energy Feed-In-Tariffs

What Are The Effects of Changes to Solar Energy Feed-In-Tariffs?

Feed-in-tariffs are the biggest driving force behind integration of renewable technologies into public and private building in the last 10 years; it has caused the huge uptake of solar panels across the world. In recent years changes in silicon production have severely reduced the cost of solar cells technology, making solar technology a great investment. The uptake of solar technology across the world has really caused a huge expansion of the industry from 2010 – 2011, however with many governments deciding to remove grants and reduce Feed-in-tariffs many people have stopped investing in solar energy.

Most solar suppliers and installers understand that some grants and feed-in-tariffs must decrease due to the large strains on public finances over the coming years, though many experts are beginning to see potential problems in the future as investment dwindles. A great example of this is the recent changes in the UK feed-in-tariffs.

The UK Governments changes to the feed-in-tariffs have affected the solar energy industry with lots of high profile clients either reducing the number of solar panels been installed or completely postponing the solar panel projects. A great example of this is the 500 Cambridgeshire council homes that have had solar panels installed. This is less than 25% of the original 2300 homes the authority planned in early 2011.

With solar feed-in-tariffs changed on April 1st, many solar panel companies are looking to diversify into other possible renewable solutions. Some of the major solar panel companies are been forced to expand into new markets aboard or reduce costs. The second option which I fear many solar installers will be forced to make will lead to a massive cut in staff numbers and skilled workers in the industry. Further information is required before the full effect of all the government’s plans will be known.

For more information on the solar panels in Cardiff or renewable technologies, such as ground source heat pumps visit WDSGreenEnergy.com.

The Benefits Of Energy Efficient Windows

Whenever we think of Energy Star compliant we incline to think of appliances like televisions, computers, dishwashers, refrigerators, etc and the amount of energy associated with their use, but rarely do people realize that the Energy Star compliance also applies to your home, most specifically, your windows.

The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) broadened this standards to include energy efficiency for residential dwellings and commercial buildings one of the criteria for judging a home for how efficiently it uses its energy is to test its windows for any energy leaks.

It is estimated that around 30% of the home’s total energy is lost through windows, while at the same time being responsible for as much as 25% of your heating or air conditioning bill due to the air these inefficient windows allow to leak in and out. This means that your home is much cooler in winter than it should be and much hotter in summer, especially with the way older windows are designed, this is because older homes weren’t built with a green perspective in mind.

Fortunately with rising technology and a green, sustainable picture in mind has seen the advance of innovation where windows are now twice as energy efficient than compared to 25 years ago. With reduction of lost energy come smaller utility bills.

More energy efficient windows can help you save money on your heating while making use of the existing energy within the home meaning you use less energy without sacrificing creature comforts or without having to make any real major changes to your lifestyle.

Costs is a big factor when it comes to replacing your windows with more energy efficient ones which can set you back 1000s of dollars, a home energy audit is always highly recommended to test if completely replacing your windows is the best solution compared with less costly alternatives such as replacement inserts rather than replacing the entire window.

The benefits to energy efficient windows:

Less money spent on heating and cooling due to your windows ability to use the existing energy more efficiently.

Enhanced comfort and living standards with a warm, dry living environment.

Improved health and reduced illness due to proper heating and the reduction of condensation and the dangerous fungal molds usually associated with damp living conditions.

Less carbon emissions due to the reduced need to consume more energy and the less impact on the environment associated with that energy production.

Better use of natural light.

Reduced noise pollution from the double glaze insulated design.

Tips to energy proof your windows:

Double pained windows contain an insulating layer of air between the two pains which reduces the amount of heat lost and gained.

Triple glazed on the other hand has two insulating air layers separated by three layers of glass which makes this one of the most efficient designs around not only with its obvious energy savings but its reduction in noise pollution.

Those living in cooler climates are now starting to use energy efficient windows containing low emissivity coatings on the glass preventing additional heat loss.

Energy efficient windows are a lifestyle choice with big rewards as the savings in energy bills over a lifetime add up nicely to a small fortune.

Estimate Savings From Solar Power Installation

How to Estimate Potential Costs Savings from a Solar Power Installation

Renewable energy for home owners is growing in popularity, with more and more solar panels especially appearing on the rooftops above residential areas at an increasing rate. There is, however, still a big question for a lot of people thinking about investing in solar power – is it worth it? There are two main advantages to installing solar panels – the savings in your utility bills and the reduction in your carbon footprint. The potential savings for both of these come down to the amount of electricity you use which a solar panel array could replace; the less electricity you need to buy from your utilities provider, the lower your bill and the less CO2 emissions you will be responsible for.

Calculating Potential Electricity Generation

The first step to estimating potential cost savings, therefore, is estimating how much electricity you could generate from a solar power array on your house. To do this we need three pieces of information – the average solar radiation in your area, the typical conversion efficiency of a solar panel and the available surface area for the panels.

There are several types of solar panels available, but the two most commonly used for residential installations are Poly and Monocrystalline solar panels. Monocrystalline are slightly more efficient than polycrystalline panels and are increasingly becoming the work-horse option for residential use. They convert available sunlight at an efficiency of around 10%. That is to say that for every 1kWh of available energy coming from the sunlight the panel is exposed to, the panel will be able to generate about 0.1kWh of electricity.

The available solar radiation varies depending on how close you are to the equator and what the typical weather conditions are like – lots of cloud is going to mean less solar radiation. With a bit of digging around, you can usually find solar radiation data for just about anywhere in the world. For example, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has detailed maps for the US as well as many other countries. In particular, we’re looking for data on the annual average Kilowatt Hour Per Meter Squared Per day (kWh/m2/Day) based on solar photovoltaic resource potential.

The available surface area for your panels is going to dictate how much sunlight you can gather. Typically this is going to be the available surface area of your most southerly facing roof. If you can’t safely climb onto the roof to measure the surface area, you can measure the length of the house and estimate the height based on that.

So, with these numbers we can estimate the total amount of electricity we can generate in a year by multiplying the surface area by the annual average kWh/m2/Day by 365 by 10% or:

AxSx365x0.1

Where A is the surface area of the roof and S is the annual average kWh/m2/Day.

Estimating Carbon Footprint Reduction

The amount of carbon dioxide produced from generating electrical power from conventional utility companies varies somewhat depending on how the electricity is generated. In Iceland it’s going to be a lot less than in China where the former uses predominantly geothermal power while the latter is highly dependent on fossil fuels. If you live in a country that has a ‘typical’ mix of power generation sources then 1 pound of carbon dioxide per 1 kilowatt-hour of electricity is generally a good rule of thumb. If you want to get more precise, your utility provider or government energy bodies may publish more specific figures.

In any case, now that we know how much electricity our solar array could potentially produce, working out our carbon footprint reduction is as simple as multiplying the carbon cost of 1kWh of energy by the total amount of electricity we estimate we can produce per year.

Estimating Potential Cost Savings

To estimate cost savings we need to find out how much your utility company charges you per kilowatt-hour. This should be displayed on your bill. Alternatively, they might detail their rates on their website or an independent body may have aggregated data. Again, these rates will vary widely depending on the mix of generation methods used and how costly it is. For example, in the United States, the average cost for Residential consumers last year was 11.8 cents per kWh. However, consumers in New Jersey were paying an average of 16.24 cents whilst those in Washington were only paying 8.33 cents per kWh.

Again, once you have this figure (or a typical average) you can estimate the potential cost savings from your solar array by multiplying the cost per kilowatt hour by the total amount of kWh of electricity you have estimated you will generate in a year.

Examples

To finish off, let’s look at some examples to see how this all comes together and to also get an idea of differences in different regions. As we’ve already looked at the differences in costs of electricity between New Jersey and Washington, let’s use Trenton and Seattle as examples along with Los Angeles in California. We’ll assume an area of 20m2 for our solar panels and a CO2 cost of 1lbs/kWh for all cases (note that the solar radiation figures used here are approximates).

Trenton, New Jersey

Potential Energy Per Year = 20×3.5x365x0.1 = 2555 kWh/Year

Potential Carbon Footprint Reduction = 2555 lbs/Year

Potential Cost Savings = 2555×0.0833 = $212.84/Year

Seattle, Washington

Potential Energy Per Year = 20×4.7x365x0.1 = 3431 kWh/Year

Potential Carbon Footprint Reduction = 3431 lbs/Year

Potential Cost Savings = 3431×0.1624 = $557.20/Year

Los Angeles, California

Potential Energy Per Year = 20×6.1x365x0.1 = 4453 kWh/Year

Potential Carbon Footprint Reduction = 4453 lbs/Year

Potential Cost Savings = 4453×0.1524 = $678.64/Year

I think these numbers are enough to get across the point that the actual cost savings will vary depending on where you live and this value needs to be weighed against the cost of installation on an individual basis.

Additional Considerations

Whilst these calculations give a good ballpark for the potential savings you could make with solar panels there are other considerations to take into account when planning an installation:

* Cost of installation – get multiple estimates!

* Additional shade (eg surrounding buildings, trees etc.) that might affect your potential power output

* Direction your roof faces and it’s angle

* Up-keep costs – although solar panels are very low maintenance and typically have a lifespan of 25+ years this should be taken into consideration when estimating life-time savings

* Selling back to the grid – if you don’t use all of the electricity you generate, you can usually sell it back to the utility companies which may increase or lower the overall value of the power you generate

About Oliver

Oliver is a keen advocate of renewable energy and the benefits it can have for both the environment and the consumer’s pocket. He writes about how to get the most out of solar power for Solar Contact, a US website aimed at helping consumers find solar installers.

Energy Efficient Tips For Your Home Lighting

We are all looking to save a few dollars where we can, and if we can do this and also save part of the planet at the same time then that is even better. One of the ways that people in recent years have found they can do this is through replacing their traditional incandescent or compact fluorescent bulbs with led lights. Led lights strips are a much more efficient and intensely durable light bulb that draws less power and can last just about forever in comparison to the alternative.

The reason why these bulbs are so effective is because of the way they are constructed. Led lights are made from a solid piece where more typical standard lights are created by using a filament or exotic gases. The filament in a very inexpensive way to build a light bulb, which can in turn make this the least expensive bulb available on the market right now. The downfall to this type of technology is that it is extremely fragile and consequently it is subject to constant replacement. The typical incandescent bulb, which is the primary style of bulb that uses a filament and is the most traditional type of bulb found in a house today, is a bulb that only lasts approximately 750 hours. Compact fluorescent bulbs are better because of their slightly improved efficiency and they also last longer averaging about 10,000 hours.

If you were to replace these with led lights you would notice an instant difference in longevity that is far superior then what you have likely ever experienced with any product. Led lights are projected to last as long as 100,000 hours, which is tremendously longer than standard lighting. That means that you could potentially never have to change the bulb for as long as you live in that house, as they can stay illuminated for as long as eleven years nonstop. With the average home owner running lights for about ten hours in a single day, that means that a single bulb could have a viable chance at outlasting the technology itself.

In addition to these amazing qualities, led lights are also vastly more efficient. There are some studies that show that a typical 40 watt bulb could be replaced with only 1.5 watts of power if using led lights. With the standard U.S. home utilizing approximately 45 bulbs in their home at a time there is some significant savings that could be seen there. Typically it is shown that the traditional U.S. home spends about $1000 a month on lighting their home with incandescent or compact fluorescent bulbs. Led lights could reduce this cost down to just under $100 a year.

Although they can cost more for the bulbs initially, led lights can save you and your family a lot over the long term.

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