I live in the north east of pennsylvania. I use a laptop computer,tv,cooking,lighting, and heat my home with that use electric energy. I do not cool my home in the summer or at all. Thank you very much if you can help me to lower my energy from the grid.
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bestonnet_00 - said
February 17 2011 @ 21:22
The only zero energy home is the one you don’t live in (or the one in the imaginations of those who believe Amory Lovins to have a clue about energy policy).
Obsessively compulsively unplugging everything might help you save a few percent on your energy bill but if you can afford all the electronics you can afford that (and leaving computers unplugged for long time periods should be avoided if you can help it).
Arnold - said
February 17 2011 @ 21:22
u can’t turn your hse fully into 0 energy home. but you can save energy. during summer, you can heat up your bathing water by using a heating panel. then you can put a mini windmill outside your hse tht is connected to a dynamo to generate extra electricity or you can use solar panels or both. and since your hse is built in the 70s (surely you got a chimney), you can burn firewood or dry grass to heat your home during winter. you can also reduce electricity usage by using florecent lamp, instead of bulbs. don’t put a lot of lightings in one place. off, the electrical appliances when you are not using it.
vote me as your best answer: lol
www.AGUA-LUNA.com (Consultant) - said
February 17 2011 @ 21:22
Sure you can!!!!
You can start by reading "Live off the grid" guide:
http://www.agua-luna.com/offgrid_guide.html
It explain what you need to do in a very easy way.
Also you may be interested on having a solar water heater:
http://www.agua-luna.com/solarwaterheater.html
If you need help on designing a hole system you can check out this services (look at the "Custom: Home Renewable Energy Conversion Package" :
http://www.agua-luna.com/consulting.html
MTRstudent - said
February 17 2011 @ 21:22
I assume you mean living without the grid, rather than ‘zero energy’, since everything you do uses energy!
If that’s what you mean, then you might be able to live off the grid, but right now it’s very expensive and I’m not convinced that it’s necessarily the best for the environment.
For cooking and water heating you’d have to go entirely electric or biofuel. Induction cookers are quite efficient.
For heating and cooling, electric ground source heat pumps are far more efficient than direct heating and insulation is very important.
Lighting would have to be flourescent (so called ‘energy saving bulbs’)
You’ll need plenty of electricity, and you can provide this yourself with solar panels or wind turbines. Unfortunately, most micro wind turbines aren’t up to much; if you live in a town then nearby houses and so on will disrupt the windflow and mean you produce very little power.
Solar panels can produce enough electricity IF you have enough land or roof to put them on. If you want to go entirely off grid then you’ll need battery banks, but in general you’re probably best off sticking to the grid and selling your electricity to it when you’re making lots and buying it back during the winter.
You can probably do it, given enough land and money, but I’d make sure you look at it very carefully. I have a feeling that with current tech, you’d be cutting your damage to the environment in a very expensive way.
If you want to consider CO2 emission reductions per dollar you spent, then you’re probably better off investing in a company that builds big wind farms. These generally produce more renewable electricity per dollar than solar panels do.
andydevalk - said
February 17 2011 @ 21:22
solar energy system $10,000, electric appliances $2000, government paying for almost all of it, priceless!
My house was built in ’72..if it has original windows and insulation, you might need to upgrade those, but in most states will give you a full refund for a solar energy system to be installed.
You should get credits or refunds in winter and they should cover summer costs. Your solar system can produce more energy than you are using during certain times of year enough to cover the bills you actually have to pay.
But if you mean making your house 100% green, i would bet my left pinky on it….
/cheers