using naturally sustainable building materials in your new home or addition

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Page 1: Using Naturally Sustainable Building Materials In Your New Home Or Addition

Using Naturally Sustainable Building Materials In Your NewHome Or Addition

You may have heard about green energy, but you are not quite sure what it all means. This articlewill tell you about green energy and why it is important. Keep reading to learn more about greenenergy technology and putting it into place in your home.

Cutting back on your daily electricity usage can save lots of energy over time. Unplug your electricalappliances from outlets when not in use. Always turn off the television and lights when you are notusing them. These simple tips can save you money, as well as saving electricity.

It is important to clean your furnace filter on a regular basis to be sure you are using as little energyas possible heating your home. You should put filters in registers that are warm-air too. These filterskeep children's toys, dirt or dust from clogging the heating ducts.

If your home is heated with fuel oil, ask a technician if you can switch to biodiesel. Some currentsystems can use forms of biodiesel without the need for modifications. Biodiesel fuel runs moreefficiently and is cleaner for the environment, reducing your home's impact on the environmentduring winter months.

Keep drapes drawn when you are not home. This cools down your house and lowers energy use.Windows that face south tend to get more sun due to their orientation. Make sure that all thewindows are covered with dark curtains, blinds, roman shades, or whatever shade you choose.

Think about getting solar heaters to heat up your water at home. If freezing temperatures are nevera concern in your area, consider a system that circulates water through solar heaters before sendingit into your house. If you live in a climate that faces cold winters, also install a traditional heater foryour water.

When you consider solar heat for your home calculate potential hours of sunshine for energygeneration during the winter months. This can prevent surprises in the winter, so you ensure yourhome has proper energy inventory. If your electric company bills on net usage, you will actuallymake money because yu generate more power than you consume.

An easy way to cut energy costs and go green is to dress warm. Wearing a sweater can make youfeel two to four degrees warmer, depending on the thickness of the sweater. The more layers youwear at home, the less energy you will need to use heating your house.

Instead of using a desktop computer, which sucks up more electricity, buy a laptop. These portablemachines will reduce your electrical use by 75% while you do everyday tasks. Additionally, you cancarry a laptop with you, so it's possible to use it wherever you want.

Don't set your thermostat to over 68 degrees if you can help it. If you are cold, put on sweatpantsand a sweatshirt. When you keep the heat unnecessarily high you use far more energy than you needto--and that is expensive!

Make use of the microwave when possible to cut down on energy usage. Your stove and your oven

Page 2: Using Naturally Sustainable Building Materials In Your New Home Or Addition

use a significantly higher amount of energy than does your microwave. So when you can "nuke" yourfood, do so to cut down on energy usage.

Turn off the lights when you exit a room. It's surprising how much energy is conserved after turningthe lights off. You will also enjoy a lower power bill, saving you money every month.

Now you should know more about incorporating green technology into your life. Using the advicefrom this article will assist you in making your home energy efficient. Not only will the environmentthank you, your wallet will too.