Live Well - Live Green!

There have been so many advances in green energy technology, it is now easier than ever to start changing your home to run on clean, alternative power.

There are many ways to implement your plan to convert your home from being totally fossil fuel dependent to making use of renewable energy sources.

• Solar Energy - You can have installed solar hot water panels to heat your water. And you can install solar panels which use photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight into electricity. These systems can be expensive if purchasing them and having them installed professionally, but there are many good resources available so you can make your own solar panels and solar hot water system, which will reduce the expense by many thousands of dollars.

• Passive Solar Design - If you are building a new home, a really good way to make it energy efficient and so cut your power bills, is to implement passive solar design principles during your house's construction. This means having large areas of windows on the south side (in the northern hemisphere – the north side in the southern hemisphere) of your home. You should also have heat-retaining brick, stone, or concrete in your south-facing rooms to store the heat during the day; as the outside temperature drops at evening, the heat from the thermal mass will warm the air in the room, thereby reducing your heating requirements.

• Windmills - Another way to take advantage of renewable energy sources is by harnessing the wind to produce pollution-free electricity. Windmills can be installed on rooftops or in yards, or if you live out of town, in the fields. Windmills are available commercially but there is also quite a wide variety of reasonably priced kits available for anyone who is keen to do their own and so lower the costs significantly.

• Water Power - If you have a property with a stream on it, you can further add to the efficiency of your alternative energy home with hydro-electric power. This is another great, pollution-free power source which is easy to look after and works as long as there is water available.

The ultimate green energy home would combine all of these resources. You are not only looking at huge savings, and even possible profits, from your electricity usage by utilizing solar, wind, and water to create your home's power, but you would also be contributing to a cleaner, greener, Earth, as these simple, natural, renewable options don't produce the greenhouse gas emissions which are causing global warming.

By adding passive solar design and a solar hot water system to the mix, you would further reduce your energy needs, exponentially, and would be truly living well – living green.

A renewable energy home doesn't require more maintenance than traditional homes. Solar technologies require little to no maintenance, while just a regular oiling will keep wind and water turbines at peak performance. There is no better time to create your green energy home.

Do yourself and the world a favour – it will be something you can be proud of.