Natures Energy Audit

An Energy Audit Will Help Save Energy And Money

An energy audit will help you if you have ever wondered why your energy bills never seem to go down?

You buy the latest energy saving product, like compact fluorescent bulbs, or turn down your thermostat like every energy saving tip seems to suggest, but your energy costs never seem to decrease all that much.

Before you spend another dime on the “latest and greatest” energy saving electronic device or guide, pause for a moment, take a deep breath, and reflect on this.

Every home is different, every home is unique. And I’m not just talking structurally. Every single homeowner is different too, in both their habits and energy usage. So, everyone uses energy differently. And every home uses energy differently. Buying the latest energy star or energy saving appliance may not be saving you as much money as you expected because you use the appliance differently.

And applying an energy savings plan without knowing how your home uses energy is like throwing a dart at a dartboard 15 feet away blindfolded!

Luckily, you can find out how your home uses energy in just a couple of hours by doing your own home energy audit.

An energy audit is the process of inspecting your home’s energy usage, from how it uses and loses heat to electrical usage. It involves walking through your home, and carefully looking for energy problems – some of which even can’t be seen!

A do-it-yourself energy audit is the single best way to save energy because it shows you exactly how your home uses energy. And once you understand how your home uses energy, you can effectively target and reduce your energy usage. It is the only proven and effective way to lower energy bills and save energy in any house.

And the best part is, if you do it yourself, it is free. You don’t have to pay a professional a couple hundred dollars to come in and give you their opinion.

So, how do you do an energy audit?

A basic energy audit is relatively simple to do. Grab a piece of paper and a pen. Walk through each room of your house, and carefully inspect every appliance. Make a note of how much energy it uses and how often it is used daily. Make note of your windows and doors, if they feel drafty, appear old, have broken glass, etc.

Now, sit down and do some simple math. Multiply the hours used per day with the energy rating of your devices or appliances, and this represents the daily usage of each one. If you add all the devices and appliances up, this number represents your daily energy usage.

From these figures, you can easily determine where (and how) you can save energy. For example, it will make little difference to put a CFL in place of a normal bulb that is only used about an hour a day. It might make more sense to cut down on computer usage or draw shades over a sunny window.

The great thing about an energy audit like this? Its so simple to do, and its repeatable. This means that every season, every year, you can repeat the process and track or monitor your energy usage. If it changes, you can more easily figure out why. This makes “surprises” on your energy bills much less likely.

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David Andersen is a home energy audit expert, and author of the DIY Energy Saving Kit. He has been helping homeowners save on energy costs since 2003. You can read more about energy saving and how to do an energy audit at http://www.freeenergyplans.biz/energy-audit

To get more energy audit tips and energy saving tips CLICK HERE

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Build Solar Panels At Home

If you were planning on installing pre-made solar panels to save money on your utility bills, I would say ‘don’t’. The truth is that to buy a panel it would cost you a few thousand dollars at least and with an initial investment of so much money, it would take you a long time to get the money back from the savings on your utility bills. If, on the other hand, you were to build solar panels at home than you’d be on the right track. You can save money with a very small initial investment and see the savings very quickly.

To build your own solar panel you’ll need a few hundred dollars for the parts and a good manual to show you how to do it. What you don’t need is any special skills or experience. If you’ve got a good manual, all the parts and some spare time, you’re good to go.

While it is very realistic to save money with just one panel, don’t think that you’ll make enough electricity for all of your needs or that you’ll make enough to sell back to the utility company (wouldn’t that be a great change – having them pay you!). But you can make enough to make a large impact on your utility costs every year.

Build Solar Panels At Home

Of course, the more sunny days you get in your area, the more a solar panel will work for you. If you want to mount the panels (s) on your roof just make sure that your roof gets full sun. If your roof is blocked by tress or other houses or buildings you may want to reconsider the location for your panels.

You can mount the panels just above the ground too, though they will be more prone to damage from kids, and animals. But if that is your only option than it can still work.

A solar panel is basically a large box that holds the solar cells. The panel is covered with Plexiglas or regular glass to protect the solar cells from damage. While it is possible to make your own solar cells at home, most homeowners would be better off buying the solar cells and building the panel themselves. This is the most cost effective method since building the solar cells can be difficult.

So, get to it. Start now and build solar panels at home. You can save money on your utility bills, go green, and have some cool bragging rights with your friends.l=”nofollow”

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