Combine Solar Energy with Conservation

If you're like most of the world, you've been watching the news about the global economy and financial crisis. And you already know that many people are worried about how they will be able to heat their home this winter. The biggest concern is being able to afford to pay the electricity bill or gas bill. The good news though is that it's very easy to combine free solar energy power with energy conservation. Let's look at a few ways to do that.

The first step is to try and reduce how much energy you're consuming on a daily basis, so that your electric and gas bill will not be so high. It only takes the few simple steps to conserve energy and reduce those bills.

1. Turn off any lights that are not being used in your home. If no one is in the room, there's no reason for the lights to be on.

2. Change your lightbulbs. There are two changes you need to make with your lightbulbs: the first one is to buy what are called pigtail lightbulbs, or energy efficient bulbs. This might seem very hard for you to believe, but you can actually reduce your electricity bill by as much as $50 per year for each light bulb you change. I have literally knocked off $100-$200 per month from my electric bill just by changing to these types of bulbs. The second thing you need to do is use a lower wattage bulb. If you normally use a 100 W light bulbs, try reducing to a 75 or 60 W bulb instead.

3. Lower the temperature on your water heater. It doesn't matter if you use gas or electric to heat your water, you need to lower the temperature on that water heater to help reduce your bills.

4. Change your thermostat. Instead having your thermostat set to 72 or 75° this winter, try reducing it to at least 65° instead. If possible, lower it even further to 60°. This will feel chilly to most people, but you can wear your favorite winter clothing, or snuggle up in blankets to help offset the difference. It will be well worth it when you see how much of a difference this makes in your heating bill.

Besides helping to conserve energy, you can also utilize the power of the sun and tap into natural solar energy too. On sunny days for example, even in the winter time when there's snow on the ground, you can help heat your home using the sun's light and power. Simply open the curtains and let the sun shine through in every area of your house that you can.

If you have objects in your home which are made from natural materials such as brick, Adobe, or even concrete, then try to position those items so that they are getting as much sunlight as possible on them throughout the day. The more sunlight they receive, the more heat they will help absorb from the sun naturally. Then when the sun starts going down in the evening, close your curtains to help prevent cold night air from coming into your home. The furniture and other natural objects in your home which have been absorbing heat throughout the day will now start releasing that heat for use throughout the night. This will actually act as a supplemental natural heating system for your home.

©2008, Kathy Burns-Millyard.