4 Types of Alternative Energy for Your Home
We all need electricity to power our lives. We need the level of civilization that can be provided by electricity. In our modern society, there’s more than one way to provide energy to your home.People may think that alternative energy is just a recent development, but in fact, alternative home energy has been around even before electricity was discovered.
Consider these types of alternative home energy:
1) Wind energy – Nowadays, windmills are used in homes to run small generators. These generators produce and store electricity to be used in running small home appliances. However, windmills have been around for a long time. If you take a look at the word “windmill” you will realize that this type of alternative home energy device was used for a purpose other than producing electricity.
Yes, the windmill was indeed, used to mill grain. As you may well know, grinding grain my hand is very hard work. So in order to make life more convenient and the production of flour more efficient, windmills were used to turn the large grinders.
It was inevitable that the windmill evolve into the 21st century in order to be used as a power source.
2) Solar energy – Many people think of this type of alternative home energy as something that’s technologically advanced. In a sense, harnessing the power of the sun to produce electricity is. But this alternative home energy has already been in use for a long, long time.
Take, for example, the clothesline. Yes, we have been using solar energy to dry our clothes for a long time. Think about that spin dryer or hair dryer you have and think about how much electricity it uses to do a task that the sun has been able to do for years, albeit at a slower pace.
This alternative home energy is harnessed nowadays for a variety of tasks. Some use it to heat their homes, others use solar power to heat water, and other people use solar cells to power small appliances and save a little on that electricity bill. The efficiency by which we are now able to convert solar power into electricity is of such a degree that it is very possible to power a whole house!
3) Hydropower – This type of alternative home energy makes use of water currents in order to turn turbines to run generators. Once again, this is not really a new technology. Like windmills, waterwheels were often used to harness the power of a nearby river in order to grind grain into flour.
4) Bio Gas– This is another alternative home energy source. Bio gas is produced naturally via the decomposition of different biological material. By using bio gas instead of the common LP gas, home owners can cut back on their heating bills.
As you can see, there are a lot of different types of alternative home energy. Explore these options and discover which type is the best for you to use.
Unfortunately, some of the methods of harnessing these different alternative home energy types may yet seem impractical to the common homeowner. However, as technology continues to evolve, you can be sure that the use of alternative energy will be more efficient.