Incorporating green energy into your home is an easy way to reduce energy usage, and save the environment at the same time. You don’t have to buy an electric car to make this happen! The following article contains commonsense strategies you can use to “green” your home right now, even if you’re poor.

Use a solar water heat system to lower water and heating costs. Solar water heaters are much more energy efficient than electric or gas-driven water heating systems. Solar systems use the sun’s energy to stabilize water temperature. You may get tax deductions to offset the expense of installing some of this technology.

Natural Materials

Instead of turning on the air conditioner, wear fabrics made of natural materials. Natural materials like cotton repel moisture from your skin and allow it to stay cool. Wear lighter colored clothes, as darker colors tend to make you feel hotter, which results in your putting on the AC.

It is fairly simple to have solar panels installed to tap into solar energy to use in your home. However, before doing this, you need to consider a few things. The most important thing that needs to be taken into consideration is to determine how much sun your home gets on average. When in a shaded area, or city with less sunny days, there won’t be as many benefits from solar power.

Save electricity while becoming a more conscientious energy consumer by unplugging the chargers for all your electronic gadgets when they aren’t in use. Chargers used for cell phones, laptops, mp3 players and other electronic devices use power when they’re plugged in, even if they aren’t charging your device.

If possible, use cold water in your clothes washer. Almost 90 percent of the consumed energy while washing your clothes is spent on heating up the water. If your laundry detergent is a high quality brand, the use of cold water won’t affect the cleanliness of your clothing. Be sure to always do a full load of clothes when you wash.

If you use fuel to heat your home, ask a professional about using biodiesel instead. A lot of times this can be done with minimal modifications to your existing system. When you use biodiesel it burns a lot cleaner than conventional petroleum, which reduces the impact your home has on energy during the colder months of the year.

A good benchmark to use when determining how much power a new solar system is likely to generate is the number of hours of sunlight in the winter. That will help you avoid negative surprises in the winter, and it will give you plenty of leeway during the summer. If you generate excess energy during the summer, with the right plan, your utility company will send you a check!

Hire experts to check your plumbing and heating systems before investing a lot of money in installing new, greener systems. They will be able to tell you how much money you are losing on inefficient appliances, and they can also give you an accurate estimate of what it will cost to upgrade or replace your systems.

Get as many pieces of mail electronically as possible. Try to use paper as little as possible. This will not only help businesses lower their energy costs, but you as well. It also helps save the planet, of course.

Keep your heat on at a moderate level. Don’t increase it unless it is a necessity. If it’s a bit chilly, put sweatpants or a sweatshirt on. High heat can use too much energy.

Simple things like changing furnace filters, light bulbs and thermostats can make big energy differences. Show other people how easy being green is. Keep these tips in mind and use them often.