Renewable Energy

Making the shift to living a more eco-friendly lifestyle can seem intimidating. However, one home upgrade can make a major impact on helping you live a sustainable life and reduce your carbon footprint: solar power. Using solar energy to power your home isn’t just better for the environment, it’s also better for your wallet.

Harnessing the power of the sun is a no-brainer when it comes to increasing your home’s energy efficiency and cutting down on electric costs. If you’re looking into solar roof options, you’ve probably come across solar roof tiles as an alternative, which you may or may not have heard of before. More conventionally, solar electric or photovoltaic (PV) panels have been the go-to solution for using solar to power your home.

If you’re a homeowner, saving money on utility costs can make a huge difference in your budget. This is especially true if your home is older and you have an inefficient HVAC system that is wasting energy (and therefore, your money, too). There’s one component of an HVAC system that can make a sizable impact on your energy costs: an economizer. This device can also be part of a larger strategy to maximize the comfort in your home.

Going solar is no longer a luxury for Americans with disposable income. The cost of installing solar panels has dropped roughly 70 percent in the past decade, making these renewable energy systems accessible to the everyday homeowner. A convenient add-on to solar power systems, solar batteries provide a way to back up energy and have also become more cost-effective in recent years. Solar batteries store surplus solar power that homeowners can use later to power their homes.

As solar energy gets more and more popular across the U.S., it leaves homeowners with a question: what’s the best way to store solar energy? Putting up those solar panels is only half the battle; you’ll also need to figure out how to store solar energy so you can use it later. Will your solar power system work during a power outage or emergency? Can you use a standalone solar system for your power needs? These are questions to consider when evaluating your solar energy system. Check out our guide to solar energy storage options below.

A drafty house is an uncomfortable house. Unfortunately, drafts don’t just mean you’re shivering or sweating. These air leaks also mean that energy is lost to the outdoors, which can send your utility bills sky-high. In addition to making changes like sealing the area underneath your doors and adding strategic insulation, one of the best ways to fight drafts is by installing new windows.

If your home is drafty or if you notice your utility bills skyrocketing after normal energy use, a DIY energy audit may be in order. An energy audit is a type of home inspection that determines where energy is being lost in your property and what upgrades can help. Conducting your own energy audit may not yield the same results as a professional energy audit, but it’s still helpful to identify opportunities to save money and frustration. By completing a thorough and comprehensive energy walkthrough, you can get a better sense of your home’s strengths and weaknesses.

If you’re one of the millions of Americans dealing with the current pandemic crisis, you’re likely reading this from your home, where you’ve been told to shelter-in-place. While these recommendations might be inconvenient, you can still make positive changes during this uncertain time. For example, newly minted work-from-home employees can leverage their increased time at home to learn how to better conserve energy, save water, and implement other eco-friendly tips.

If you’re like most people, you only ever think about your water heater when it’s either time to replace it, repair it, or schedule maintenance. But homeowners on a mission to reduce their carbon footprint and make their households greener, and more eco-friendly can start with their water heater.

If you’ve looked at your energy bill lately and wonder if there is room for improvement, you just have to look toward the sky for a possible solution: the sun. Solar power allows you to harness the sun’s energy and use it in your home. In some cases, you might even be able to fully disconnect from the main electrical grid or at the very least, reduce your dependence on it. Plus, it boasts low maintenance costs over its lifespan.

Each year, homeowners in the US spend anywhere from $1,200 to $5,000 on standard pool maintenance and that doesn’t even take into account utilities and repairs. When you consider utilities and possible repairs the investment in a pool can be as much as $5,000 annually.

Even with many homeowners stating the cost to maintain a pool is well worth it for them to enjoy the outdoors with their friends and family this can be a challenge in many household budgets.

Renewable energy is a popular topic these days, but that wasn’t always the case. Some of you may recall the energy crisis during the mid 1970s when lines of cars surrounded most gas stations. If you grew up during this time, you may have been under the scary impression that petroleum would run out in the very near future. The horror!