More Ideas & Tips

Hot tubs with damaged covers, or not covered at all, can result in the loss of immense amounts of heat. It is usually well worth installing or repairing hot tub covers.

Solar panels can cost effectively convert sunlight into electricity, powering everything from lamps to electronic devices to hot tubs and pool pumps.

A fuel cell may provide new or replace existing supplies of electricity. Together with a source of hydrogen (such as natural gas or propane) and air, a fuel cell will be able to generate electricity, with water and carbon dioxide as by-products. Typically, fuel cells have a 40% to 60% efficiency (compared with 25% for cars, 25% for PV generators and 30% for coal generation stations), which can climb to 85% if the exhaust heat is fully utilized.

If you have limited space for solar collection but would still like to benefit from the several opportunities available in using solar power, you might consider a hybrid solar system (such that sun energy is collected and automatically used to source either electric power, heat for domestic or other hot water needs, or home heating).

Wastewater generated from domestic activities such as laundry, dishwashing, and bathing, can be recycled for irrigation purposes in a gray water system.

A rainwater cistern will help reduce your demand for utility supplied water used for irrigation purposes, particularly in seasons of unpredictable rainfall. An especially large cistern will also be useful in storing rainy season rainfall for use in no-rain seasons.

Drain-water often takes with it significant amounts of heat. A heat recovery system uses warm drain water to warm pipes that are bringing in fresh, clean water on its way to your water heater - thereby reducing the energy the water heater needs to expend to do its job.

Some stoves do not make efficient use of energy; this is especially true of older models.

A leaky toilet can waste 20,000 gallons a year. Toilet leaks in many cases can be obvious (sounds coming from the toilet when it is not running), but in other cases can be harder to detect.

Just one faucet with a constant drip can leak up to 10,000 gallons a year.