Nearly everyone has driven by a commercial property in pouring rain, only to see its irrigation system in full operation.

Since many of these irrigation systems are located in urban areas, they utilize water from municipal sources — making this wasted water costly for the owner of the systems. There also are environmental issues, especially since many areas are experiencing severe shortages of fresh water.

Both factors are expected to be of increasing concern as companies continue to look for ways to tighten their budgets and address public demands to be more environmentally conscious. With increasing numbers of individuals becoming more aware of fresh water supply issues, the display of waste contributes to a negative view of the irrigation system customer. While those opinions may be of little concern to the residential customer, they can pose a significant problem for commercial irrigation customers.

New technological developments seem to be addressing both of these issues. Current irrigation control systems bear little resemblance to those that were common only a few years ago. In the past, all irrigation control systems required manual timer adjustments. Some companies are now offering self-adjusting “smart” sprinkler systems that determine their own schedules based on local weather conditions. However, some companies have taken it to a higher level, offering automatic adjustment controls to maintain optimum levels of green color with higher efficiency.

Here are a few examples:

- The XCI Cloud offered by Cyber-Rain reduces landscape water usage by 30 to 70 percent with its self-adjusting systems, according to the company. The XCI Cloud also allows homeowners, property managers and landscape contractors to directly control irrigation activities from a computer or a smartphone, using the company’s free iPhone app. The system provides data records that indicate the installation’s need for additional water at any time.

- Direct irrigation control through hand held remote control devices is offered by various companies, including Hunter Industries. The controller is meant primarily for irrigation system installers to facilitate adjustments for spray patterns and coverage, but also can be used by customers to directly control how much water is applied to their landscapes. This direct control (often facilitated by Teejet technologies) can reduce water usage without making tedious manual timer adjustments.

- Rain Master’s Internet-based control system, which requires the use of the company’s web-hosted service, is primarily designed for landscape contractors. Rain Master’s system also can be accessed through any browser using a computer or a wireless device.

As water costs increase and water supplies become more stressed in specific areas, it is likely that irrigation companies will develop even more technologically-advanced systems — giving clients cost-efficient and environmentally-conscious options to retain a green and healthy landscape.

Products bearing the Energy Star label offer many beneits to customers and the environment. Energy Star claims that in 2009, it helped US people save approximately $17 bn. on household bills and sufficient energy to offset the greenhouse gas emissions that 30 million cars would generate. Here are beneits of Energy Star-qualiied appliances.

Benefits of Energy Star-Certified Appliances

Less Water Wasted
compared to standard automatic washers, Energy Star models use fifty percent less water. Noncertiied models waste seventeen gallons of water per load, Energy Star claims. For full size washers, expect a 15-to-20-gallon savings per load. Noncertiied dishwashers dating before 1994, in the meantime, waste 10-plus gallons per cycle vs. Energy Star models. The water youd save weekly by upgrading to an Energy Star dishwasher could wash three washing loads.

Power Saved
Energy Star claims licensed garments washers can cut energy use by 30% vs . Standard models. Helping achieve the reduction are new features like faster spin speeds that pull more water from clothing, meaning less drying time. As for dryers, Energy Star doesnt certify them but advises that models with a moisture sensor can shut a dryer off automatically once garments are dry.

Money In
Your Pocket you can pay more up front, but buying an Energy Star dishwasher or washing machine usually means more long term savings. A professional garments washer, as an example, can save $70 yearly typically. The savings over the washers lifetime could fund a new dryer. Owners of pre-1999 standard models fork out $135 more yearly vs . Energy Star models. A pre-1994 non-Energy Star dishwasher, in the meantime, costs $40 more yearly. Upgrading to an Energy Star model would generate enough savings to buy detergent for a year.

More Time & Longer-Lasting clothes
Overall, front-loading and more recent, advanced top-loading clothes washers are more delicate and cut back water use than older models with a turning agitator. Therefore, garments last longer due to less twisting and pulling. Elsewhere, some Energy Star-certiied washers offer bigger capacities than standard models, meaning less loads for you to do.

To discover more about home energy consumption and power save, http://offthegridhomeenergy.com/.

Having a Solar Energy Panels installation fitted is surely an environmentally supportive activity and one which should be supported as going to lower the carbon footprint by lowering CO2 emissions. Given that the Solar Energy Prices run at about ?12,000 for a typical building Solar Energy Panels installation, this can be quite an expense for a domestic customer to make. On the positive side there are payments available from the feed-in tariff that ought to provide around ?700 to ?900 per year in savings on Solar Energy Prices, by distributing surplus electricity to the national grid and for being paid for generating one’s own electricity. But the savings might not end there, if the domestic customer is prepared to check out energy saving devices and go in for high rated ones, they might well save even more.

There might be a difficulty in that the building might call for more electricity at peak times than the Solar Energy Panels can generate, or maybe this might be the case at other than peak times also. In these cases, if the domestic customer wants to utilise renewable energy sources as much as possible then they might well have to check out a battery storage system and even maybe a wind turbine. While the wind turbine might make electricity, it is largely dependent on a good supply of wind, whereas Solar Energy Panels can still function in daylight, but they function better in bright sunlight. Obviously the wind turbine can be very dear compared to the Solar Energy Prices and so this might well put it out of the range of many domestic customers, also, there might be local planning restrictions on wind turbines, whilst Solar Energy Panels might well be acceptable.

The most efficient and economical means would seem to be Solar Energy Panels in a building that is on-line with to the national grid, and utilising the grid to top up the Solar Energy Panels output at peak times. In this way the domestic customer will be making the most of the Solar Energy Prices they have paid and also be receive payments from the feed in tariff.

These days, more and more people are turning to solar power systems to provide electricity to their homes and businesses. Not only is solar electricity a renewable energy source that reduces harmful emissions and spares the environment, but after the initial investment to install the system in your building, going solar can reduce your expenses considerably. Here is a summary on how the system works and in what ways this solar power system can help you reduce your expenses on electricity.

INITIAL INVESTMENT
Unless you are an expert in solar power, then installing a solar power system in your home on your own may not be a good idea after all. You need the professionals to do the designing and installation for you in order to get the most out of your solar power system. Have a company specializing in solar installation assess your structure and customize a system for you. It will be them who will determine where the panels should be placed in order to be to gather as much solar power as possible, generate more electricity and safely connect your system to the local power grid. It might cost more up front, but if you’re willing to invest more at this stage, you’ll greatly improve your savings (and safety) over the long run. Additionally, the government now offers generous tax incentives for solar power system installation, so this can also reduce your initial investment.

HOW IT CAN HELP YOU SAVE
You get to save more money in several ways by installing solar power systems. Here are some of the ways that you get to save money:

1. You get to save on monthly electrical bills because you generate your own electric supply. Every day (even on most cloudy days), your solar panels will absorb energy from the sun, and your power system will convert that into usable electricity. Every kilowatt hour you use of your own solar-generated electricity is a kilowatt hour you don’t draw from your local power grid. The simple analogy is an obvious illustration of how it helps decrease your expenses. Moreover, in cases you run short on your solar energy supply, you can still draw electricity from the local power grid, so you do not have to worry of ending up in darkness.

2. You’ll save by sending excess electricity back through the grid. There are times when you get to produce more power than what you actually need. What is great about the solar energy that you have today is your ability to send back extra energy to the local power grid which then reverses your electric meter. The electric company that supplies your electricity will show their gratitude by deducting the same amount it charges per kilowatt hour from your monthly electrical bill. In essence, you’re selling your extra solar energy to the power company, or storing it as credit for days you need to draw from the grid. This adds significantly to your savings because none of your solar energy is wasted.

Obviously, you get to save more by using solar power systems and these savings do not take long to start piling up. Think about it, what you are doing is also environment friendly.

With the present push for low CO2 emissions and renewable energy sources, the realistic direction for home owners to go for is that of Solar Energy Panels. The output of energy from Solar Energy Panels is electricity, made in photovoltaic cells by the result of sunlight, and converted to use in the home to run any mains electrical equipment. The prices for mounting a Solar Energy Panels system can be in the region of ?4,000 to ?8,000 per KW or around ?12,000 for a typical 2.2 kW system, but Solar Energy Prices should come down as more Solar Energy Panels systems are installed.

For the home owners, the Solar Energy Prices might be too expensive and prevent a keen person from taking up a Solar Energy Panels system, which is where the free Solar Energy Panels system comes in. The free Solar Energy Panels system direction can have different choices as set up by the Solar Energy Panels installation enterprise. The customer might be given the electricity made by the Solar Energy Panels for free, but any excess electricity that is exported to the local grid might be passed to the Solar Energy Panels enterprise. Other Solar Energy Panels installation organisations might charge for the electricity made by the Solar Energy Panels system.

The home owners might well need to assess the return on the Solar Energy Panels system, where the free electricity direction might work out at around ?100 per year, but where the electricity has to be paid for then the Solar Energy Prices might well be too expensive. So, for those home owners who cannot afford the up-front Solar Energy Prices, they might well need to be very wary about taking up a free Solar Energy Panels system. In a worst case scenario they might well find that they not only do not make savings but it might end up either gaining no advantage or the solar panels system actually costing them money. They might be better to seek finance to pay the Solar Energy Prices so that they can begin as a customer that will make economies from the Solar Energy Panels system.

Solar Energy Panels can be a worthy green selection to any eco warrior that feels the need to reduce their carbon footprint. Solar Energy Panels use photovoltaic cells to convert the freely available sunlight into electricity, but as this is served up in direct current (dc) form it must be inverted into alternating current (ac) for use by domestic devices. In order to work with a good return the Solar Energy Panels need to be in a site where sun is available most of the day, which means a south facing aspect, and one which is not shaded by taller buildings or trees. Any shading can reduce the efficiency of the Solar Energy Panels and could provide an unacceptable service for the home owner, as well as taking longer to pay back the Solar Energy Prices paid. Trees can also cause problems with tree sap and bird droppings that could require that the Solar Energy Panels are cleaned, whereas in a non-shadowy installation, rain could simply wash off dust and the like that accumulates in a normal situation. Where the site is a listed building, it could well be that planning permission must be sought before Solar Energy Panels installation can commence, and possibly the Solar Energy Prices could escalate if a specific type of Solar Energy Panels has to be used, such as tiles. Shading can be tackled by installing several smaller Solar Energy Panels arrays in better areas of the roof, if any.

Solar Energy Panels can be quite heavy and so they necessitate that the roof they are fixed on can properly carry the weight of the Solar Energy Panels array. It could be unlikely that a home insurance policy would stump up for structural damage caused by the Solar Energy Panels installation, if any weakness in the roof structure was not fixed first. This can leave the home owner with not only a repair bill but also the Solar Energy Prices that could be lost.

Given that the Solar Energy Prices for a typical site are about of twelve thousand pounds, it is best if the home owner can do some initial research before building their hopes up and possibly being disappointed later.

There are many myths surrounding the idea of proprietors choosing to use solar electricity. Examples of these misconceptions are the lines, “It’s ugly”, “It does not help you save money”, “It hardly saves electricity”. Nevertheless, with the new breakthrough in technology and the changes made in solar power, these misconceptions no longer hold any form of truth. There are actually a lot of benefits to switching to solar electricity. Here are some examples.

It Really Does Save Money
If you’re willing to invest up front and have a solar power system customized for your home or business, solar electricity really can save you considerably in the long run. The main point of having this system personalized is because the experts can design in such a way that you will be able to get the most out of it. When it’s done right, you can often generate more electricity per day than you can actually use. Not only does this stop you from using electricity from the power grid, but in many cases the extra power can be fed back through the power grid, rolling back your meter and saving you even more. To encourage people to make use of solar electricity, the government is offering unbelievable tax incentives.

It is Environment Friendly
Solar electricity is a clean and renewable source of energy-meaning it doesn’t send harmful pollutants into the environment, and you can’t run out of it. There’s enough energy in one full day of sunlight hitting the planet to provide 4-5 years of electricity to the world-that’s how abundant this energy source is. Every kilowatt hour you use of your own solar electricity is a kilowatt hour that didn’t get generated by burning fossil fuels-thus creating less pollution and reducing the depletion of earth’s natural resources. The more people do it, the more of a difference it makes.

It Is More Reliable Than You Think
A good number of people believe that the only time you can make use of solar energy is when the sun is out, but this not a fact. Even on cloudy days solar energy can still be collected but the amount may not be as much as what you can collect on a sunny day. If the panels are strategically placed you will be able to gather more energy that you can use and at times when gathering energy is not so good, you can always use the power produced by the local power grid.

The fact is, there are many advantages to using solar electricity and doing the switch is much easier now. If decide to make the switch, you will not only save money but you will also help preserve the environment.

Have you thought about making your plumbing green?

I’ve been trying to see my world through a new lens. I no longer think of my needs or even my family’s needs first, but of the Earth’s needs. It’s kind of radical. It feels unnatural. Hopefully it won’t feel that way forever. But I’ve found that my family can operate day to day and year to year just fine under my new priority. It’s not the most inexpensive way to live. It’s hard sometimes, but the longer I live this way, the more value I see in my life. That being said, I’ve taken my planet-priority piece by piece. This article is going to focus on one of those pieces: plumbing. There are actionable steps to be taken in making a greener home and lifestyle by changing the plumbing in your home.

Modern plumbing has gone green with many new energy efficient fixtures now on the market. Many people fail to realize that it takes energy to heat their water. Green plumbing conserves energy. One of the ways people save energy is by using energy efficient fixtures and making sure that your plumbing does not waste energy. By reducing your energy used, you produce less of a carbon foot print.

One way new homes conserve energy is by reducing the distance water has to travel. In the past many homes had the water heater in the garage and the water would travel some distance to various parts of the home. Smart green homes make sure the water heater is central in the home and the hot water does not travel far.

Solar waters heaters conserve energy. They use the sun to heat up the water and no energy is used at all to heat. Twenty-five percent of each energy dollar goes into heating water. Saving energy means saving the consumer money. Many people would love to save a quarter of their energy bill.

Modern fixtures will save you even more money. Modern fixtures keep the leaks away which cuts in energy cost and water. In addition new types of appliances save you money by requiring less energy to run. So replace the leaky fixtures and install new energy efficient appliances.

Tankless water heaters reduce your water heater usage and you use only the hot water produced. With a tankless water heater you are not constantly heating the stored water. Thus, you are paying only for the water used.

Hot water circulation pumps make your plumbing more energy efficient by giving you instant hot water. Every year thousands of dollars go down the drain as people turn on the water and wait for that warm water to come out of the tap. The circulation pump eliminates waiting for the water to come out warm.

Not many people can afford to make all these changes at once, so do them slowly over time. Even if you can’t fully commit to putting the planet first, you can help. Each change you make is a small step in the right direction for preserving our planet.

J. Salvage is a writer, blogger, and lady with a family that she wants to see inherit a beautiful Earth.

More and more property owners are thinking about fitting solar panels to capture solar energy to assist with fuel costs and maybe even sell some surplus electricity back to the national grid. But how do these space age looking devices actually work?

Solar Energy, quite obviously, is energy from the sun. It is intercepted by solar panels, which home owners normally put on our roofs or in a well exposed south facing position. As the suns rays strike our solar panels a voltage difference is established between alternate component layers withinthe panels, resulting in an electrical current, or at least the potential for an electrical current. By wiring up a large number of cells working identically and by adding inverters into the electronics we can gather electricity in a form which can be used by our appliances and for delivery to the national grid.

A fascinating feature of the process is imagining how the solar energy arrives at our Solar Panels in the first place. It was at one time imagined that light (including sunlight) propagated in the form of waves vibrating in a medium, which was termed the aether. There was an analogy with sound waves which use air or some other medium to travel through. Indeed the early nineteenth century scientist Thomas Young “proved” by his famous two slit experiment that light did indeed travel in this way and was wavelike in nature. Later that century however, attempts to find the aether proved fruitless, accurate experiments by Mitchelson and Morley suggestingthat it was almost certain that the aether did not exist. But, if you remove air, sound cannot travel, so if there is no aether how can light manage to propagate itself?

Experimenting with the photoelectric effect in 1905 lead Einstein to the conclusion that light is in fact made up of particles, known as photons, and so needs no medium, aether or otherwise. So our present thinking of how our solar panels receive energy is to think of them being bombarded by a flow of photons from the sun, each one imparting energy on impact which increases the energy of electrons in the solar panels, thus setting up the voltagedifference. (this is actually known as the photovoltaic effect because the energy gathered builds up a voltage difference between layers in the panel.)

This all sounds quitereasonable, but remember Thomas Young? Well his light experiments proving the wave nature of light remain valid to this day. The wierd fact that light can, perhaps should, be regarded sometimes as a particle phenomenon and sometimes a wave phenomenon gives rise to the still mysterious business of quantum theory, wherein we must contemplate very tiny particles actually being in two places at once!

When it comes to making load decisions, off-grid people without large resources always target potency. Here’s some specific guidance on common appliances, drawn from my 30 years of off-grid living experience.

Fridge / refrigerator : Set your sights on extraordinary energy efficiency here, since this is sometimes the biggest electric load in an off the grid home. Chillers and freezers cycle off and on steadily, and need to run with no regard for sun and windyou cant flex your use to house the adaptations in weather. Using specialty DC appliances may be a good option in some cases, and getting correct numbers on energy use
before you buy any refrigeration hardware is the best idea. Gear up to spend more up front for better overall savings over the long term. At least one ultraefficient fridge is available too in an AC configuration for approximately the same cost.

Lighting : Off-grid homes of sensible design have no incandescent lights. Compact fluorescent lights ( CFL ) and LEDs predominate. Try a spread of CFL and LED options, since quality, color rendition, and light output varies.

clothing washing / drying : Horizontal-axis ( often frontloading ) machines use less electricity ( and less water, requiring less water heating and pump operation ) than top-loading vertical-axis machines. Take a look at your machine for phantom loads and employ a timer or switch when mandatory. Off-grid homes won’t typically use an electric dryer, and if solar energy ( a clothesline ) cant be used, a propane dryer is an option.

Motor loads : In the old days, engineers switched the majority of the woodshop motors to DC, a clever decision in those days of ineffective inverters. Today, it is smart to select prime quality, infrequently variable-speed AC motors ; whether for pool pumps, heat-pump motors, shop tools, oranything else that’s motor-driven. The bottom line is found with your watt meter, which will tell you how much energy is being used.

Computing / office electronics : A single word gives you the center of the guidance herelaptops. These often use half or less what a desktop machine uses, and they also incorporate a battery, so during periods of very low replaceable input, you can still use your personal computer for awhile. Peripheralsprinters,
Routers, modems, backup drives, scanners, etc.often are phantom loads, so put them on individual switches and turn them on only when needed. These peripherals do not usually must be on for long periods, so ultra-efficiency won’t be as critical as for the computer itself.

Solar hot water systems : For off-gridders, solar hot water systems reduce the need for propanemaking hot water with solar power is not an intellectual option. Often its wise to make the electric portion ( for the solar pumps ) separate from your principal system to reduce the unpredictable load on the primary electric system. Off-griders like PV-direct systems that utilize a dedicated PV module to run the SHW system pumps.

Get more information about living off the grid, and learn more about home energy consumption.

Specific Loads & Specific Solutions When it comes to making load selections, off-grid people without deep pockets always focus on efficiency. Heres some express guidance on common appliances, drawn from my thirty years of off-grid living experience.

Chiller / freezer : Set your sights on intense energy efficiency here, since this is frequently the most important electric load in an off the grid home. Fridges and freezers cycle on and off continuously, and need to run irrespective of sun and windyou cant flex your use to accommodate the adaptations in weather. Using speciality DC appliances may be a great choice in some cases, and getting accurate numbers on energy use
before you buy any refrigeration kit is the best idea. Gear up to spend more upfront for better overall savings over the long run. At least one ultraefficient refrigerator is available in an AC configuration for approximately the same cost.

Lighting : Off-grid houses of sensible design have no incandescent lights. Compact fluorescent lights ( CFL ) and LEDs predominate. Try a variety of CFL and LED options, since quality, colour rendition, and light output varies.

attire washing / drying : Horizontal-axis ( often frontloading ) machines use less electrical power ( and less water, requiring less water heating and pump operation ) than top-loading vertical-axis machines. Check your machine for ghost loads and employ a timer or switch when obligatory. Off-grid houses won’t typically use an electric dryer, and if solar power ( a clothesline ) cant be used, a propane dryer is an option.

Motor loads : In the old days, engineers switched the majority of the woodshop motors to DC, a clever decision in those days of ineffective inverters. Today, it is smart to select prime quality, occasionally variable-speed AC motors ; whether for pool pumps, heat-pump motors, shop tools, oranything else that’s motor-driven. The base line is located with your watt meter, which may tell you how much energy is being used.

Computing / office electronics : A single word gives you the core of the information herelaptops. These often use half or less what a desktop machine uses, and they also incorporate a battery, so in times of very low replenish-able input, you can still use your personal computer for awhile. Peripheralsprinters,
Routers, modems, backup drives, scanners, etc.often are ghost loads, so put them on individual switches and turn them on only when required. These marginals do not usually need to be on for long periods, so ultra-efficiency would possibly not be as crucial as for the PC itself.

Solar hot water systems : For off-gridders, solar hot water systems reduce the requirement for propanemaking hot water with solar electricity isn’t an intelligent option. Frequently its smart to make the electric portion ( for the solar pumps ) separate from your main system to reduce the unpredictable load on the primary electric system. Off-griders prefer PV-direct systems that use a dedicated PV module to run the SHW system pumps.

Get more information about living off the grid, and learn more about alternate home energy, by going to http://OffTheGridHomeEnergy.com.