How you can get rid of unnecessary costs from your monthly utility bills
You may be incurring costs on your monthly utility bills, which you can easily avoid. Simple but cost-effective green energy and water solutions could transform your home into an efficient and environment-conserving household.
According to Arizona Roofing Systems, a residential roofing contractor in Mesa, AZ, some of the green technologies you can harness to save on your monthly utility bills while conserving the environment include the following:
Solar energy
Harnessing solar energy is perhaps the surest bet of cutting on your energy bills. You will also contribute to environmental conservation by not using wood energy, and hence contribute to deforestation, as well reducing pollution.
The upfront cost of purchasing equipment, including solar panels or photovoltaic cells, is high. Your low energy bills, green energy tax credits, rebates, and incentives will offset the initial cost.
A solar water heater
You may not be enamored with or lack money to invest in a full solar energy set. You, however, have other ways of enjoying the benefits of solar technology. For instance installing a solar water heater, you would save on your monthly energy bills at a fairly cheaper initial cost.
Advances in solar water heating industry mean you have access to efficient solar water heating systems at a cheaper cost than a full solar energy system. Since water heating accounts for much of most households’ energy bills, a solar heater will repay you your initial investment almost instantly.
Wind energy
You are not going to invest in a monstrous windmill. What you need to purchase is a sizeable home wind generator.
You can go for the inbuilt versions, which come with their own wind generators and off-the-shelf parts your local hardware stores. It will cost you more but supply you up to 90 percent of your energy needs.
You can get one with their kits or hire a professional to install it as a back-up to your local electrical grid’s supply. It is cheap and gives you about 15 percent of your energy supply.
Rainwater
Whenever it rains, the water goes to waste. You can easily harvest this water and utilize it in flushing the toilet and watering plants. This will greatly cut on your monthly water bills.
You can harvest the rainwater using a simple gutter system made from iron sheets fixed to your roof and directed to take their water into a tank or a barrel.
You can utilize a readymade collector system of gutters to guide the water into a barrel, tank, or cistern.
They are inexpensive to acquire, easy to install and with almost zero maintenance costs benefiting you.
Heating and cooling system upgrade
You may not be aware or have not calculated how much heating and cooling your house is costing you in a month or year. Nevertheless, know that your home heating and cooling system – heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) – accounts for over 40 per cent of your monthly and annual power bills, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
If your HVAC is the old model, then the figure could be much higher if you include the repair/maintenance charges and you would save more by investing in a new model Energy Star HVAC system.
Insulation
According to Arizona Roofing Systems, the number one roofing contractor in Mesa, Arizona, your poorly insulated house could be costing you up to 10 percent of your energy per year, going by the EPA statistics. It is encouraging to note you can improve your house’s insulation yourself or hire a contractor. For instance, just doubling your windowpanes will seal leakages through the windows.
Energy use monitoring
You need to monitor your household’s energy consumption for future planning. Therefore, install an energy monitor, an affordable device, which is easy to install and very valuable to guide your energy-saving strategies.
Utilize power-optimizing devices
Optimal use of your power supply would lead to you making big savings. For instance, if you utilize the smart power strips, they will detect equipment connected to power but are not in use or fully charged and disconnect them. They are a simple and elegant solution to a major energy problem.