How to Improve Your Home Energy Efficiency

Finding a way to improve your home energy efficiency can help to save a good lump-sum of monthly expenditure. If you are able to minimize the air leaking from outside or from inside the house, then you will be able to reduce your energy expenditure for space heating and cooling. Let's go through a few ways to seal leaks to make your home more energy efficient.

1. Sealing cracks between windows and window frames

Windows are the major leaking sources for most homes. Therefore, you should pay attention to make the windows leak-proof if you want to achieve the best energy efficiency. There are a number of ways to deal with the air leaking through windows, which don't involve a lot of time and money. The simplest option involves using a caulk gun and "weather-stripping caulk sealant" to seal the cracks between window and window frame. The sealant comes in transparent colour that doesn't damage either paint or clear finishes.

2. Install storm windows

Storm windows are great for energy-saving. They work as a wind buffer to trap the air in between the storms and the prime windows, which works as the insulation to prevent the air leaking. You have options to either install wooden storm windows that need to be taken down in spring or install aluminium or vinyl storms, which can be installed permanently.

3. Replace with weather-stripping doors

Although preventing the air leaking from windows are important in achieving energy efficiency, doors can play a major part in sealing tightly to keep out drafts. There are a few options for weather-stripping the doors. You can choose to upgrade the existing door's whether-stripping to a more effective type such as the door with vinyl bulb or padded strip set that can seal out the air movement and prevent air from leaking.

Alternatively, you can install a type of whether-stripping door that has bronze or brass strips. It can be nailed inside the jamb where the door closes. When the door closes and contact the metal strip, it will seal up the door edge and prevent the air from leaking to and from outside.

4. Install door bottoms or door sweeps

The whether-stripping will prevent the air leaking at the top and the sides of a door, but not at the threshold, another potential air leakage that can affect your home energy efficiency. It is a tough area to address because the thresholds are subject to wear and tear. One of the most effective ways to solve the problem is by installing door bottoms or door sweeps. The door sweeps are attached to the inside of the door at the bottom edge that will seal up the door and prevent air leaking as the door shuts. Alternatively, you can also choose to install adjustable thresholds that fit the same purpose.

Summary

The best way to improve your home energy efficient is to prevent the energy from losses due to leaking problem. The above 4 methods are the basics changes that you can make on your home's doors and windows to stop or minimize the air leaking for your home that will improve your home energy efficiency.

Residential Wind Generators - Power to the People

Residential wind generators are not for everyone. But I believe a great potential exists for much of rural America. This article will explore a different concept on wind farm potential, home wind power generators, and ownership of a portion of your energy needs. Great strides have been made in industrial wind farm construction and integration; the potential at the industrial level is being thoroughly analyzed. It's the cheapest alternative energy solution we have to date. Even so, there are some disadvantages to industrial wind farms.

1. They take years to build.
2. They take up acres of ground that likely had other economic uses.
3. They require new grid infrastructure for power distribution.
4. They tie into a grid that is 100 years old in many locations, the longer the transmission distances the greater the energy losses.
5. They cost millions to build and in most cases are Power Company owned.
6. The average person has little control.

Now lets examine the aspects of a different concept in wind power generators. Strides have also been made in residential wind generators. There is a full range available. You can buy a home wind power generator that will power the whole house if you have the capital and right location. If you want to build a home wind power generator, there are also options to choose from. Wind power generators can cost thousands of dollars, or you can find a home wind power generator for sale for as little as five hundred.

Wind power generators in America need to be viewed from all angles and economic levels. What we feel is most significant is that the average person in the right location can start generating a portion of their energy needs. An entry point cost of five hundred dollars for residential wind generators, with state and federal incentives that can be as high as 30%, is very appealing. You can't generate a lot of power with a five hundred-dollar investment, but it's a good starting point. The more people participating with residential wind generators, the faster the technology will advance and the greater the impact will be.

Lets look at some of the advantages of home wind power generators and the ways they can be used.

1. They can be installed and producing power in a day, not years.
2. They can be mounted on existing structures. Rural America has thousands upon thousands of agricultural structures in the form of silos, windmill towers and grain elevators that could be retrofit with a variety of home wind power generators.
3. The existing power grid is capable of handling the power without modification.
4. Because the power is generated at its point of use there is no transmission loss.
5. An easy cost entry point allows the average person to participate.
6. You own it the equity is yours.
7. You now have control over a portion over a portion of your energy needs.

Al Gore used the Global Warming tipping point as a tool to educate and motivate the world to take action on carbon emissions. His strategy was effective to a point, but much controversy remains about Global Warming with many skeptics. There's another tipping point that can't be ignored. It doesn't matter if you're a skeptic or not. If your energy cost rise 20% a year you will become motivated. When gas hits $4.00 a gallon we will demand better energy solutions. This is our first article on residential wind generators. In the coming months we will document the number of agricultural structures in one rural county of Illinois that could be utilized for residential wind generators. That county happens to be Carroll, which may be the new home of the Guantanamo Bay Detainees. Our location is four miles from the Thomson Prison.