4 Ways To Reduce Your Home Energy Bill Immediately




Are you a home owner? If you are, you’ll notice one of the biggest monthly expenses is the electricity bill.

The house I am staying is already paid off. Therefore, there is no more bank mortgage. The biggest household bill right now is the amount of money I have to pay for electricity.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about some tips on how to reduce a home energy consumption. In this article, I thought of writing 4 more ways how we can cut our electricity bill.

1) Reduce consumption.

This is straight to the point…just cut down on the amount of power we use.

The equipment that I am using the most power right now at home is the air-conditioning unit.

I am located in the equator and it can get pretty hot in the afternoon and even at night.

One of the steps I have taken to reduce the usage of the air-conditioning unit is to open the windows and even doors in the afternoon to cool down the interior of the house.

2) Choose carefully.

When you are planning to buy a new electrical appliance, choose carefully. Remember, any appliance that generates heat will consume a lot of power.

Go for equipment with the “Energy Star” logo. If possible, look at the technical specification of the equipment. Find out what is the power wattage.

Go for the equipment with the lower power wattage to reduce energy consumption.

3) Go for renewable energy source.

Start using renewable resources (such as solar or wind energy) instead of nonrenewable resources (such as energy based on fossil fuels).

The local power utility companies here use oil to produce power. I have already started to use a solar panel to charge my rechargeable batteries. I know it is a small step, but it is step heading into the right direction.

4) Service equipment when needed.

The final step here has an indirect impact on reducing your home monthly electricity bill.

One of the quickest ways to cut your energy consumption is to service equipment such as air-conditioning unit, refrigerator, heater etc on a consistent basis.

Servicing makes the equipment more efficiency therefore using less energy.

The 4 steps above are very basis and common sense. But, common sense nowadays is not very common anymore.

I thought of writing it down as a reminder to the readers out there…but more important, as a reminder for me.

Related web pages:
1) Earth4 Energy Scam – Is The Earth4Energy E-book A Fraud?

2) Earth4 Energy Review – Reviewing Earth4Energy E-book

Solar Powered Battery Charger – Quick & Easy Way To Charge Battery For Free




What would it take to make a solar powered battery charger? It will take some creativity and a step by step instructional guide.

The science of solar power is quite simple. The Photovoltaic (PV) cells generate Direct Current (DC) when exposed to direct sunlight. The more sun you give it, the more power it will produce.

To run your household appliances, you will need to convert the Direct Current to Alternate Current (AC). To do this, you will need a device known as a power inverter.

If you are planning to use solar power to charge a conventional rechargeable battery, the PV cells may work just fine.

Many DC powered equipment such as notebook, cell phone, Ipod for instance, run on DC power from the battery.

AA batteries are a good fit for charging with solar cells, since they have a low voltage of just 1.5 volts per battery and don’t take long to charge.

A rechargeable 1.5V AA battery will typically have a storage capacity of around 1600 milliamp hours (mAh). Just as you need around 16 ‐ 18V to charge a 12V battery, you also need more voltage from your solar battery charger than the battery will provide in order to force the extra current into the battery, thereby charging it.

Using water as an analogy, envision two pipes with flowing water meeting up in the middle. Voltage is comparable to the pressure of the water.

If the water pressure is higher in pipe A than in pipe B the water will flow from pipe A to pipe B. If pipe B’s pressure is higher than pipe A, the water will flow from pipe B to pipe A.

To charge a 12V battery, you need to supply more “pressure” to it (a higher voltage) to force the current into the battery cell and charge it.

Current can be compared to the amount of water that is flowing. Think of a battery like a water tank. If the pressure going into the tank is higher than the pressure coming out of the tank then you will fill the tank with water.

Depending on how much water is flowing dictates how fast the tank will fill up. Likewise, it is dependent on how much current is flowing from the solar panel to determine how fast the battery will fill up with power.

DIY Home Solar Power System

Do you want to know how to use solar power to reduce your home monthly electricity bill?

If you do, check out the 30 Solar and Wind Power For Homes Videos e-book. It is free to download. Just click on the link below.

==> Click here for instant download!

4 Benefits of Using a Charge Controller with Home PV System




One of the key components of a residential solar power system is the charge controller.
What does a charge controller do?

The cable from the solar panel is connected to the charge controller. The charge controller is then connected to the battery bank.

Its main function is to take care of the batteries.

The following is a list of 4 benefits of using a charge controller with a home solar power system.

1) Regulate the power from the solar panel before going to the batteries.

Photovoltaic (PV) cells can generate a good amount of power when exposed to direct sunlight. The problem is, sometimes we don’ get consistent sun light. This may due to cloud cover, rain or haze.

Therefore the power output from the solar cells also fluctuates. One of the functions of the charge controller is to regulate the voltage output of a consistent voltage level so it will not damage the battery units.

2) Prevent backflow of current back to the solar panel.

Solar cells produce power on the day time, but what does it do at night time?

As a matter of fact, the PV cells will consume energy!

The power generated the whole day will flow back into the solar cells.

One way of preventing this is with the charge controller. Charge controller usually has a current backflow resistor that prevents any current from the battery bank from flow back to the solar panel.

3) Protect the battery from complete discharge.

Even though when you are using a deep cycle battery, it is best not to discharge it more than 50 percent or you will weaken its life.

When we are using the power generated from the solar panel, we seldom check on the discharge level of the batteries. The charge controller with a LVD (low voltage disconnect) is used to protect the battery from complete discharge.

4) Maximum power point tracking.

A more sophisticated charge controller unit uses a pulse width modulation (PWM) or maximum power point tracking (MPPT).

The function is to assure the battery is being fully charged. The process of charging a battery is quite a complicated task. The first 70 – 80 percent of a battery capacity is easily replaced.

However, the last 20 – 30 percent requires more attention and therefore more complexity.

The charge controller uses PWM to track the battery charged level and changes the power output to meet the battery power requirement at high charged level.

It’s pretty confusing, but the charge controller does all the thinking for us.

DIY Home Solar Power System



Are you planning to setup your own home solar power system to cut down on your home energy bill? If you are, you may be a good DIY home solar guide.

For an easy to follow home solar manual, check out Michael Harvey’s Earth 4 Energy program. The program comes with a step by step e-book together with 7 High Definition (HD) instructional video.

For more information, read the Earth 4 Energy review post on this blog.

==> Click here to visit Earth 4 Energy now!