Renewable Energy And Your Family Home
The idea of not only doing my part for the environment, but also being free of the continuously rising cost of electricity makes renewable energy for my home extremely attractive. I have looked into several things for my home and thought I would share it with the aspiring family looking at becoming self-sufficient in their electric and fuel needs.
The first major thing that you need to understand is that whether you go the route of solar, wind or some other electric power source, this is not a short term commitment.The whole story can be found at http://edmortimer.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/how-to-make-solar-powered-heaters/ The costs are long term. Meaning this, do not expect to immediately get back what you put in. An average solar panel array to power a medium sized family home can easily top ten grand with installation, so it will be years before you make back your investment. Not to despair, that does not mean that it is not worth it, merely that it is something that will be many years before breaking even. Then again, when you are the only house on the block with lights because of a storm or an outage, then that is a pretty good pay off there.
You cannot just plug in some solar panels or wind turbine and call yourself energy smart. There will have to be adjustments. Along with solar or wind, you may want to switch out those electric heaters, stoves and hot water heaters with gas. You cannot imagine the burden that can take off the system. Also, purchasing energy efficient appliances and light bulbs can go a long way to making your home a renewable energy power house.
Going with clean, renewable energy for your family home will not be an easy task. It will take steps and a long term investment. You need to ask yourself, however, is the future of the planet and your wallet worth it?