Category Archives: Energy Efficiency

5 Energy-Saving Measures for Homeowners

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There are many easy ways to save money and electricity every month around your home. And as you will see from the following examples, they don’t all require you to downgrade your lifestyle or make major sacrifices in your everyday life. Some of these energy-saving measures will apply more during hot times of the year or cold times, but most will serve you well all year long.

save energy concept

And keep in mind that many of these energy-saving tips can apply just as well to businesses trying to save money as they do to homeowners.

1. Use Energy-Efficient Appliances

Your major household appliances use up a lot of electricity year-round, so when it comes time to repair or replace one of them, consider upgrading to a more energy-efficient model. Many manufacturers make refrigerators, dishwashers, ranges, washing machines and dryers that meet or exceed EnergyStar guidelines and can save you hundreds of dollars per year in lower energy bills.

2. Eliminate Electricity “Leaks”

Most homeowners are aware of water leaks in their homes such as leaky faucets, cracked garden hoses and poorly sealed pipe fittings in the walls. But your home could also be leaking electricity every day.

A lot of electricity gets wasted needlessly due to so-called “energy leaks”. These could include appliances that draw power 24/7, even when not in use. Other energy leaks could be simple things like leaving the lights turned on in empty rooms or falling asleep with the television on.

Fortunately, there are easy ways to reduce energy leaks without putting a drain on your lifestyle, such as using power strips, timers and motion sensors to cut off these devices when nobody is using them.

3. Improve Your Home’s Insulation

Another factor that drives up your monthly electric bill is the hot or cold air outside making its way into your home. There are two main ways to address this:

  1. Seal your doors and windows
  2. Put in better insulation

If your doors or windows are old and have cracks or holes, then go ahead and get those replaced. Double-paned glass windows and sliding doors can add an extra layer of protection to regulate your internal temperature.

home-insulation

If there are any gaps around the perimeter or frame of your doors and windows, then replacing the weatherstripping should seal those off easily. This is actually good DIY project for beginners that will only cost you a few bucks and a few minutes per door/window.

Replacing your insulation can be a big job and will likely require some professional help, not only to get the job done right, but also to ensure compliance with all building codes and regulations. The main question for you to discuss with your chosen contractor will be to decide what type of insulation will work best for your needs and your budget. Common materials include natural fibers, plastics, foam, minerals and fiberglass insulation.

When hiring a contractor, be sure they include air-sealing services in the estimate, since leaks, gaps and cracks in the walls, ceilings and floors should be done prior to putting in the insulation. Some insulation types, such as fiberglass insulation, are installed using techniques that literally blow the materials into place and do an excellent job of sealing off leaks.

4. Properly Use and Maintain Your HVAC System

Your heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) system can also make or break your power bill every month, especially during the winter or summer seasons. These heating and cooling systems are comprised of many motors and moving parts which are subject to wear and tear and will require ongoing maintenance.

While your HVAC system is designed to last for several years, some individual components can become worn out and create inefficiencies which overload the entire system, wasting energy and causing additional damage. So you do need to be diligent in maintaining or repairing these systems as needed. Many HVAC repair companies in your area offer free inspections of heaters, air conditioners and centralized ventilation systems, so take advantage of those when they are available.

hvac-maintenance

5. Use Green Building Materials

When constructing a new home or adding on to your existing property, using green building materials can also help you save money on construction costs. Here are some examples of commonly-used green building materials:

  • Recycled steel and wood
  • Reclaimed doors, windows and lumber
  • Plant-based polyurethane foam
  • Bamboo
  • Wool

While you might not see much difference on your own personal utility bill, using building supplies made from recycled or reclaimed materials can save money on construction costs. And you can also save a lot of energy and resources on a larger scale – at the community level and eventually global level. Plus, many reclaimed material just a nice aesthetic to your home.

Saving energy at home can be easy, and with a little creativity and investment you don’t necessarily have to make any radical changes to your lifestyle either. Pick one or two of these energy-saving tips for homeowners and put them to use today.

How to Make Your House as Eco-friendly as Possible?

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Environmental concerns are more widespread than they ever have been, thanks to high-profile documentaries, a raft of alarming science, and some determined activism from green pressure groups. And these concerns are helping to shape the modern home, too.

There are myriad environmentally-friendly ways in which the environmental impact of your home can be lessened. Some of these involve major investment and upheaval; others, however, offer a considerable return on just a little bit of effort.

solar-powered-home

The good news is that anything that can be done to make your home more energy-efficient will also make it greener. For example, replacing an old boiler with a modern combination one from City Plumbing will tend to yield a substantial improvement, even if it’s not an electric one. Let’s look at a few popular means of making a house eco-friendly, and see which will provide the greatest benefit to your home.

1. Light Bulbs

Swapping out older halogen-style light bulbs for newer LED-based ones can save enormous amounts of energy in the long-term. They’re more resilient, and they’ll pay for themselves within a few weeks. Of course, there’s also an environmental cost associated with manufacturing a new bulb – and thus it may be worth waiting for your old bulbs to fail before investing in a replacement.

LED-bulbs

2. Insulate

If you’re burning gas in order to replace the heat that’s escaping through your windows, doors and walls, then you’re imposing a burden on the environment. Anything you can do to improve the insulation situation will therefore confer an environmental benefit. Often, the best results can be had by improving the situation in the loft.

3. Install a compost bin

Your kitchen will produce food waste, which can be put to use in the garden. Install a compost bin, and use the results to grow yourself some quality vegetables. You’ll be slashing your food miles in the process, too.

benefits-composting

3. Heat Pumps

A ground-source heat pump is a device which draws energy up from deep in the ground, and uses it to help heat your house. Despite the name, the heat-pump can actually help to cool your property, too. Plus, you won’t have the visual upheaval that comes with solar panels. With that said, they’re tricky to install into existing builds, and their efficiency can vary according to the type of soil heat is being extracted from.

4. Photovoltaic Solar Panels

If you can claim a little bit of the energy that strikes your roof, then you’ll reduce the amount of fossil fuels that you’re indirectly causing to be burned. Over the course of decades, again, the investment in solar panels will pay for itself – and you’ll get the benefit of solar grants to sweeten the deal still further.

All You Need to Know About the Benefits Of Natural Gas

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All areas of our lives are literally run by energy. And with various options of energy consumption choices, it’s always good to know the benefits of each one of them so that you make a great consumer choice. Today, in this article, we are focusing on natural gas and are going to take you through some of its top benefits. So if that’s what you have been searching for, then you are at the correct place. Let’s get started!

1. Clean Burning Fuel

When compared to coal, oil, and diesel, natural gas is cleaner as it emits the least percentage of carbon dioxide and other related harmful chemicals. So when you use one, you don’t have to invest in emission lowering technologies as the efficiency is top notch. Also, since it’s odorless, it makes little contribution to air pollution and doesn’t cause any harm when inhaled by people and animals.

2. Versatile

There is a given sort of flexibility and convenience that comes with the use of natural gas. With it, you enjoy the ease of starting and turning off as it won’t take much of your time. Also, since it isn’t dependent on the wind or the sun, it can function pretty well when used with solar and wind powers. It’s a source you can depend on no matter the weather conditions outside.

So if this seems like something you would like to try out, then it’s advisable to carefully go through an apples to apples comparison of the various natural gas providers and settle for one according to your needs and financial capability.

3. Affordable

With the current hard economic times, people are always on the lookout for affordable but efficient options when it comes to products or services affecting their billings. So natural gas couldn’t have been easily accessible at a better time. In fact, it’s by far one of the cheapest energy options in the current market. This is because, even as you calculate the long-term costs of seemingly cheap options such as generators, you will realize that they aren’t as affordable as they might appear in the beginning. Take the fuel and maintenance costs, for example, you will end up spending much more than you can ever imagine.

natural-gas-applications

But this isn’t the case with natural gas. According to recent findings, its cost is expected to remain constant or relatively unchanged at least even for the next decade. So you can be sure that it’s a long-term investment, worth every cent. You make one and forget about unnecessary expenses.

4. Reliable Delivery Infrastructure

This is probably one of the natural gas‘s primary benefits. This is because you can still receive your delivery of natural gas even during extreme weather conditions such as storms, through the pipes. A case that’s different from other energy sources. Also, the infrastructure is already established in most urban areas.

Final Thoughts

Natural gas is a clean fuel that can be used in various places while keeping the air fresh and clean. Together with this, there are various benefits associated with its use and this includes the affordability, reliable infrastructure, versatility, among others. The above list isn’t exhaustive.

7 Ways To Maximize Solar Energy In Your Home

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Solar energy is rapidly gaining popularity among many homeowners due to being a reliable and efficient renewable energy source. Investing in a solar system can help you reduce your energy bills.

Solar energy depends on the power from the sun. It’s eco-friendly and can help you reduce your carbon footprint. Finding ways to maximize your solar energy can ensure that the system delivers as much as possible to meet your home’s power needs and save money.

Below is an outline highlighting how you can maximize solar energy in your home:

How to maximize solar energy in your home

1. Perform An Energy Audit

An energy audit can help you gauge if your solar system is fit to serve your energy needs and reduce energy consumption. Different home appliances differ in how they consume energy. Therefore, it would be wise to understand how you use solar energy to adjust the devices that draw more power. Besides being able to know your daily solar power production, some systems include online monitoring technology that offers live feeds and graphs of your solar energy production.

Installing a solar energy meter can give you a detailed audit of individual home appliances, providing you with solar and live-on-grid consumption data. You can study the information you get from the solar meter to determine the high energy use patterns, helping you introduce measures to reduce energy consumption. If you’re looking for the best services in the solar market in Colorado, Bex Solar can install the best solar panels with up-to-date features.

2. Use High-Consumption Appliances During The Day

Your solar panels can only produce electricity during the day since they generate energy from sunlight. Therefore, it would be wise to use as much energy as possible during the day. Appliances that consume a lot of energy include the washing machine, dishwasher, and kitchen stove. Running these appliances when energy production is at its highest can help maximize your home’s energy consumption as you would be using this energy directly as it originates from your solar panels.

3. Install A Solar Battery

Solar energy is produced by solar panels during the daytime when the sun is shining. Solar batteries work by storing the energy your solar panels make for use at night or during storms when there’s inadequate sunlight. Additionally, you can use the solar energy you store in your solar batteries during power outages. Installing solar batteries can help reduce your carbon footprint as they reduce your dependence on the energy from the grid.

4. Use Your Solar Energy Wisely

Each home appliance drains solar energy. The number of home appliances you can run at a go depends on your solar system’s size and the amount of energy the appliance draws. Running them constantly and simultaneously throughout the day can quickly deplete the energy you draw directly from your solar panels, placing unnecessary strain on your solar system.

Using one appliance at a time would be best to ensure that you’re wisely consuming your solar energy. For instance, consider running your dishwasher after using the washing machine, taking a shower after using the dishwasher, or turning on your television after cooking dinner.

beginners guide to renewable energy

It’s also wise to turn off standby mode. Electrical appliances like computers, televisions, HiFi systems, and gaming consoles consume electricity on standby. A single household can have most of these electric devices; hence the standby energy consumption can add up to high figures. Therefore, it’s crucial to use switchable sockets to separate these devices from the circuit when not in use.

5. Insulate Your Home

A poorly insulated home typically uses up more solar energy. You can cut energy costs through home insulation by helping it remain cool when hot and warm when it’s cold outside. Hence, your HVAC systems would require less energy than necessary to keep you comfortable with changing temperatures. Therefore, insulating your home can help you divert the energy you would’ve used for heating or cooling your home for other energy needs.

6. Maintain Your Solar System

You can also maximize your solar energy by keeping your solar system in proper working order. Your solar panels can lose efficiency when they’re dirty. It’s crucial to frequently clean them to free them from dirt, leaves, bird droppings, and mold that reduces the amount of sunlight your solar panels receive. Cutting any surrounding vegetation that blocks the solar panel’s access to sunlight is also crucial. Additionally, scheduling regular maintenance of your solar system by a professional can help you identify issues and fix them in time to avoid costly repairs.

facts about cleaning solar panels

7. Install LED Lights

Due to the glowing tungsten filament, incandescent lights typically emit more heat than light. As a result, they consume more energy, leading to higher bills. On the other hand, LED bulbs use all the electricity they receive to produce light, consuming less energy. Installing LED light bulbs can reduce solar energy consumption, helping you maximize the solar energy in your home.

Conclusion

We are currently living in an eco-friendly world. Therefore, most homeowners appreciate solar energy in their homes as it’s affordable, reliable, and environmentally friendly. The guide above can take you through ways to maximize solar energy in your home.

9 Brilliant Tips To Save Energy In The Winter

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When those colder months come, it can feel great to blast on the heating. That feeling of being cozy in your home while it’s freezing outside is something many people love about winter. That’s until you see your energy bill and realize all of that energy has come at a steep cost.

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be that way. Here we look at 9 brilliant tips that are going to allow you to stay warm in your house while saving energy in winter months. This will be much better for the environment and also much better for your pocket.

1) Cozy clothing

We’re not suggesting that you have a coat, scarf, and gloves in your home. Rather you can wear jumpers, thicker pajamas and winter socks. This will allow you to be comfortable in your clothing while also giving you the ability to turn down your heating by a couple of degrees.

Also getting thicker duvets for bedtime and nice throws for snuggling up in front of the TV can help keep you warm without your boiler doing all the hard work. You always want to be comfortable in your home but sometimes that can be done without adjusting the heating.

2) A 21st century Christmas

The holiday is a wonderful time of the year and many people love putting up a vast array of Christmas lights. You don’t have to be a humbug and take them down; instead, you can do it all a little more efficiently.

In these modern times, you should be using LED bulbs for those lights. Many people are still using their old bulbs which are much less efficient, and also more unreliable. Also, put your lights on a timer so that they only come on when it gets dark and go off at bedtime.

3) Use a space heater

Do you only stay in one room during the day or evening? Heating just one room instead of them all could save you a huge amount on your energy bills.

To make the most of this you can turn off the heating in your home and switch on your space heater. This will prevent a huge amount of waste. This shouldn’t be confused with using a space heater on top of your heating as this would be more inefficient.

4) Maintain your humidifier and HVAC systems

Over time your air conditioning, heating, humidifier and energy systems will become less efficient. It’s always a great idea to service your systems such as a furnace humidifier, see if any parts need to be replaced and then enjoy their greater output.

According to the Mass Save program, a lot of energy can be lost by devices that are either outdated or in need of a service, with your boiler being a great example. It’s usually easy to check this yourself or call out a professional to do it for a small fee.

5) Seal any leaks

If there is a draft coming through your home, then you need to block it. One common area of concern is basements and sealing leaks will prevent the warm air of your home escaping outside.

Other areas such as doors could benefit from a draught excluder and if you have inefficient windows, using quilted curtains can prevent drafts. If you’re not sure where drafts are coming from, using an infrared thermometer can be a huge help.

6) Keep a stable temperature

Some people can fall into the trap of switching their heating on, getting too hot, switching it off and opening a window, then switching their heating back on when it gets cold. If you repeat this process, not only can you get uncomfortable, but it’s a huge waste.

The best solution is to get a thermostat that you can time. You need to know your ideal temperature and use this for when you’re at home. You will also be able to turn your heating off when you’re out of the house and down when you’re sleeping.

7) Use solar energy

There are many misconceptions about solar energy, with one of the biggest being that it only works in warm climates. The reality is that all they need is sunlight, even if it’s freezing outside. They also don’t need direct sunlight to be powered up.

If you live in a spot where you have the space and budget, then it doesn’t matter what the temperature is. While a solar panel won’t be as effective if there are fewer daylight hours, they can still provide a huge boost of clean energy in those cold winter months.

8) Avoid your tumble dryer

You can’t put your clothes outside to dry and therefore you put them in your tumble dryer, it makes sense. This they are brilliant for getting the job done quickly but use up a huge amount of energy in the process.

If your radiators are on, then you might as well use them. If you don’t need clothes to be immediately dried then they are only going to take a few hours in front of a radiator and you’ll save a lot of money.

9) Don’t block radiators

Okay, this is a direct contradiction to the point before but with clothing it is different. If you have a bed or other piece of furniture in front of a radiator, it will have a hugely negative impact on its ability to heat your room.

You need to allow the radiator to heat the air around it and then give enough space for that air to circulate. In terms of circulation, if you have a ceiling fan then it’s a good idea to put it on reverse and in its lowest setting. Hot air rises and a ceiling fan, when used like this, can push the hot air back down into the room.

Water Saving Tips for Schools and Colleges

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Like all large organizations, schools and colleges need to examine their environmental impact. In addition to energy usage and waste management, water use is another critical area of environmental health for schools and colleges.

With regards to the climate crisis, children and young adults are amongst the loudest voices. Many grassroots campaigns have resulted in the successful lobbying of institutions to change damaging practices. These include divesting from fossil fuel companies and halting research that supports the oil and gas industry. Here are some of our best water saving tips in an educational setting:

water-conservation-colleges

For an essay writer, the climate crisis is a subject rich in content. Opening up the debate around school or college policy to students is an excellent way to generate ideas. They’ll outnumber those suggested in this article by 10-to-1. Make sure to tap the young minds at your disposal.

When it comes to your institution’s infrastructure, there are many different kinds of alterations and fixes. Retrofitting aspects of the building’s plumbing is a far easier task than a complete overhaul. These fixes use both high- and low-tech solutions.

Some of the most effective technological fixes are incredibly simple. One of many ingenious toilet water saving tips is the flush bag, a plastic bag that absorbs water. The bag goes into the toilet cistern, which’s the sizable boxy bit at the back of a toilet. When the toilet is flushed, the bag expands and takes up space that would have previously been occupied by water. This space displacement will save roughly one-liter of water per flush, other size bags can reduce  more space, but it is a matter of balancing function and environmental favor.

Flush bags illustrate a pertinent point;  when dealing with large numbers of individuals, incremental changes add up to a large percentage. If you can save 1,000 liters of water per day, the reduction becomes significant over an academic year. Little and often should be the water-saving motto of your school.

Other excellent marginal gains devices include sensor-activated taps; to prevent accidental (or intentional) tap-running. The tap flow rate in the US is generally very high. Adaptors exist, which will reduce the flow rate and thus save gallons of water.  Another thing to note is that our existing infrastructure has always put human needs first; there is a lot of slack in the system.

‘The system’ leads us to the next tip. Think for the future when planning your school’s re-development. Ideas to make a school carbon neutral, or even carbon positive, must include water usage, not just energy usage. Water does not miraculously flow. Some sort of connection to the energy grid is essential.

water-savings-schools

Schools and colleges can look for renewable energy providers who service their area. Swapping energy providers may be simple, or there could be legal obstacles; it depends on the type of school or college.

For those with a hefty endowment, taking energy generation in-house is one option. Generating a self-reliant water source is hard and not on the list of priorities for most institutions. Who has a natural spring sitting on the grounds these days? However, in the years to come, water desalination plants could become much more affordable and offer locally available water to the area, not just the institution.

One place that needs water saving tips is California. The state has suffered dramatic and devastating wildfires evermore frequently in recent years, making news the world over. In areas that are prone to wildfires like this, water is of deep concern. They’re running out. Schools, colleges, and the entire state have to reduce their demand. Reducing this demand will only become more critical, familiar, and necessary in the coming years.

energy-conservation-students

Schools and universities can lead the way on this front. They’re able to set their own rules and develop sound practices in their students while they’re at it. Education is just as important as technological fixes; ensuring water doesn’t get wasted is as much about bringing together the team as it is stuffing bags in toilets.

Embodied carbon is the amount of carbon it took for an object to be made or to function. Embodied water is not just the fact that you’re 90% h2o; it’s the amount of freshwater affected or used to create a material or maintenance of services.

It is easy to think about embodied water in food; wheat grown in the USA contains approximately 849 cubic meters of water per tonne. Understanding metrics such as these can help with long term planning. If your institution provides food, a thorough audit of your water use could suggest ways to alter the kitchen and the menu to reduce water consumption.

Saving water in schools and colleges is literally and metaphorically plugging a leaky pipe. The task is never really over as it is so complex and prone to faults and issues. That said, every institution can save water tomorrow if they implement some of the fixes covered in this article.

Things to Consider When Choosing an Energy Supplier

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When taking global warming into consideration, providing affordable and sustainable energy is a step towards a better future; however, the idea of spending energy differs from person to person. It is important to find an energy supplier that can meet an individual’s energy requirements.

Creating a strategic partnership with the right supplier can also help you deal with costs and improve the efficiency of your energy supply. Here are a few things you should consider beyond price while choosing an energy supplier.

what to consider when choosing an energy supplier

Sustainability options

A credible energy company will help you boost efficiency and choose the best energy supply alternatives. This can vary from Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) to in-house generation and tailor-sourced renewable energy.

Choose a supplier like Origin Electricity/Origin Energy. Origin Energy has the expertise to seamlessly integrate renewable sources into your existing energy portfolio. Origin Energy can also assist you in achieving a sustainability certification. Often, these brands are committed to lowering (if not eliminating) the negative impact energy production has on the environment. Depending on the supplier, you can source between 25% to 100% of your electricity usage from renewable sources.

Contract

Nobody likes to read through lengthy contracts, but we also want to have the terms of the contract explicitly mentioned. Whenever you choose an energy supplier, ask them to mention all the essential points and keep the paperwork minimal. Make sure the provider explains how demand and supply components will impact your energy bills.

The best energy supplier will compare the cost imputation of pass-through elements and find the best fit for you. The best supplier will allow you to choose between a fixed rate, a market-based rate, or a calculated mixture of both. Some suppliers will also allow you to buy electricity monthly. Knowing the contract terms will enable you to understand the variable components of energy prices.

Credibility

A customer must know if the provider they are choosing is financially stable, reliable, and credible. A financially sound supplier ensures that they will be there to supply you with energy, even during the ups and downs of the market.

The price will vary, it is inevitable, but the energy supply should not be ceased. A credible supplier must have business longevity, a reputation, a credit rating, and good customer reviews.

Customer service

Look for an energy provider that provides reliable customer service and replies promptly to queries. Make sure that the company offers excellent post-sale customer service. A proficient supplier will help you know about fluctuations in energy supply, prices, and deals (which happens quite frequently). Choose an energy company that proactively suggests savings opportunities and programmes related to energy effectiveness.

Licensed supplier

First identify what energy (solar, renewable, electric, or natural gas) your home will require. Afterwards, you must look for a supplier that offers those energy sources within your region. Try to figure out if the price includes taxes such as a state sales tax, fees, or charges. All the crucial facts must be available readily and transparently. Check if the company has a licence to serve your locality. If the company is licensed, then the licence number should be easy to find in your state utility committee.

Ways to Make Your Business More Eco-Friendly

Industry suppliers

If selecting an energy provider for business purposes, your energy company should understand your business needs based on its size and industry. The energy provider should have experience assisting businesses like yours to succeed.

A total electricity management technique incorporates several energy resolutions with guidance from energy experts to create a personalised strategy that helps customers take advantage of both demand and supply-side elements.

Final Thoughts

While choosing the best energy supplier for your home or business, look for these factors listed above. Find a well-rounded company that prioritises your requirements and helps streamline energy success.

The Impact of Machine Learning on Renewable Energy

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Machine learning, as well as its endgame, artificial intelligence, is proving its value in a wide variety of industries. Renewable energy is yet another sector that can benefit from machine learning’s smart data analysis, pattern recognition and other abilities. Here’s a look at why the two are a perfect match.

Predicting and Fine-Tuning Energy Production

One of the biggest misconceptions about solar power is that it’s only realistic in parts of the world known for year-round heat and intense sunshine. According to Google, around 80% of rooftops they’ve analyzed through their Sunroof mapping system “are technically viable for solar.” They define “viable” as having “enough unshaded area for solar panels.”

Even with this widespread viability, it’s useful to be able to predict and model the energy yield of a renewable energy project before work begins. This is where machine learning enters the equation.

Based on the season and time of day, machine learning can produce realistic and useful predictions for when a residence or building will be able to generate power and when it will have to draw power from the grid. This may prove even more useful over time as a budgeting tool as accuracy improves further. IBM says their forecasting system, powered by deep learning, can predict solar and wind yield up to 30 days in advance.

Machine learning also helps in the creation of solar installations with physical tracking systems, which intelligently follow the sun and angle the solar panels in order to maximize the amount of power they generate throughout the day.

Balancing the Smart Energy Grid

Predicting production is the first step in realizing other advantages of machine learning in clean energy. Next comes the construction of smart grids. A smart grid is a power delivery network that:

  • Is fully automated and requires little human intervention over time
  • Monitors the energy generation of every node and the flow of power to each client
  • Provides two-way energy and data mobility between energy producers and clients

A smart grid isn’t a “nice to have” — it’s necessary. The “traditional” approach to building energy grids doesn’t take into account the diversification of modern energy generation sources, including geothermal, wind, solar and hydroelectric. Tomorrow’s electric grid will feature thousands and millions of individual energy-generating nodes like solar-equipped homes and buildings. It will also, at least for a while, contain coal and natural gas power plants and homes powered by heating oil.

Machine learning provides an “intelligence” to sit at the heart of this diversified energy grid to balance supply and demand. In a smart grid, each energy producer and client is a node in the network, and each one produces a wealth of data that can help the entire system work together more harmoniously.

Together with energy yield predictions, machine learning can determine:

  • Where energy is needed most and where it is not
  • Where supply is booming and where it’s likely to fall short
  • Where blackouts are happening and where they are likely
  • When to supplement supplies by activating additional energy-generating infrastructure

Putting machine learning in the mix can also yield insights and actionable takeaways based on a client’s energy usage. Advanced metering tools help pinpoint which processes or appliances are drawing more power than they should. This helps energy clients make equipment upgrades and other changes to improve their own energy efficiency and further balance demand across the grid.

Automating Commercial and Residential Systems

The ability to re-balance the energy grid and respond more quickly to blackouts cannot be undersold. But machine learning is an ideal companion to renewable energy on the individual level as well. Machine learning is the underlying technology behind smart thermostats and automated climate control and lighting systems.

Achieving a sustainable future means we have to electrify everything and cut the fossil fuels cord once and for all. Electrifying everything means we need to make renewable energy products more accessible. More accessible renewable energy products means we need to make commercial and residential locations more energy-efficient than ever.

Machine learning gives us thermostats, lighting, and other products that learn from user preferences and patterns and fine-tune their own operation automatically. Smart home and automation products like these might seem like gimmicks at first, but they’re actually an incredibly important part of our renewable future. They help ensure we’re not burning through our generated power, renewable or otherwise, when we don’t need to be.

Bottom Line

To summarize all this, machine learning offers a way to analyze and draw actionable conclusions from energy sector data. It brings other gifts, too. Inspections powered by machine learning are substantially more accurate than inspections performed by hand, which is critical for timely maintenance and avoiding downtime at power-generating facilities.

Machine learning also helps us predict and identify factors that could result in blackouts and respond more quickly (and with pinpoint accuracy) to storm damage.

Given that the demand for energy is only expected to rise across the globe in the coming years, now is an ideal time to use every tool at our disposal to make our energy grids more resilient, productive and cost-effective. Machine learning provides the means to do it.

4 Ways to Make Your Next Home Greener

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There is a huge spotlight on the construction industry when it comes to green initiatives – and rightly so. After all, this is one of the biggest contributors to all of the sustainable problems that the world faces. However, this increased focus does prompt some problems. It can make some people believe that going green in the home is out of the question – and is only going to be achieved through some really costly implementations.

Granted, there are some major infrastructure projects you can invest in if you are building a home, with solar power and ground source heat pumps tending to grab the headlines. At the same time, there are smaller wins – and these shouldn’t be underestimated, such as solid wood flooring. In fact, if everyone was to invest in these, we’d suggest that the typical carbon footprint across cities such as San Diego would drop substantially.

Taking this into account, let’s now take a look at some of the quick, green wins you can succeed with as you bid to make your next home greener and more sustainable.

1. It starts with the placement of your windows

As we work with our architect in the initial design phase of our project, many of us are more concerned about the size of our bedrooms and so on.

A common afterthought is the placement of windows. Sure, some people might think about this as they consider natural light implications – but it’s time to think bigger.

Let’s not forget that as well as allowing rooms to heat naturally, windows are something that lets warm air escape. It means that their position is crucial, and treating them as an afterthought is asking for a completely inefficient dwelling.

2. Never forget insulation

In some ways, we were almost tempted not to include this next point. After all, insulation is an old classic when it comes to energy efficiency. It is something that has been suggested for years, mainly because it is incredibly cheap to implement whilst also being very effective.

Of course, it’s always easier to install insulation during the early phases of a project. Try and remember to focus on the roof and walls; this is where most of your heat is lost and is where you can make the biggest difference.

3. It’s not just about energy; think water as well

A lot of today’s guide has looked at energy, and rightly so. We are also going to dip into a point about water consumption, though.

This is something that often gets forgotten about, but the benefits are substantial. A lot of older, traditional bathroom fittings are anything but efficient – they deliver water at a ridiculous rate, and ultimately waste it.

If you turn to modern-day solutions, you’ll find that you can save gallons every year. Suffice to say, this isn’t just going to benefit your environment, but your pocket as well.

4. Your roof is crucial

Finally, if there was just one area of your next home to concentrate on, your roof should be up there as a priority. Nowadays, there are all sorts of materials that can help your plight. For example, for those of you who reside in hot countries, you can turn to roofs with reflective paint to deal with the heat somewhat. Green roofs are another solution which are surging in popularity but in truth, the list could go on.

Recommended Green Resources:

3 Ways to Make the Most of Your AC Unit

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Without a doubt, one of the reasons why so many homeowners are hesitant about the use of their air conditioning unit is due to the potential spike in the utility bills. While it is understandable to want to save money on an AC unit, it makes no sense to have an AC and never use it. It can be challenging to be comfortable in a warmer climate without the help of air conditioning, but a rising utility bill should not deter you from using it when you want to.

That said, there are some ways to help ensure that you are making the most of the AC unit you have. While services such as Elite AC Repair Austin are there for the more severe issues that can pop up, here are a few methods to help you save money by treating your AC unit right.

1. How you handle the ventilation in your home can make all the difference

For example, there are plenty of houses with furniture that ends up blocking the vents, stopping air from effectively moving freely around the home. While it might not be such a big deal, when you are trying to utilize your AC unit to cool things down, it can result in an uneven experience. Before starting, it would be a good idea to check and ensure that the vents in your house are not blocked or clogged in any way.

2. Purposefully blocking ventilation can have its advantages

Once you are confident that everything is in order, there is still the question of which vents to block when the AC is on. After all, there are areas of the home that do not need to be cooled down – such as the basement. By blocking the ventilation in certain areas, you can cool other rooms much faster and save money at the same time.

3. Understand exactly when to have your AC serviced

There are plenty of situations where it seems like the best course of action would be to use a service such as eliteaustinac.com. That said, understanding which situations merit the intervention of a professional can save you plenty of money in the long run. For example, a leak might not be so bad, but it could end up leading to mold as time goes on, eventually turning into a health hazard for you and your family. Clean dirty HVAC air filters regularly to decrease HVAC energy consumption.

clogged-filter-AC

There is also the issue of odd smells, as well as the lack of cold air. If you want to save money, it would be a good idea to have your unit serviced by an expert as soon as possible.

Aside from the tips above, ensure that you keep the condenser clean by washing it with a garden hose every now and then. If you are curious about where to find quality AC units, Trane can help provide you with the best air conditioning units around. The tips above will help you save money while simultaneously giving your AC the treatment it deserves!