Generators are ideal if you lose power at home and need a backup supply for any length of time. Most of the time you’ll be using mains power though and that can be expensive, especially when you pay for the electricity through utility companies. There are other options though and this article looks at different ways to generate energy at your humble abode.
1. Go Solar
Use the sun’s power to generate electricity and install solar panels on the roof of your house. They’ll capture the UV rays of the sun, store them up and convert them into useful power. Look for government incentives and reduce the cost of installation, you could even make a bit of money on the side by selling any excess power you make back to the utility firms.
2. Try wind power
You can’t fail to notice wind turbines in the UK at the moment, they’re popping up like giant windmills all over the country. Install a small wind turbine on your land though and it could generate between two and 10 kilowatts of power which is nothing to be sniffed at and once you pay for the turbine any power you make is totally free.
3. Use water heaters
Solar water heaters are fairly effective in sunny climates but they can be used in colder environments too. The system relies on solar photovoltaic plates connected to numerous pipes that heat water up for domestic use. Stats show that up to 60% of the home’s annual water heating can be provided through solar water heaters so they’re certainly worth considering if you want to lower those bills.
4. Fit a ground source heat pump
Take the geothermal approach and use a heat pump to extract energy from the ground. You need a decent sized garden to install the heat pump but once it’s buried and working you’ll start to notice the benefits in hardly any time.
