Renewable Ireland blog

ENERGY SAVING TIPS

During tough financial times it’s not always feasible for homeowners to invest in solar panels or heat pumps for their house. Here are some top tips for saving energy on a budget, lessen your annual home energy running costs , lessen your carbon foot print & look after your pocket while taking care of the environment.

1: Switch off your Appliances at the Wall

• Appliances such as TV’s, Sky Boxes etc. left on standby can use up to 20% (or 1/5th) of the power they use when they are fully on.  Why waste this energy unnecessarily? Plug out,  or use the switch at the plug point when going to bed or heading out for the day and the savings will add up! This also lessens the chance of an electrical fire / fault.

2: Use Energy Saving Light Bulbs

• Energy Saving Light bulbs such as CFL’s use significantly less electricity than regular bulbs. For example the equivalent of a 100Watt Light bulb would be a 20Watt CFL, that’s only 20% of the power! CFL’s also last up to 10times longer than regular bulbs, so you save on bulb replacement too. CFL bulbs have come a long way since they first arrived on the market, the bulbs look like ordinary bulbs, you can also get dimmable CFL’s.  CFL bulbs are now available in all stores as incandescent bulbs now are withdrawn from the market.

3: Fit a lagging jacket to your Hot Water Cylinder & lag pipes.

• Fitting a lagging jacket to your hot water cylinder only takes a couple of minutes. The jacket keeps the water in the tank warmer for longer & hence you don’t have to heat it so much. This will save on your Electricity and Heating Fuel bill. Lagging jackets are available at your local hardware store.
• Lagging pipes – both hot and cold. The savings on energy costs are admittedly small, however there are savings when you have room thermostats in your home, the heat is given off in the room as opposed to crawl spaces and attics. The big saving is to be found when the pipes freeze and burst. Pipe insulation on pipes in the attic will save you time, some energy and a load of tears ! (and maybe prevent a call  from an insurance loss adjuster too).

4: Turn your heating thermostat down

• Reducing the heating temperature in your home even by only 1 degree, could save you 10% on your heating bill!  Approx. 20 degrees is the recommended temperature for a home, but this depends on the level of insulation you have in the structure.

5: Use “A” Rated Appliances

• Check the Energy rating of all appliances such as Dishwashers, Washing Machines etc. They Cost less to run than older appliances and will save you money on your electricity bill.
• Don’t turn on your washing machine or dishwasher when they’re half full. Wait until there’s a full load before running the machines. Also, run the appliances at the lowest possible temperature. Modern Wash Powders and Dish Washer tablets can clean efficiently at lower temperatures’ than before. Try it and see!
• Even TV’s have energy rating figures now, so when buying the new flat screen this Christmas – ask the difference in Energy rating from Plasma, LED etc.

6: Insulate or Re-Insulate your Attic & Home -  SEAI  ‘ Better energy for homes ‘  Grant Available

• Attic Insulation is such an easy way to save energy in your home. You will notice the warmth immediately! Insulating your attic can save an average household almost €300 per year. Even if you have existing insulation it is worth checking it to see if it can be improved as insulation standards have changed dramatically in the past few years. The recommended thickness for standard attic insulation is now 300 mm. i.e. if you have 1 layer of ‘rockwool’ insulation between the attic joists – you need 3 layers.
• You can also look into insulating the walls of your house. There are many options such as interior dry lining, exterior lining & injection insulation (which injects an insulator into the cavity of your external walls)
• For free insulation survey on your home contact the solar panel people :  http://www.thesolarpanelpeople.com/products.html

7: Don’t Overfill your Kettle

• If you’re the only one having a cuppa, only put one cup of water in the kettle! It will also boil quicker

8: Switch off Lights when not in use

• Switch off lights when you leave a room. No need to have all the lights on when watching TV. Dimming lights can also save Energy, a light dimmed by 50% can save 40% of the Energy, modern dimmers can also increase lamp life up to 20times. Timers, photocells(Light Sensors) and motion detectors can also be used to ensure lights are only on when in use. External ‘halogen’ lights use up to twice the electricity that normal bulbs do- ensure they are on timer / sensor.  Similarly halogen spot light –  a very popular fixture in most homes , can add to your electricity bill significantly over time. Try switching to LED spotlight bulbs to save energy costs.

9: Save on refuse / rubbish  – Compost –

This one was mentioned to me at a renewable energy conference I was speaking at, My question (regarding solar panels) was name one home improvement that pays for itself.  A woman mentioned to me afterwards – A com-poster.  They cost little or nothing to buy (around €20), in fact you could make your own in 20 minutes. They lessen your rubbish collection costs annually, they are great for the environment & you save more when you don’t have to go out in the spring and buy compost, saving fuel and time!

So a friend of mine ‘Gardening Jones’ a absolute wiz and expert gardener gave me the following tips for you: (Thanks GJ!)  Get great gardening tips and advice on facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gardening-in-real-life/213415125978

Most gardeners know you can compost grass clippings and fallen leaves. There is so much more that you can let decompose rather than add to a landfill:

1. stale and mouldy bread, uneaten toast
2. egg shells, crushed
3. coffee grounds, inc. filters, and tea bags
4. vegetable and fruit –peels, trimmings and cores
5. used napkins, paper towels (if no meat residue)
6. freezer burned veggies
7. rotting produce (no shame on you- we all have it)
8. dryer lint, dryer sheets (never tried the sheets)
9. dust bunnies (yes, including shed pet fur)
10. pizza crusts (no meat)
11. kitchen sink trap residue (again, no meat)
12. hair trimmings/trappings
13. shredded (and very well composted) newspapers and junk mail (keep colour ink out of your veggie compost)
14. Spent bouquets and houseplant trimmings

And that’s all there is to it. Thanks to Gardening Jones again for contributing to this post, I’ve learned something new myself. All of the tips above won’t be for everyone – but implementing these simple cost effective measures in some manner or degree will lower energy and waste costs without an huge investment cost for your household.
M. Fleming

Many people are aware of geothermal or ground source heat pumps that use a small amount of electrical energy to draw 3 to 4 times the energy from the ground and provide it to your home, business or office in the form of heat and hot water. Air source heat pumps are ideal for ‘retro fit’ solutions replacing your existing oil or gas heating system and are a relatively unknown technology.

Taking the Mitsubishi Ecodan air source heat pump as an example the following benefits are provided:

• Ecodan heat pumps have the potential to reduce a home’s CO2 emissions by up to 50%
• Mitsubishi is proven heat pump technology widely used in the heating and cooling industry
• Ecodan upgrades naturally occurring energy from the air and uses this to provide domestic space heating and hot water
• For every 1kW of electricity fed into Ecodan, you will get at least 3kW of heating energy
• Air source heat pumps are much easier to install than ground source so they are more suitable for a wide variety of properties from flats to detached houses

Watch this short video to see how simple and clean an air source heat pump is during operation.

Air source heat pump operation

Grants or ”incentives”  as a crutch for supporting the business of renewable energy.

Many times, I have seen companies in different sectors depend upon it’s livelihood from a government whether the government be nationwide schemes or local – county based, only to fail when the rules changed — and they always do. Many industries down the line have been in this position, and what do you know – here we are in Ireland with a change in grants scheme from the SEAI.  It is too early to comment on the scope of these changes or particulars as the full extent and terms and conditions are not available yet (add to confusion!)

Dependence on grants or incentives for renewable companies in Ireland and many other countries have had rude awakening or will do as politics and policy changes. However the grants have changed for better or worse is yet to be determined; reasons are lower operating costs for installers, product price decreases in renewable energy (RE) & higher fossil fuel costs. The latter is the key in my opinion as it is the driving force in RE because there is much more at stake than the success or failure of an infant renewable industry.  Ideally the grants have been lowered for longevity and a new job creation scheme in the RE sector will follow  – I won’t hold my breath as behind closed doors of government the ‘bean counters’ have such a high rate of taxation and revenue from traditional fuels like petrol, diesel and kerosene it would hasten the demise of that revenue at a time when taxation = salvation. It seems like the decision to side step reality has been taken for instance the removal of the heat pump grant. The most efficient means of heating and providing hot water to the home and also the largest initial investment that would require grant assistance to encourage take up in the retro fit market.

Oil

I suppose this is ‘old news’ but if you have 10 minutes watch the full video from ‘the oil crash’

We continue to depend upon oil (especially foreign oil) for our energy needs. For decades, the oil industry’s proposed solution to potential oil shortages has been ‘we need to develop more sources of domestic oil in untapped places.’ We have pumped most of the surface or near-surface oil deposits. We have drilled deeper and in more remote locations and tapped those sources. Now, oil companies are looking at sources of oil that were once considered too expensive to reach. And despite these source claims, we still depend on the Middle East for our oil. Whether foreign or domestic, costs are rising.

So in a recession and as a fuel  import dependent country we should strive to build a a strong renewable energy industry.

Germany — a world leader in PV (photovoltaic – solar electricity) and wind energy — became that way through aggressive incentive programs.

Major cities and even the smallest villages all over the country have rooftop solar (PV) installations. Hillsides that are too steep for crops are now covered with utility-scale solar arrays, and giant wind generators are on hundreds of hilltops. The one conclusion that can be drawn is Germany is dead serious about renewable energy. Germans understand that they (as well as the United States) face an uncertain future should foreign oil stop flowing. Communities, the government & businesses / homeowners need to wake up to compromise, not the slap in the face or bucket of water over the head that will take us all by surprise in the coming years.  I’m not advocating destroying our natural beauty, but if selected sites and off shore wind farms are practical in certain parts of Ireland then exploration, community compromise and implementation should be expedited.  The ‘sunny south east’ of our country needs extra county based or an SEAI points factor added to the domestic / commercial application of solar installation – both solar thermal & PV then it needs to be tabled and implemented.

Here in Ireland we already have a world leading company manufacturing evacuated tube/ vacuum tube solar panels here in Ireland, more job creation and investment in this industry & sector can provide a three tier advantage :  Increase in domestic employment, increase a product export in a global growth market & resulting reduction in installation outlay for solar equipment can only serve to encourage ‘retro fitting’ to existing buildings and a decrease in imported – dwindling fossil fuel supply. Simple solutions are in most cases the best solutions, an easy process – hot water or energy from the sun.

Excerpts for this article are from a post on Renewable energy world.com by  :  James A. “Hoss” Boyd, CEO Tierra Verde Solar Inc.

His final thought —“ let’s stop thinking of rebates and incentives as a “crutch.” Instead, let’s think of them as an umbilical cord, and let’s not cut the cord before the baby is ready to be born”

My own final thought: – “ remember when as a child you got a piece of glass or magnifying glass and focused the sun light ? Next thing the light on the paper smoked and went on fire, child’s play!”    Key words in the sentence:  Magnify, focus, sun, fire = energy.

So if your still heating water with a traditional oil fired heating system, electric immersion or a traditional solid fuel ‘back boiler’ – can you estimate the cost of fuel this time next year ?

Irish oil prices : Home heating oil price – 2 year increases:

M.F

As mentioned at the end of the last text post I thought a word to the wise about changes in energy consumption habits when you make the switch to a renewable source of energy.  For instance when a solar thermal system has been installed to contribute to your homes hot water creation a number of changes are worthy of note giving both positive energy and money saving results.

Pumped shower units

If the sun is creating tanks of hot water it would be of benefit to have ‘pumped shower units’ in your bathrooms. The image below is a standard electrical shower unit with immersion built in. Consult with your plumbing contractor to assess the cost of bringing a hot water feed from the system or ‘T”d off a hot pipe in the bathroom if possible. The payback period can be worked out by subtracting the difference in a pumped shower only KW energy use from an electric shower KW (kilowatt) energy requirement. Pumped showers tend to me more powerful in the ‘shower’ sense (better water flow & comfort) and not the energy / cost sense.

Electric showers have immersion units integral to the shower – using excess energy to heat the water.A complete waste of electrical energy when the solar thermal system has been heating and storing hot water for your home all day long.

Washing machines & other hot water appliances

Also many washing machines and dishwashers on the market have hot water feeds to take preheated water from the homes hot water storage system.

It may not be practical to go changing showers etc. but It should be kept in mind when making home improvements and ‘ditto’ for your choice of washing machine.

Below is a list of of the ‘big hitters’ in your home that use high quantity’s of electrical power notice the items / appliances that have immersion units:

• Electrical shower *
• Oven
• Electrical cooker (hob & oven)
• Washing machine *
• Dishwasher*
• Dryer
• Hot water storage tank immersion *      Items marked with a * – these all contain immersion units and are heavily loaded (electrical demand) items.

Many items in our homes currently have to high a demand to enable sufficient power ( Amp’s) from the current photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. At present electrical power creation devices in the renewable sector such as PV solar and wind turbines can at best allow for contribution to the grid of your local electrical supplier in the form of units supplied and credited to your bill – complex systems to power low volt / amp devices at your property are prohibitively expensive and complex to install. A good deal of further development and research will be required to allow for self sufficiency in home electro. generation and use. This makes Solar Thermal a simple and proven technology that can easily lower your energy costs and quite simply integrate to a homes hot water distribution system.

Poor energy / electrical use at home

On the flip side if you have a high efficiency air or ground source heat pump installed you will be interested to see exactly how much your electrical bill has increased to enable a sum to assess  how much money you are saving as opposed to heating on oil or gas. Certain other electrical fittings in the home when drawing power in unison will not give clear readings on the amounts the heat pump alone is utilizing to heat or cool the home.

One prime contender for giving false high readings are the very popular spot lighting fittings, particularly the halogen spot lights of the type sunken into the ceilings. If you home has banks of spot lights installed they will use a phenomenal amount of power and make it difficult to see which device is using the most and driving your bill upwards.  A base line reading of your power use prior to installing the heat pump is one way of differentiating the amount used by the heat pump alone ( i.e. an old electricity bill) . However if you are undertaking a new build and installing all these technologies and new fittings at the same time – it can give a false sense that your bills are disproportionally high. Halogen spotlighting fittings available now have low energy ‘LED’ bulb systems that will provide savings while still achieving the modern / minimalist  look and feel you wish to achieve in your home. The light given off by LED bulbs is comparable to the halogen fittings also.

There are a host of other technologies that can save energy in your home … If you wish to reply by comment and let us know about your product that can help homeowners save further we would be happy to post the best and most cost effective here on our blog.

SEAI Grant scheme news from Ireland

I can’t help but remark on the current situation here in Ireland. For our international readers our Government dept. responsible for grant assistance (SEAI) to those homeowners installing renewable technologies ( Solar, heat pumps, boilers, wood pellet boilers & insulation products, etc.) have just slashed all grants by up to 50% plus! – and the full extent of the damage isn’t yet known & the details of the new scheme are slowly becoming available online.

My initial thoughts were along the line : “if it extends the availability of the grants and encourages further householders into employing renewable tech. – then it is the right choice”. Any scheme that extended the ‘helping hand’ to homeowners to invest in cheap reliable renewable energy for their homes and help Ireland lower its carbon emissions and reliance on imported fossil fuel should be an augmentation to the end goal.  But as the information on the terms and amounts available trickle down into the public domain it looks like it is just going to decimate the renewable sector and make it harder for householders to invest in the various systems while further complicating the process of applying and submitting a grant.  I’ll leave this subject alone until the full details are available and published.   As soon as working, concrete data on the schemes are available data will be posted on the ‘Renewable Ireland blog’.

Up to date detail as of 15/05/2011:

• Greener Homes Scheme (Closed)
  

  SEAI grant scheme closed for applications

• Better Energy Homes scheme
  

  Better energy grant scheme for renewable energy : 'The national upgrade programme'

  A further in depth look at what exactly the government and SEAI are trying to achieve is worthy of a future post – to advise Irish homeowners how to navigate the minefield that applying for a grant involves and a comparison with schemes in other countries that actually want to encourage their citizens to convert to renewable and save energy with actual incentives and simple ‘plain english’ rules and applications.  As many of my readers are from an international mix – please feel free to comment on how easy (or difficult) it is in your country to gain government assistance to invest in a renewable system of any type.

I digress, enough on that bombshell and further hurdle we face in the sector – and I will continue to provide free useful information on how the various renewable energy creation and retention products available on the market currently ‘close the sale’ with out the assistance of a grant for installing these products at your own property ( and try stay on point! ).

The seg way above leads into the the true driving force for the market / homeowners and businesses to convert to a renewable energy creation technology integrated in to their current creation and distribution of energy may that be heating / hot water or electricity generation or use -

Solar prices going down. Cost of oil going up.

Solar prices are subject to serious competition from the dire economic environmental conditions and the introduction of new product from abroad; but do be aware of some cheap options and remember that installing domestic solar panels is definitely not a D.I.Y. job regardless of direct sale via supermarkets – unless you are extremely proficient in high temperature / high pressure plumbing & mechanics and also competent at working at height on a roof etc..  Always bear in mind that an SEAI grant is available for most homes (although quite a bit lower of late! )  and that a condition is professional installation by a registered installer with random checking by SEAI of the work done.

Some manufacturers such as Kingspan also have the right to randomly inspect their installers workmanship and installation quality when ever they please. Such a high level of warranty offered with a system such as the Kingspan ’20 Year warranty’ would require this kind of ‘on spec’ testing to ensure workmanship and quality controls are being adhered to.

Listening to the radio news last week, it seems that the price of oil has reached $100 per barrel and the price of petrol has gone to €1.50 per litre.  The cost of heating oil has increased as well.

“Both oil and solar power of all kinds will find a level of pricing with which both can live long term.  Now is a good time to get on board” – This statement has sufficed until recent developments that have lead to oil prices spiraling out of control with no end in sight. A finite resource is just that – finite. I have a keen interest in alternative method on energy creation and I can see answers that will result in current heating  systems and vehicles staying around for years to come with some modifications to enable the use of alternative fuels, for instance :

• Bio fuels – already in use in vehicle and diesel oil burners with some simple modifications. The downside to this fuel is massive hectares of arable land that would normally be used to grow food would now be required to grow an oil based plant (rape seed, etc.) – It doesn’t take a degree to work out that land normally used for food growth will have to give space to the growth of ‘new age fuels’.
• Bio fuel grown from algae, this Would suggest has the most promise – algae has no  current demand in our society or food / fuel demand – careful cultivation in controlled environments will allow the growth and refinement to produce a viable fuel source for our cars (internal combustion engines etc.) and other heat generation / power generation engines.
• A range of new tested and research and developing science is underway – but a degree of give and take will be involved to find the solution to meet our energy requirement .

My vote is with current proven technology such as solar – Thermal and photovoltaic (PV – electrical solar) and wind. Tried and tested with  decades of ‘on the ground use’ creating energy – or at the very least contributing to our energy requirement whilst offering a lower energy use / money saving factor which will ease the burden on other new forms of fuels that may require a trade off to current land or water use which is currently under high demand for agri. / food or water for human consumption with out swapping one problem for another that cannot be ignored.

Balance will be essential to our future energy creation means – consumption improvements will play a large factor to ease the quantities of energy required & constant’ Wte’ ( Waste to Energy) systems will be integral in all processes globally.

We can continue to ‘feed’ ourselves with a chosen new form of energy creation, but a true banquet will involve many varieties of reciprocal energy = waste and waste = energy technologies.

I have an interesting solar system that is basically ‘plug and play’ to your current system and if you are in a business that has a hot water need this is the product for you. Low cost – return on investment measured in months …  More details on my next post.

M.F.

A short video that sums up fossil fuel history & related problems….

Straight to the point.

M.F.

Working from a set of approximate figures we can use the quick sum approach to the payback period for a heat pump. As highlighted in a previous post an average three bedroom house’s running cost for space heating ( radiators or under floor heating) and hot water combined is approx.  €1500 per year

Using a COP of 3:1

i.e.  3 kilowatts worth of space heating and hot water provided into the building for every 1 kilowatt of electrical power the heat pump uses (COP 3:1)

An air source heat pump is paying you back in the form of energy costs saved annually to the sum of €1000. The cost to run the heat pump correctly sized for the three bedroom home at €500 per year.

Further savings are achievable as the above figures have not taken in to account other variable factors such as:

Recent fuel price increases, If you have a larger house, More adult occupants using hot water,

Some heat pumps offer a  COP of 4:1 in a heating ‘mode’ or even when reversed and used as a combined cooling circuit

– i.e. air conditioning in the summer months a COP  of 6:1 or 7:1 can be gained.

Grants available to retro fit in many countries. The SEAI administer the government (E.U.) funded ‘Greener homes scheme’ phase 3 in Ireland, 

Heat pump grant amounts:

Air source heat pump (ASHP) – Grant amount €2000

Ground source heat pump (GSHP) – Grant amount €3500

Further grant detail & different grant amounts available in Ireland, follow link:      The Solar Panel People – Grant information webpage

The basis for heat pump technology has been around for decades in the form of air conditioning systems and although it is relatively new to the residential heating system market it is tried and tested, very serviceable, reliable and clean without the need for messy fuel storage of any kind.

A heat pump is a finely balanced heating system that should be matched to a home’s energy requirement carefully and exactly. It should be installed in a well insulated home otherwise you can quickly find the performance of the pump compromised through energy loss.

The balance and efficiency of the heat pump is coordinated by temperature sensors:

Inside the building (hot water storage temp. sensor & room temp. sensor)

Externally also (air temp. and north or cold face of property temp. sensor) and controlled by a micro computer that has been preset to the building / home owner’s requirements.

Therefore if your home is poorly insulated below modern standards the heat pump is overworked trying to heat a home that gives out its heat and energy too easily and your savings are lost.

In my next post I will show how further savings are achievable through informed energy use & I will discuss some other factors to be taken in to consideration at your home or business if you are utilising a highly efficient energy source such as a heat pump or free energy in the form of solar…..

M. Fleming

A heat pump is an electrically powered heating system that uses a small amount of energy to move heat from one location to another.

The two main types are air source heat pumps used to pull heat from the air outside your home and ground source heat pumps used to pull heat from the ground outside to provide both hot water & heat for your home or office building.

So how does the heat pump pull heat from the air or ground outside?

On the face of it you would think this can’t possibly work, taking heat from the air or ground outside!  But in fact you already have a form of heat pump in your home and we take for granted that it continually works every day.  Your fridge or refrigerator is a simplified heat pump, taking heat from inside your fridge through a series of coils fitted to the interior and transferring this heat to a panel of coils at the rear of the fridge unit. Quietly and efficiently this appliance performs the role of a heat pump day and night (and if you go to the electrical store you will see very high energy rating cert.’s on fridge’s, of the order of A or B rating).

A heat pump uses a small amount of energy to switch that process into reverse, pulling heat out of a relatively low-temperature area, and pumping it into a higher temperature area.  In a heat pump, this heat is transferred from a heat source (e.g. the ground or air) into a heat sink (e.g. your home). Heat pumps are extremely efficient because they simply transfer heat, rather than burn fuel to create it.

You tube heat pump video

For example:  as mentioned in my last post the ratio of energy used in a heat pump to heat the hot water  & space heating provided into to your home or business is from 3:1 up to 4:1 i.e. the pump uses 1 kilowatt of electricity and transfers 3 kilowatts of heat into the home heating  system and hot water tank. 

Making a heat pump from 350 – 400% efficient!

Some Heat pumps are also a bi-functional unique type of heating system, because they can do the work of both a heating system and an air conditioner  – i.e.  They can be switched into reverse to also cool a building taking the heat inside your home or office in the summer and expelling it outside in the same manner as your fridge.

Heat pump  information on our website :

Heat pumps

Air source heat pump : – How it works

Ground source heat pump : – How it works

Quick Glossary -

ASHP : ( Air Source Heat Pump )

GSHP: ( Ground Source Heat Pump )

COP: ( Coefficient Of Performance = The amount of heat created : divided by the amount of work [electrical] required to do so)

GEOTHERMAL: ( Ground source or Water source underneath ground )

In my next post I will provide the ‘back of the envelope’ approach to calculate the cost ‘versus’ payback of a heat pump heating system and discuss some of the other benefits of using this renewable energy heating / cooling system.

M.F

Do the sums.

Use “the back of the envelope approach”.  The approximate method will get roughly the correct answer (to within about €100 in many cases) and that’s really what you want.

The average house uses energy to cook and for heat (approx.  60%)  and water (say 40%).   How much did you spend on energy over the last 12 months?

Go to you bills for electricity, gas, solid fuel and fuel oil.  Don’t be surprised if you get €1500 or higher. In that case water heating would have cost about €600 in 2010.   But heating water can be up to 70% of energy costs of a home dependent on number of children and adults and how your water is heated. Where do you fit the cost curve?  Now what is your potential saving per annum?

One factor is a constant whether you are using oil fired heating, an immersion or even solid fuel such as coal, logs, wood pellets etc. in a fire with a ‘back boiler’ or a stove that also heats the home and hot water:

To provide 1 kilowatt of space heat and hot water you must burn 1 kilowatt of fuel

Solar energy is free, abundant and provided through sun light – not direct heat. Therefore even on a winters day a % of the energy required to heat the water for your home will be provided by the sun.  How we both create our energy and use it will be the primary consideration for people in Ireland and across the globe – waste will not play a part in the future of power generation or energy usage.

Click the link below to view the top 10 tips to begin saving energy and going green.

Planetgreen.discovery.com

See how many you  can implement and let us know by posting a comment !

Renewable energy not only provides a free source of energy and limits pollutants such as carbon emissions – a home heating system like an ‘Air source’ or ‘Ground source’ (Geothermal) heat pump can be up to 400% efficient.

What does this mean ? -  A heat pump uses electricity in its pump cycle.

For every 1 kilowatt of electricty used by a heat pump up to 4 kilowatts of space heating and hotwater is provided in to the home

In my next post I will discuss and simplify what a heat pump is and how it functions. A renewable energy source that begins to pay you back within 3 years and continually provides heat and hot water to your home or business from the air or ground outside.

P.L.  & M.f

Cheap energy costs defeat the growing costs of conventional energy

With oil heading for $100 a barrel currently and the soaring cost of petrol/diesel.  Large countries with vast populations have been buying up oil/gas fields for their own use for example China.  Accidents and natural disasters have hindered the supply of fossil fuels.  Will you be able to afford to buy energy?  Will energy be available to us or do we face cuts and increased costs?

You can have free energy from the sun, with solar systems now guaranteed for twenty years by some manufacturers.

Government grant aid thro’ the SEAI is available now as an incentive to switch – it will be pulled in time.  The average house population uses about 2-3 square metres of panel for which the current grant is €600 ( 2 square metre panel ) and €900 ( 3 square metre panel ) .  Grants are available for up to 6 square metres – Although many homes have not got the required roof space to fit 6 square metres.

See Choosing a System on the solar panel people website for more detail and deduct the grant.  Hey presto.  You have the net cost.

The Solar Panel People will help you complete the grant application. Further details on grants can also be found on our website:

Grant information

In my next post, I will deal with the economics of the whole business…….

Solar panels (thermal) are panels fixed to the roof of your house and then linked to your hot water cylinder.  In turn, a fluid (usually anti-freeze) moves between panel and cylinder and passes its heat & energy from the sun into the water in the cylinder, thus heating the water to a very high temperature, most of the year, for your hot water needs.  The panel collects energy from sun light and not heat – therefore in summer the amount of hot water your panel creates is at its highest.

In winter when cloudy conditions and short daylight hours are found the  solar panel provides a pre – heat of the hot water cylinder, saving on the amount of time the immersion or other heat source is in use.

Why do it?

Well, if you are an eco person believing in global warming (and most of us are nowadays), you will be conscious of the rapid rundown in the availability of fossil fuels resulting eventually in unaffordable energy costs and even fuel shortages. The price of petrol is a good indicator of the type of price hike that will be reflected in the cost of fuel oil for home heating & hot water.  By comparison, solar heat has only maintenance costs so it is a true renewable energy source – abundant and free.

In my next post, I ask about the cost.

P L.