Going solar in Carmel Valley
Posted by steve coach on Fri, Nov 25, 2011 @ 02:49 PM
Going solar in Carmel Valley means more than simply having a lot of photovoltaic cells attached to your roof. Before you make the investment, you should take steps now to start making your home more energy efficient. By doing so now, you can save even more money in the long run.
You may be surprised to know that nearly half – 40 percent – of the energy consumed by American homes is wasted due to several factors including poor insulation. By improving the efficiency of your energy use before going solar in Carmel Valley, you can not only reduce your energy needs but also the size of the solar energy system required for your home. And the smaller the size of the solar energy system, of course, the smaller the costs associated with that system.
Here are some ways that you can increase the energy efficiency of your home before you make the decision to go solar in Carmel Valley:
Use LED bulbs or CFL lights
Light emitting diode (LED) bulbs or compact florescent lights (CFL) are closer to incandescent bulbs then ever before – not only do they look more like those traditional bulbs, but they are also getting closer in terms of the warmth they produce. Traditional bulbs use six times more energy as CFLs. When you consider how many lights you have in your home, it’s pretty easy to see how much energy you’re wasting by not making the switch.
Turn off your lights
This is a basic one, but one that many people still ignore. It doesn’t matter what kind of bulb you use; if there’s no one in a room, it makes no sense to leave the light on. Either set up a rule in your house that the last person who leaves a room needs to make sure a light is turned off, or use motion detectors that turn a light on when a person enters a room and turns the light off when someone leaves.
Look for “phantom loads”
This term refers to the wasted energy that “bleeds” from TVs, DVD players, computers, cell phones, etc. Even when one of these devices is turned off, their charging systems remain on standby, wasting energy and money. You can easily get a power strip and turn that strip off when the devices are not in use to save money.
Use solar for heating your water
When the time comes for you to go solar in Carmel Valley, do not forget to switch to a solar hot water system. If you use electric coils to heat your water, that is very expensive an inefficient.
To learn more about increasing the energy efficiency of your home before going solar in Carmel Valley, please contact a POCO Solar representative.
About Poco Solar: Poco Solar is a full service solar company that provides solar electric, solar pool heating, solar hot water heating and repair of solar systems in Monterey County, San Benito County, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Santa Cruz County. With more than 25 years of experience we have been helping Bay Area California residents stay comfortable, save energy and sell excess energy back to PG&E.