As the desire to utilize green energy grows, the tools to harness it expand as well. As the options continue to expand the price for green energy continues to drop. Anyone who has had the tiniest interest in solar panels knows just how good of an investment they can be for your home or business, but there is a high economic bar to get started. This series strives to shine some light (pun intended) on different ways solar energy can be used to save you money and save our planet.
A simple life-change you can do to utilize the energy from the sun is using a clothesline. This not only saves you the energy from using your dryer but is also gentler on your clothes and even removes stubborn odors embedded in the fabric. According to Efficiency, the sun even whitens your whites, acting as a natural bleach by sanitizinbg your clothes.
Another way to utilize the suns energy is through growing your own food! This is definitely a solution for those with patience and maybe a green thumb. Purchasing fruits and vegatables from a grocery store has a hidden environmental cost that we don’t always consider. Long distance transportation of produce contributes heavily to fossil fuel emissions, you also receive the benefit of knowing what you are spraying on your plants. You don’t even need a yard to accomplish this, just a few pots of soil, some seeds, and of course sunlight!
In extreme situations the suns light can also be used to purify water. When water is in a clear container and exposed to sunlight the UV radiation will eliminate any parasites, or bacteria! According to the Koshland Science Museum the water will need to sit for up to six hours in direct sunlight, and two days if particularly cloudy. While we might not use this hack everyday, it can save lives when clean water is not accesible.
As the need for renewable energy rises so does accessibility. The first annual Rocktown Energy Festival is bringing the information you need to go green and live an environmentally sustainable life. This free event will take place on October 2nd at the Harrisonburg Farmers Market and will work to promote clean energy in the Valley. It will not just cover the large-scale efforts to utilize renewable energy but also highlight what individuals can do to make their homes, lives, and families greener.
This event will feature informational speakers, workshops, and sustainable-focused business owners to discuss the benefits of clean energy. The goal is to get members of the valley to explore green energy options and explore the benefits that follow. There will even be a familiar face at this event as our very own Charles Hendricks will be attending to talk about the importance of solar power, and sustainable homes.
We are beyond thrilled to not only be a part of this event but to sponsor in the hopes of educating homeowners on opportunities to save the environment, and save them money.
Our first Net-Zero design came back in 2005. At the time Solar PV was expensive and rare for most of our projects. We focused on building energy-efficient to reduce energy usage, but Solar PV almost never got added. Then the price of solar thermal dropped and we starting seeing more interest in that technology. Today, things have switched drastically in the favor of Solar PV as panels are very affordable. As energy costs continue to rise renewable, “Green energy”, is rising in popularity. The switch to renewable energy seems like a no-brainer, there are several benefits to taking the plunge into a more environmentally conscious lifestyle, more specifically – solar power
GiveSolar is a non-profit that not only understands the benefits of solar power but is working towards installing panels for 20 Central Valley Habitat for Humanity households with twelve solar panels through their Solar Seed Fund. This project will not only make solar power more accessible but also promote green energy and the economic benefits of going solar. GiveSolar has been an active member of their communities since 2016, beginning with a solar barn-raising, since then they have been striving to eliminate poverty through green energy.
Solar power pulls energy from the sun that would otherwise show up on your utility bill, this form of energy reduces electricity bills, cuts down on carbon emissions, and can even increase property value! These panels save homeowners roughly $14,000.00 in a span of thirty years, panels not only work for you but work towards keeping our environment healthier. You might be asking yourself why doesn’t everyone switch to solar? There are common misconceptions that sway homeowners from going green, one of those being unpredictable weather, when in fact cloud coverage doesn’t significantly affect the power the panels absorb. Solar panels also don’t require warm weather in order to work, what’s stopping you from going green?
Here are some energy-efficiency blog posts I have written over the years. I hope these will help you narrow down those vampire loads, cold room mysteries, high energy bill conundrums, and generally help you save money, live more comfortably, and improve your indoor environmental quality.
There are simple energy fixes for your home that you can do while staying at home for a few days. I do lots of energy audits and the most common challenge I find in almost every house is air leakage around and thru While each of these is a small hole in your thermal envelope, there are a lot of these small holes. Here is a thermal image of a typical outlet. In this image, white is warm and dark is cold air. This is an outlet in an exterior wall, but I also find this on interior walls.
You can see cold air coming around the decorative cover plate and through the outlets themselves.
It is easy to take the decorative plate off. Don’t touch the wires inside. You will want to use a silicone caulk to fix the gap. There is a plastic box that holds the outlet in place. The gap between the plastic box and the drywall / plaster is the leak. Simply fill the gap with caulk.
So this reduces the air flow but does not stop it completely. If you have any child protection plugs you can insert them into the outlets after reattaching the decorative plate. You can also order a pack of pre-cut insulation that is designed to go behind the decorative plate.
Once sealed, this hole in your drywall is no longer a source of air leaking into and out of your home. This will improve your indoor air quality and potentially reduce your monthly energy bills.
My goal in providing free energy audits has been to help people make their homes more comfortable, energy-efficient, and durable.
In 2016, I started offering free energy audits for anyone in the valley. I worked with HEC on those in the city of Harrisonburg to start with and on my own for those in the County. I wanted to help people understand their homes and businesses – the most complicated machines they will ever own. With the knowledge of how these machines run, these home and business owners (and many churches) could make changes to improve comfort, reduce energy, clean up indoor air quality, and make their homes more durable.
This morning I performed one of the last audits I will be able to do for some time – there’s just not time to run for office (www.hendricksforharrisonburg.com) and provide this service while being a single dad and business owner. Here are blog links that I hope will help you improve comfort and energy-efficiency without a full audit.
