SolarMax Inc.

Great information here at the Solar Community Get Together at Wolff Bros.

SOLAR COUNTDOWN: 10 DAYS OF TIPS FOR INEXPENSIVE ENERGY:

Tip 1: Know Your Loads The first step on the renewable path is to get familiar with how much energy your household uses and identify where your energy dollars are going. Take a look at a year’s worth of your energy bills. Determine how much energy is used for space and water heating, air conditioning, and other electrical loads. Depending upon where you live, you may find certain seasonal trends that lead to increased energy consumption. For most of us, space conditioning consumes the most energy and generally warrants the most attention when it comes to efficiency efforts. Water heating is typically the second largest home energy user.

SOLAR COUNTDOWN: 10 DAYS OF TIPS FOR INEXPENSIVE ENERGY:

Tip 3: Take Control Lowering the thermostat is one sure way to reduce heating costs. On average, you can expect to save about 2% of the energy you use to heat (or cool) your home for every degree you lower (or raise) the temperature setting. Use a programmable thermostat and set it to lower the temperature 10°F when you’re sleeping or away from home—or if there’s no danger of pipes freezing, you can turn off your furnace completely. (And no, it will not take more energy to reheat the house than you saved by keeping the thermostat turned down.) Wrap your water heater in an insulating blanket and set the temperature as low as possible. Typically, a 1°F adjustment in your water heater’s temperature will result in a 1% change in energy use. You can use a timer to turn an electric water heater off when you don’t need it, but you will gain more in efficiency by using conservation strategies such as low-flow shower heads.