Energy bills are one of the biggest costs that most homeowners have to pay, but did you know that you can avoid them completely? There are all sorts of ways that you can reduce the amount of money that you pay but why not go further than that? By becoming completely self-sufficient you can eradicate your energy bills and even start making some money on top of that by selling any surplus power back to the grid. It’s a no brainer really, why would you waste loads of money paying bills when you could be earning instead? As well as the financial benefits, you’ll also be reducing your impact on the environment which is a big concern for a lot of people these days. If that all sounds good to you, here’s how you can make your house completely self-sufficient.
Wind Turbines
You must have seen those huge wind turbines that are used to generate clean energy in place of fossil fuels, but you aren’t going to put one of those in your back garden. But you can get a scaled down version which will power a medium sized house under the right conditions. If you live in an area that doesn’t get much wind, this is obviously not the best option. However, you don’t need to live in the middle of a hurricane to get enough wind to power your home. The main obstacle you’ll come up against is zoning laws. A wind turbine is considered an eyesore by some and you can draw a lot of complaints from neighbors if it blocks their views. They’re usually at least 80 foot high so if you’ve got other houses close by then you’ll have to make sure you don’t get in the way. It doesn’t take much to block the wind so if you live near a wooded area you could run into trouble.
They usually cost around $10,000 so it’s a big investment to make and it takes a good few years to pay it off in energy savings. People often worry about the unreliability of wind power but any excess that you generate on windy days will be stored in a battery to make up any shortfalls on those still days.
Solar Power
Installing solar panels is a far more reliable way to go off grid completely. Obviously there is going to be cloudy days but even if you can’t see the sun, you’ll still be generating power. Sun is more reliable than the wind and the installation costs of solar panels are going to be a lot less than wind turbines. The other major benefit is that you don’t need to worry about the solar panels obstructing the views of your neighbors.
Backups
When you’re putting these systems in place, you might run into problems before you’ve built up a good surplus of energy. You should stay connected to the grid during that transition period so you don’t find yourself without power. When you do finally disconnect, it’s always a good idea to keep a few battery powered generators handy in case of emergencies.
Going completely off grid is a great way to save some money and reduce your impact on the environment.
XOXO
Debbie
This is a collaborative post
