Information about renewable and alternative energy sources.

Many ways to achieve energy independence exist in our world today. It is possible to purchase a turn-key, ready-made system to provide electricty, heat water or for heating and cooling.

It is also possible to build some of your own equipment that can perform as good as, and possibly better than some commercially available units.

When considering a renewable energy system, and since the more renewable energy system you need the more expensive it can get, it makes sense that the first thing that should be done is to learn to conserve energy in the first place.

Most people are surprised to learn that there are things that can be done to reduce the amount of energy required. Many people don't know that a remote-coltrolled TV uses several watts of power even when it is turned "off". Also, that remote-controlled stereo does, too? Many devices that have simple touch-buttons to turn them on and off, no matter if they are remote-controlled or not, use a small amount of power. It costs money on energy bills every month just for that remote-controlled convenience.
Many people leave a computer on 24 hours a day, even though they only use it a few hours a day. From an energy standpoint, it is better to turn the computer off when it is not being used. And, many computers use a few watts even when they are "off" as well. If the computer is connected through a power strip, the power strip can be turned off with it's own switch and that will eliminate the loads that are also plugged into it, like speakers for example.

Another thing that uses a lot of unnecessary power is leaving things on when leaving the room. When a room is exited, turn off the light. Even if returning in a few minutes, that small amount of power adds up over the course of a day, week or month.

Simple things such as these can make a big difference in the size of the system required and as a result, could make a big difference in the cost of the system.