Many of the cleanest units are not sold on the market today. In fact, you will find an incredible number of gadgets on the market that will be difficult to decide which one you want to get, especially because sometimes difficult to determine what is really useful. On the other hand, there are cases that reach this gadget very particular their special functions and help to make life easier.

Currentlythe best devices are those which are not only compact and useful for a particular function. The best species are probably the ones that are not easy to meet the needs of the owners, but can be used in many different ways and for different purposes. In the event that you'll love this modern equipment and are interested in helping the planet, then you should definitely consider the use of environmentally friendly gadget power.

What exactly are theseenvironmentally friendly energy products?

Environmentally friendly energy terms are essentially gadgets or devices that use the natural forms of energy, are up to power and / or lead to other objects. These types of devices are also generally useful, the more that are not only beautiful to see, so it is important that you deal with them is correct.

Here are some eco-energy gadgets that may well appeal to your interests:

Portable solar charger – NotebookComputer Chargers had to think long cables and an adapter for the plug. It 'really annoying when you need to load very annoying when you are just outside the door and out of the reach of an outlet. This idea makes sense for a person who travels a lot, it is always better, a laptop solar charger like this is up is free on the Internet at any time request to possess. This particular device is usuallyuniversal, because it is usually free most of the major brands of laptops.

Solar cooker – this fantastic device uses exactly the same modern technology such as laptops and solar charger is also very useful when you need to out-of-doors. This type of device in the open air is very useful for campers, hikers and other people outside they love. This particular device starts cooking in direct contact with the sunraysyou can compete with the power of an electric oven with 1000W to 12000W electricity.

Flashing LED pedals – which is really probably one of the most environmentally friendly energy terms that are used, and is tested every time a company for a bike ride can. These types of compact LED blinking pedals could even help save lives and cycling to avoid failures in the night. It turns itself on, simply collecting and storing smallThe amount of power each time the pedals.

There are many other environmentally friendly energy products on the market that are fun and fascinating. If you want to buy one, it's a good idea for you in a device that can help you invest in the long run.

Solar panels are of many different shapes and sizes but their main purpose is to convert the sun’s rays in order to make electricity. Solar Panels are made of a material called Photovoltaic. Photovoltaic cells are self generating and are of a very thin film made of silver. This thin film is attached to a semiconductor layer that can be found on an iron substrate. The photovoltaic cells ability to produce enough sunlight and heat is very important in order to successfully produce the energy that is needed to heat up water, heat homes and power electricity.

Solar panels are so common and very present in many different products on the market, such as calculators, satellites, and yes even the space shuttle uses solar energy. The effectiveness of these panels ability to redirect the sunlight and use it for electricity is amazing. It all started over a century ago when a man got the bright idea to use the heat from the sun to power his machinery equipment. His concept was simply to use the steam from the hot sun light in order to start and maintain his machines. Sparkle with the excitement of discovery, several scientists did not waste any time traveling to see how this discovery performed. Today, there have been unbelievable products that have increased the convenience and the need to use a natural resource such as the sun in order to power heavy machinery.

How much do solar panels cost largely depends on the shape and size, the brand and the amount of watt power each panel produce. You can expect to pay an average of $5.00 to $15.00 per watt depending on the brand of the panel. A full panel price will vary from $70.00 up to $1,000.00. Panels are installed flat on the roof, each one generating about 200 watts of electricity when the sun is shining on it. The panels are attached next to each other forming an array. A five panels system can generate approximately 1,000 watts of power, which is about 10 to 15 per cent of the consumption of a typical house on an annual basis.

I have come across a great site that has the most amazing home solar power energy system guide to learn how to build your own solar power system. It is a complete step-by-step package for the novice in mind, with fully illustrated manual and videos that will have you building and generating your own electricity for less than $200 in needed material. You can take advantage of the full eight weeks no questions asked, no trouble money back guarantee.

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There are many ways to build a wind turbine in your home. Not only this will be the most economical long-term solution is a safer and cleaner. Of course it is possible with respect to other renewables, and that would really depend on the location where you want. If there is a small stream with sufficient force of running water, you can also take into consideration until the hydro-powered. For places that are not as windy orwhere is far from a source of running water, you can also check the construction of a solar panel array.

The first thing to consider if you want to build the area, a wind generator is yours. If your area is not so airy, you have the amount of open space that is necessary to consider supply to generate flows of air flow. First choose an area that is free of obstacles over 300 feet in all directions. You would have to put up a tower at least 40 feet highto take a good amount of airflow. The next thing to do is look initiator power of 1000W, the power, at least.

When you shop for ready-made windmills, it is unlikely that cost less than $ 4,000. Some will even be as high as $ 10,000. The cheapest way to do that is to be based on plans on how to assemble simple materials on the Internet. There are a lot of them out there and not have to make that difficult. Those who areprobably less than $ 200 for everything, including the tower, the blades of the fan, the battery of the generator, and a couple of nuts and bolts needed to regroup. At this cost, not only to produce cheap electricity, it will be very long-term savings. This is reason enough to decide, in order to build a wind turbine on your own.

You can also put on a further advantage of, if you have more energy than you produce in your home. There is aoff-grid applications, you can arrange with your local power company to give them the extra electricity that you generate. This is given by the consumer closer to a rate that the company will pay you. This is another reason for wanting to build a wind generator.

In the rare event that something happens, you can also feed into the network to use the stresses from the local sources of energy. This, of course, you must pay. So, withThis setting is really a win-win situation for everyone.

Think of ways to build a wind turbine in your home has never been easier than now with the resources found on the Internet about you. Together with the advantages of owning a home, the suppliers of alternative energy an attractive option.

Genverter a system is the combination of a generator, an inverter and a battery. The generator produces energy, etc. You do your AC devices such as light, radio, for charging the battery. The inverter has a battery (12V DC) and converts it into standard household AC current. Using this combination, the extra power is collected from the generator when it operates at something less power. The genverter is in "silent" whenSupply of energy from the battery to the device.

What you need:
Small 500 – Generator 1000W
300-500W Power Inverter
12V Deep Cycle Battery – This should be a new marine reserve battery with a capacity of 160 minutes.
Car batteries, 15-20A
Extension cords and power strip (optional): Never use a generator indoors! You probably want to get some way to power in the safe house.

How to install:
Moveall components on a safe, dry, off-site.
The battery charger must be kept with the maintenance charge. This keeps the battery is always ready to go. Put it on a concrete floor, as this affects performance. Instead, he sat on cardboard or wood.
Connect the inverter, the red clip to the positive terminal of the battery. Even the black and the negative terminal of the battery.
Connect the charger to the generator, connect the black terminal to the negativeDisconnect the battery. Connect the red clip until you are ready to begin charging mode and the generator.
Connect the extension cable and / or devices in the power inverter.

Instructions:

This system should be simple genverter statement. It 's very convenient for small loads in an emergency or camping. The target power for this system is about 40 watts. This power should be available for some days, because theproperly charge the battery and the care less than 40W of load when the battery. [Note: This system is not practical for the compressors, air conditioners or electric heaters, with more on the author's website]

Once everything is connected, as described, you must activate the unit and have the power! Most inverters have a low battery shut off feature. You can run the inverter to battery power until it shuts down, this is usually around 11 volts. If the carStop function, the battery a bit 'more than the proposed discharge. This may shorten the life of the battery some, however, if the battery is 4 years instead of five years, is a problem? (No)

Now charging mode and connect the red terminal of the battery charger to the positive terminal of the battery. Start the generator and connect the charger. If there is a 15 amp charger, then the battery is approaching full after about 2.5 hours. If you have a voltmeter, the battery voltage13.6 13.8 agent is operating. It's time to run back again!

Summary

Genverter The system described is inexpensive and can provide power to 40W level for several days, especially when it operates as described above. The author provides detailed instructions for determining a bank account and "free power" when using this type of system genverter, but the court not to permit this article.

Gen X hasn’t done a great job of leaving perfectionism and over-sensitivity at the office when it came to having kids. (Those who actually got around to it). I use ‘got’ as past tense, because let’s face it, we’re on the shady side of our thirties and beyond now. It’s well documented that having kids after the age of 34 and a half is a dangerous road. Much higher rate of Downs Syndrome, as well as higher risk of miscarriage, and more difficulty conceiving.

Now the hypersensitivity and perfectionism bit: pre-kids, some of us did well didn’t we? Affordable housing, an IT boom – you know, gold guilded letter heads, crazy money, and more… then back to earth with a jolt at the sound of the first peal of baby sound in the delivery suite. Christ, what did we do to these over-achieving lives, where the rule books were accessible, the climbing was easy, and the coffee was good? We had a baby. And suddenly, there are no rules, and we are cast out into the forest of parenthood without a compass, and come face to face with all the hangups we’ve been saving for this very moment.

We read all the books we could get our hands on of course, probably played classical music to our tums, and drank lots of spirulina smoothies, took out folate etc, employed the services of a doula. All this in preparation for the perfect completion of our next ‘project’.

Some of us got lucky, and of course grabbed the credit consciously or not (do a credit grabber test by checking for pity and judgment when you’re sitting next to a Mum with a yelling child – if you feel it, you’re a grabber… read on) for that child who slept through at 3 weeks and gabbled happily at 7am in the morning to let us know s/he was awake. Of course it was the spirulina, the folate, the Mum’s vits, the music, the fact that we are perfect Earth Mothers… these are the reasons for this child’s nature, because everything is perfect, everything is as it should be.

BUT… some of us didn’t get so lucky, (this can apply to subsequent children too, and the perfect baby who turned into the demonic, biting, scratching toddler) and didn’t we fall apart spectacularly. When things go wrong, we do one of two things: We blame ourselves, and this translates to a general self-loathing, which further descends into depression, anxiety, or worse… weight gain! or, we make it someone else’s problem: Come kindergarten age, so many high energy, intelligent kids are suddenly ADHD, or Aspergic. They are medicated, they are home-schooled, they are sent to psychologists and naturopaths, where 20 years ago they’d have been sent outside more, sent off to Aunty Kel’s for a while, ignored, or even accepted (“He’s a boy, what do you expect?” “Let him run it off” “He’ll be an interesting adult”).

Where did all the competition come from? Who buys the nicest nappies? Who has the nicest, best practice educational toys? Who attends gym and swimming at 3 years old? Who regularly attends physios? I think we have traded high flying careers for motherhood, and just can’t quite take that corporate hat off. Motherhood takes patience, creativity, love, attentiveness, and good time for Mum as well, so she has the resources to cope.

Debt is such now that Mums often have no choice but to go back to work, so the guilt levels are at an all time high as well. I think we’re expecting too much of ourselves, and too much of our kids. It is a time that is so far from perfection, but for all its flaws, can be a time of self-discovery, even if it has a healthy measure of self-loathing in there too.

Perhaps as kids of baby boomers, we felt our parents were so self-indulgent that we didn’t really get the love we thought we needed, so we’re trying to pay it back to our kids. The problem is, at some point you realise the gap between how you thought things would be, and how they actually are. Suddenly you think maybe your olds DID know a few things when it came to sitting back and letting your kids go. That actually, you can’t control everything. There IS such a thing as over-analysing, over-compensating, over-worrying!

Mark Jones is a active article writer who spends time working as an article writer as well as building small niche websites such as 1000 watt portable generator.

In this article, I will list various advantages of a solar panel and later tell you how you can build one yourself at home for a small investment.

Solar panels are being used by millions of homes and small businesses worldwide for various benefits.

Not only do these help you to minimize your dependence on fossil fuels but these are also great for saving money. You can save a lot of money on your monthly electricity bills.

Thousands of homes in the USA have installed homemade solar panels and windmills and claim to save more than 80% on their monthly electricity costs.

A solar panel alone can power your home. A windmill can produce 1000 watt power for your home. Once you have mastered the process of building a solar panel at home yourself, you can build another one as long as there is space on top of your roof to install another one. Most probably there will be a lot of space for that.

A homemade solar panel or windmill is beneficial for many reasons. It can be built with an investment of less than $100 using the detailed DIY (do it yourself) guides easily whereas if you buy one from the market, you will have to spend more than a thousand dollars.

A homemade solar panel can also be customized to your needs and is more efficient. The various parts needed to build one at home are easily available at a nearby hardware store and the DIY guide will tell you everything in detail about that.

You have your responsibilities for the planet. If you use the pollution free solar or wind energy, you are saving the environment for the future generations.

You can build a solar panel and a windmill this month using the detailed DIY – Do It Yourself guides containing the required blueprints, videos, complete tutorials with neat diagrams and detailed instructions.

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Time to induce moving again, breathe the fresh air, climb hills or mountains. Find a stream, lake, or ocean, throw a line out and hope to reel in that big catch. Since you caught it, let’s cook it. Where do we start? Should we begin to find dry drift wood and begin building a fire to cook over? Do we turn to one of the little propane stoves? If we choose one of these two options where do we make our coffee? Now our GPS device is drained of battery life, so next is our mobile phone. Almost all of this could have been solved had you just made a wise choice in the beginning.

I adore an excellent campfire just as much as the next person, and yet at the same time I also like to be aware of that I am within reach of help if I were required to call someone, or locate my destination and with these devices we need above and beyond fire, we will be required energy source. What a greater way than getting a Coleman portable generator? After all it is “portable” easy to perform, and is particularly so useful. In case you do not go camping very often, it is very nice to obtain an electrical generator to rely on in emergency uses.

Everybody knows that power outages occur a whole lot in the west. The east is known for tornadoes, hurricanes are active in the south and last but not least,ice storms in the north have certainly put lots of people on guard to the significance of being completely prepared. Many more people are in possession of emergency plans and enough food and water to last several days, could actually be foresighted to also consider adding a compact portable generator to your emergency equipment. Perhaps the best popular features is the fact that there are so many different models available including the Coleman Powermate portable generator to the 16,000 watt commercial ones and anything and everything in between, this is good quality and dependability you’d like and can trust in.

All the Coleman Powermate portable generators have between 1000 watt and 5700 Watts output, that is certainly beyond adequate to power your electric appliances, but not quite enough for the stronger power drains, such as central air conditioning. Make sure to check the wattage on the electrical appliances you want to be able to run and add the wattage usage before checking different generators so you have a more certain idea of what you will need.

The main thing to consider is safety measures which should always be followed when installing the Coleman 6250 w portable generator, or any of the other brand name generators. It should never be connected directly to your private home or recreational vehicle; instead, have a transfer switch installation done designed to join up together with your home electrical wiring system. Please reduce the risk of fire by turning your portable gas generators off before attempting to refill them with fuel and you must ensure that you store the gasoline in a cool, well ventilated area in ANSI (American National Standard Institute) accepted containers.

It should go without saying, but Let me be sure you completely understand, never do it inside your house or R.V, this can be extremely dangerous thing to do. This is always recommended to put the Coleman portable generators outside your house or R.V and with good ventilation and dry area to ensure gas emissions do not stay in one area.

Another piece of great generator advice, you don’t need to place the portable generator near the window or other open areas of your home or R.V where fresh air comes inside.

Also you never under and circumstance want to operate the generator when this is wet. Trying it this way will lead you to catastrophe. You should definitely always read the owners handbook that comes with the portable generator. This tends to ensure that you have enough knowledge to understand and operate that machine determined by the model.

Do not ever plug your generator directly into a wall outlet. In case you have the need to hook up your whole home or only some selected electrical appliances, you might have considered trying to ask a qualified electrician to do the task. When plugging certain electrical appliance into the portable power generator it should be used using a heavy-duty power cord.

The size of the portable generator will determine what electrical appliances you can use, the more wattage you have the greater electrical appliances you should take advantage of. You may want to start a check list from the electrical items you think is extremely important for you to have during a power break, determine the amount of wattage each item uses then calculate them together to determine the size for the portable generator you’ll need.

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Solar panels are by far the most expensive element of an installation of solar panels. Understanding of the characteristics that differentiate a good solar panel is not a bad thing so easy. In several installments, I would write a guide to each of the main criteria to look out for. I'll try to keep it as simple as possible, but it is something that many people ask me, so I think it's a good idea to discuss these issues in depth.

First, I like to discuss solar panelEfficiency. This determines how effective a solar panel to convert sunlight into electricity for a given area. The advantage of having a solar cell is the highest return that you get more power from a small area available. For this reason, high efficiency solar panels is usually a high price for the domestic market, where space is more limited. High efficiency does not necessarily mean better quality or reliability, however – these topics are coveredlater. Not even a higher return means better value, in many cases, lower efficiency panels are used for convenient use in places where space is not as critical.

First of all, how to find the efficiency of a solar cell? It's easy to find out for yourself. Remember that the power of a form of solar energy to visit, where is "standard test conditions." This means that the output is measured when the plate is exposed to a very bright lightwith an intensity of 1000 watts per square meter (1000 W / m2) at a temperature of 25 ° C. This is usually expressed in watts (185W or 230W for example, etc.) and is the power you get when the sun is very strong will. You can then multiply the length and width of the module (which is represented in the data sheet) to access the form. With the power module in watts and the standard test conditions of 1000 W / m 2 to determine the efficiency of the module as follows;

Efficiency = power out / energyin the power module = / (width x length x 1000 W / m2)

to know in evaluating the efficiency solar important that each solar cell with efficiency greater than the total solar panel (or module) through a vacuum. Therefore, make sure you know what value you are looking for.

In general, the solar panels you come across in the UK is silicon (I have previously discussed thin film), so that the discussion is made here to focus on these. The highest efficiencysilicon solar cells available today are effective from 17% to 18%. The efficiency of silicon solar cells, increasing R & D, but the improvements are incremental and slow, because there are a number of fundamental limitations to increase the efficiency of silicon solar cells that any drastic improvements highly unlikely that the values average near future. Maybe I'll describe these restrictions in another article.

The most important factor that you meet with a yield of the module, is whetherThe form is mono-or multi-crystalline. In English, this means that solar cells are easily made from mono-or multi-crystalline silicon. mono-crystalline solar cell consists of a disc from a single crystal silicon are very pure and very efficient from a number of weaknesses. multi-crystalline solar cells, which contain more crystals are about 1-2% less efficient, but are generally cheaper to produce. Personally I think that makes sense in the rule of using mono-crystalline cellsfor domestic applications, where space is at a premium and multi-crystalline cells in larger installations.

Another factor affecting the efficiency can be anti-reflective coatings. These are becoming more common. Nearly all the solar cells directly texturing them to reflect and now reduces many solar modules come with anti-glare glass. This generally consists of a molded glass that can be seen as a model of stain, if you look closely. Improvinganti-reflective coatings is difficult to determine, although some manufacturers require improvement in production efficiency by more than 5 percent.

When you install a solar system is your goal should always be the best return on investment, which means more power at the lowest possible price, without compromising the reliability and depends on many factors to get along with efficiency. There are a number of other technologies on the horizon that might be possible to improve the efficiency of small quantitiesnothing is a drastic change overnight. Rising prices for solar panels continue to decrease rapidly the volume of production (in the same way as many other technical products such as computer memory), but these price cuts will be matched by savings in feed. So do not worry that the installation of modern technologies and solar panel replaced by a miracle tomorrow. are working in the field you better insight into what is on the line.

The use of solar energy is more common than ever. influence the effects of greenhouse gases in many ways, we knew it would never happen at a pace that seems unstoppable success. The environment is a renewed need for all its natural beauty, which is now stripped from him, from day to day.

With the chaos in our environment, our economy on the brink of collapse, and increasingly fluctuating prices of fossil fuels seems so, as there are on a lake and sawbig boy keeps us off our feet on the ground. When will you stop this vicious circle? When will we start to take control? These are the questions you have, ask in uncertain times.

We must think about the future and our children, and what we leave behind for them, whether it should have in this case where we left off. You think it's difficult now? Think of the next generation and the challenges they face. So we need to takeControl over our actions and will not be the anchor man in the race.

We are not able to gain ground in the single digits. We have our own voice in groups and countries, and control are generally about one of our unique environment. We really need to implement alternative sources. We have them, but it seems that the push to use them there, at least with the rulers. It seems that special interests play a larger role, and are more importantGaining control of our environment.

The sun provides 1,000 W / m 2 of sunlight when the sun's rays hit the Earth's surface. This is 1000 watts or 1 kilowatt per cubic meter. On all the earth's surface at a given moment in a period of 24 hours. An average hair dryer is 1500 W or 1.5 kW. Do not see an abundance of energy that you want to use. We need to capture more solar energy to power structures and use it to full capacity to implement. There is no reason why this is notbe done.

The choice is ours. We can sit back and let go. Or you can help pitch in the race and do our part to end this vicious circle. No, not now take a couple of weeks and sadly, a few years. It will take a generation with the will to succeed. So now we have to implement changes, and consider our future, have yet to come.

Almost everyone has bought a dolly before and had the wheels crack, tire go flat, plate bend or break, or struggled dragging it through a surface that is not suitable for the dolly. The Heavy Duty Dollies made by Kids Attractions are the answer to all those problems. These dollies are virtually unbreakable, yet maneuverable to do regular shop work. There are different dollies for different needs, They range from the HD4, HD2, MD2, MD4.

The HD4 is the Heavy Duty four wheeled dolly. This is the mother ship of them all, with the ability to carry 1200 pounds and still able to fit through any 36 inch residential or commercial gate. This dolly is your do it all life saver. With the ability to be laid completely down onto a trailer dolly, turning it into more of a wagon once you have lifted your object. This really allows you to pull through the worst of conditions with anything necessary. The HD4 has two feet of tread on the ground at a time. With all the wheels on the ground it makes this dolly have the ability to turn almost in place, making your job easy inside shops or cramped trailers. If those qualities are not enough then imagine picking up a water slide on grass and not sinking into the ground as you go. There really is no other dolly to compare it to and people are unaware of the hassle free stress they could have at work.

Now the HD2 is the same size as the HD4, but only has two larger wheels on it. Some people prefer having only two wheels because it allows them to use the axle to rest their foot on. The HD2 will still fit through residential gates the same as the HD4. Now the HD2 only carries 1000 pounds, but has 2 6-ply tires rated at 795 pounds each. When choosing between the HD4 and the HD2 it is basically personal preference. Both dollies have the ability to lay flat, converting to a wagon when you choose the trailer dolly also. Many people continue to struggle with their day to day jobs without realizing there is something out there that truly can make their life easier. Majority of the time it comes down to being able to locate or discover these products.

Many people need an unbreakable dolly, yet not in the form of something so grand. Also available are medium duty dollies in 4 and 2 wheels. These dollies are unique as they sound. The MD4 weighs only 48 pounds with a maximum weight rating of 700 pounds! This dolly is a hidden gem that would make many lives smoother and less stressful. Everyone has bought a dolly and had more trouble than help from it, finding the right dolly for your specific job can help you in the long run, especially physically. The less strain you put your body through everyday the longer it will last.

From personal experience work at an inflatable party rental company, these inflatable dollies made the job doable. We were moving 1000 pound inflatable through sand and desert landscape with these heavy duty inflatable dollies. My personal favorite was the HD4 because there is no job too small or too big.

Kids Attractions makes a unique heavy duty dolly that is sure to get you through any job hassle free. Heavy Duty Dollies are virtually unbreakable and come with a 3 year written warranty including wheels and bearings. Don’t let your work break you down, make an investment that will last you a lifetime!

I hope this will be a good guide on how to generate free electricity for domestic use. Solar energy, wind energy, tidal and geothermal are the notes of clean energy, which have long been used as alternative energy sources. This must be a solution to reduce the supply of oil and other fossil fuels. This day is now preferred in order to save our environment and follow a more environmentally friendly energy.

The thing that many people create the forces of free-flowingRising prices of fossil fuels such as gasoline, diesel and cooking fuel or gas. You do not need to design a generator or a millionaire to own the building. Anyone can start normal for rich people use energy cost us only a small investment.

John Christie generator is a machine, the energy Lou Britts was introduced for use in 2001 by John Christie. It 'also Lutec 1000-named because it produces an average of 1000 WElectricity. This also applies to many in contrast to the magnetic free energy generator now also faces. Opponents argue that it does not work as promised by the manufacturers and is also against the laws of physics. But the manufacturer billion euro for research and development investment. This was the first mass market free-energy generator.

Usually the normal fossil fuel generators for his work. This is one of the interesting features thatany type of fuels such as hydrogen or fossil fuels. It works by using magnetic energy. The attract and repel the magnetic properties of certain metals is the main driving force of the machine to generate electricity. A battery for the endless cycle of movement is the only primary requirement.

This is a reliable method of producing electricity can be used as the magnets lasts for thousands of years and the battery needs a replacement in just a decade. In addition to saving energy and the environment, this is agood way to make money and reduce electricity bills. There are many organizations, people the importance of renewable energies in order to increase their use and development. information programs will make a further advantage for you to learn more about how the power of knowledge-generation for the home.

Most Texas homeowners considering a solar energy system or residential wind turbine system will quickly face sticker shock. Wind turbine systems can run as high as $65,000 installed. The average cost nationally for a professionally installed solar panel system is about $8 to $9 per watt. A 2 kilowatt (kw) grid-tied system (no battery back up) can run to $16,000. A similar 5 kw system can cost upwards of $40,000. Deep cycle back-up batteries for both wind and solar can add on 20 to 30 percent more. You might be able to save around $2 per watt by doing the work yourself, however, energy efficiency programs may have certification requirements.

But don’t give up!

Because both residential and commercial demand for wind and solar energy is increasing, the technology is improving, there are more manufacturers, and the price is dropping. In the case of solar energy, the cost of an average solar panel in 1980 was $21 per watt (eg: a 15 watt panel would cost $315.00). Today, the average cost is about $2.50 per watt (low =$1.42/watt, high=$3.75). In 25 years, that’s a cost reduction of 90%. Power output capacities have also improved. In 1980, a typical solar panel might put out 22 watts. Now, 100 watt panels are common, if not plentiful. That’s a 450% increase in output. Add to this new enhancements through tracking (a motorized mount tracks the sun through the day to improve efficiency) and concentrating sunlight to extract up to 75% of the sun’s rays that increases efficiency by 1000 times over regular flat panels. Even if incentives aren’t available in your area, any solar or wind energy system installed by December 31, 2010 the Federal Energy Efficiency Tax credit lowers the cost by 30%.

The reason residential renewables are expensive is simple: you are investing in a home-sized power plant. Like any large scale power plant, that’s a long term investment made over the course of 15 to 25 years. And, like any long term investment, you should first take a few minutes to consider your needs and goals:

• How much electricity do you use each day?
• In a rural setting, will it cost more to bring more to bring poles and wires to your home?
• Is your goal to have self-sufficiency while retaining a grid-tie?
• Is your goal a zero-energy home?

In considering these questions, remember home size is irrelevant. The issue is purely how much energy you use because you are going to want a system that can meet your usage needs. A 1,500 square foot home doesn’t use any energy; it’s the people living inside that do.

Figuring your usage

Figuring your usage can be tricky. There is a big difference in watts and watt-hours. The power (watts) required to run things in your house is not measured the same way as your utility bills show (watt-hours). A 50 watt light bulb burns 50 watts of power each time it’s turned on. So the electricity supply has to be able to provide that 50 watts of power when the light is turned on. If you have a 30 watt battery, the 50 watt bulb won’t light all the way and quickly run down the battery. Watt-hours, meanwhile are the units of measurement of energy used over time. So, a 50 watt light bulb will consume 50 watts per hour (or even 50 watts per second if you are measuring in seconds). To use an analogy, let’s say we are using a waterwheel that only turns when the water pressure is 50 pounds per square inch (psi). However, the amount of water we use is measured in gallons per hour.

The important thing to remember is that watts and watt-hours are NOT interchangeable in making your calculations.

That being said, the way to determine your usage is to review your utility bills. For example, let’s say you use an average of 1000 kWh per month. That divides out to 33.33 kWh per day. The next step is to find out what electrical appliances and devices you are using, how many watts they consume, and how long do you use them. To compute kWh of a device or appliance, multiply the watts times the hours it runs during the day. A 500 watt chest freezer running for ten hours will use 2kWh of energy. If you only know the voltage and amps an appliance is using, there are lots of web sites that calculate wattage.

Now that you’ve got an idea about your usage, let’s first look at the costs of off-grid solar energy.

The next thing to look up is the amount of direct sunshine your location receives. Otherwise known as “insolation”, it is controlled by the angle of the sun, the weather, atmosphere, elevation, and location on the globe. The further north or south from the equator you go, the fewer hours of insolation. In Texas, insolation amounts vary from 4.5 to 5 hours.

Now we can see how many panels you may need. A very handy tool is the Solar Panel Estimator. Assume your insolation hours equal 4.5. The system efficiency is a product of the efficiency ratings of the current handling hardware: inverter (to convert 12 volts DC to 120 volts AC and smooth it into a nice, clean 60 hertz cycle), a battery charge controller, and the deep cycle batteries. Inverters typically run about 95%, charge controllers at 98%, and batteries at 80%. So, if we multiply.95 ×.98 x.80, we get a system efficiency of.74 or 74%. That means our 100 watt solar panels actually produce 74 watts. If we compare the output from the Solar Panel Estimator, if our system was 99% efficient, we would only need 74 panels. Since our system is only 74%, we need 99 panels to make 33 kWh/day.

Either way, that’s a very large number of panels, and a lot of money, also.

Lighten your load

The easiest thing to do is find ways to cut your electrical use by eliminating inefficient devices. In Texas, the biggest home energy user is air conditioning. A 30 ton central air conditioning system with a SEER rating of 13 can use 2.3 kWh. Over ten hours, that adds up to 23 kW – 2/3 of our electrical load. There are different energy efficient ways of cooling your home. Swamp coolers, for example, work through evaporation though are most efficient in dry environments. Absorption chillers are common alternatives. They heat refrigerant at low pressure until it evaporates, then it loses its heat through condensing back into a fluid at high pressure. The heat source can be natural gas, propane, kerosene, or solar heat. Because there is no compressor to supply pressure, the system uses little energy.

The second biggest user is the electric hot water heater. Heating water in your home accounts for 17% of annual energy costs. A 40 gallon heater uses an average of 8 kwh/day. There are several energy efficient alternatives: change to a heat on demand system, use natural gas or propane to heat your water, or consider a solar water heating system in addition to your solar panels. Some solar water heating systems are nothing more that an old water heater tank painted flat black and housed in an insulated box with a glass window facing the sun.

Consider switching to energy efficient alternatives and/or Energy Star rated appliances. How many lights do you use in a room and do they have CFL bulbs? Can you change from a desktop computer to a laptop or tablet? Honestly take into account any energy-wasting behaviors such as leaving lights on all day or running the air conditioning while baking. Also, think about how well insulated and weather-sealed your home is and whether it needs improving. The less energy you can live without means the less energy-generating capacity you will need to install.

Let’s say that we’ve installed more efficient appliances and lights, replaced the water heater and air conditioner systems with a solar absorption chilling system that heats water also. That brings down the usage from 33 kWh/day to 5 kWh/day. Plugging the numbers into the Solar Panel Estimator, we arrive at 16 panels, which is much more manageable.

Home wind energy has come a long way from when the steel-bladed fan-type windmill was introduced to American farms in the 1870s. Small wind turbines that generate electricity are available in a range of sizes (“nameplate capacity”) from roof or chimney-mounted 1 kilowatt (up to $7,000 installed) all the way up to 100 kilowatt turbines mounted on their own tower (about $80,000 installed). Many of those below 1.2 kilowatts are available in kits for the do-it-yourself-homeowner from a home center.

However, while the power output from wind turbines might look appealing, getting the most watts for the buck is more complicated than solar power. While the sun shines everyday even when its cloudy, the wind is far more fickle. Some parts of the country are also windier than others; compare Abilene with Houston, for example. Consequently, a consumer needs to do far more research to determine how much wind might really be available for them to harness. Wind speed varies locally at different elevations. While it might seem to be a light breeze at street level, it might be a dead calm at 30 feet up or even blustery at 100 feet. Hills, river valleys, trees, and buildings also have a big effect on wind speed especially when coupled with urban settings. Local building codes and other rules must also be considered.

Let’s say you want to add a pole-mounted residential wind turbine to your system. The turbine cost $1800 on-line with free shipping. The 30 foot pole, also purchased on-line with guy wires and a few bags of concrete cost $500. The total cost comes to $2300. Factor in the Federal Energy Tax credit and the price drops to $1610.

Let’s also say you’ve done your homework on local average yearly wind speed. The new wind turbine will generate 3.4 kWh per day in an average 12 mph wind zone (Class 4). However, the local average wind speed is only about 10 mph (Class 2). So we now calculate that with these conditions will produce an average of 2.8 kWh per day (about the equivalent of 8 solar panels).

By combining wind and solar together, you have an integrated renewable system that becomes a reliable source of home electrical energy 24 hours a day, generating an average of 5 kWh/day. In some parts of Texas, like Austin, where net metering is available, a homeowner can sell their excess generated power to the utility company.

What about hidden costs like maintenance and replacing worn parts?

Maintenance is minimal for both solar panels and wind turbines. Solar panels directly convert sunlight to electrical energy. To ensure they get the most power, they might periodically need to have dust and leaves hosed off. Solar panels do wear out over time, losing on average a watt of generating capability over 20 years. Wind turbines usually only have 2 moving parts that are exposed to the weather. Blades are typically bolted onto the hub which is protected by a nose cone. There is also the pivot that allows the wind turbine to swivel into the wind. Both of these can easily be replaced with parts from the manufacturer.

Something smaller: the Grid-Tied System

A grid-tied solar/wind system retains a connection to the utility grid. That means you will still be a utility customer but you will offset the energy you use from the utility by making your own. Right now, a Texas homeowner can walk into their favorite home center and buy a solar power kit that will generate about 1230 watts for home use for around $7,000 (10 panels, power cleaner, and inverter). Deep cycle storage batteries can also be added to a system; they generally cost about $250/each and last ten years.

On average, these panels alone would make about 4kWh for daily use and knock off 120 kWh from the monthly bill for a savings of up to 12% for a typical 1000 kWh bill of $119 (11.9 cents/kWh) that means a monthly savings of about $14.24 or $171.36/year.

Assuming prices and usage remained frozen, the system would pay for itself in 17 years or 24 years without the Federal Tax Credit. That assumption, of course, is ridiculous. Energy prices spike and the price paid for each kWh will vary during the year, trending higher over time. With this in mind, the return on a solar energy investment might in fact only take 15 years or even less. Plus, consider that 12% energy savings is three times what you’d get from putting that initial $7,000 in a bank.

Another way a solar energy investment pays for itself is by increasing your home’s value. Most home mortgages are for 30 years, yet few consumers live in their homes for that long. According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, a home’s value rises $20,000 for every $1000 in reduced yearly electricity costs. So even if you don’t remain in your home for 30 years, you will recoup much of your investment upon the sale of their home. Remember, too, that as solar panel technology improves, the homeowner can swap out old panels for newer, more efficient ones that cost less. These are just bolted onto the rack and plugged into the circuit. Over time you can save even more money on your bill, and even sell energy to the electric company by expanding and upgrading both your panels and batteries.

So what do you do with that money that you are saving every month by not buying electricity from the power company? One Block Off the Grid (1BOG.org) suggests saving the money to send kids to college. By investing in a residential renewable energy system when your children are born, the money you will save in the course of 18 years could grow to over $118,000.

Not all homes and budgets may be cut out right now for solar panels or wind turbines. To get a good idea of how good your location is visit the National Renewable Energy website In My Back Yard. Two other good tools are this e-booklet Feasibility of Photovoltaic Systems and the Solar Cost Estimator.

Bounce Energy is a based in Houston. Bounce Energy’s goal is provide more than low Texas Electricity Rates to our customers. With innovative and flexible plans, excellent customer service, and superior customer rewards, Bounce Energy offers a unique approach to Texas electricity.

It goes without saying that an Emergency Power Generator without fuel is like a light bulb without electricity. If that light bulb has no electricity it doesn’t produce any light. If the generator doesn’t have any fuel, it WILL NOT produce any electricity. I realize that’s elementary. However, it becomes a serious issue when a person is facing an ice storm or a power outage and they are just about out of gas. The situation becomes critical if there is no access to gas stations. Now what? This is exactly what people face in real time.

During the ice storm that blanketed the eastern part of the nation in 2009, numerous people with emergency power generators ran out of gasoline. The primary reason why? They didn’t know the rule for storing fuel.

To be clear, this is a general rule, guideline or rule of thumb that we use to cover most scenarios. The standard emergency power generator has a five-gallon capacity. Based on that figure let’s do some math, which I hate incidentally. The average consumption rate for a generator hovers around 0.67 gallons per hour. That means that a five gallon tank will provide you with roughly a little over five hours of power.

The question is, “How many hours do you plan to operate your emergency power generator before needing to refuel?” To answer that question we’ve got to factor in variables such as inclement weather, gas stations closed, gas stations out of fuel, roads closed, vehicle immobile due to weather, etc., etc. There’s no way that we can say how long any of those variables will last or how long they will impact your community. What we can do is look at past history and come up with a rule of thumb.

That being said, we find that storing a thirty-two gallon supply of gas, in addition to the five gallons already in your emergency power generator, is a great rule of thumb to follow. That provides you with a total of roughly fifty-six hours of power. Incidents such as the 2009 ice storm, Hurricane Katrina, the blackouts in Florida and New York taught us an invaluable lesson: BE PREPARED! Assuming that you’re conserving fuel by only running the absolutely necessary appliances and devices, your fuel consumption may be a little better.

The next issue to address is the type of gasoline container to use. There are all types of gas cans on the market. Cheap ones. Medium range ones and expensive ones. They come in various types of materials such as metal, plastic and polyethylene. The issue here is threefold: (1) The size of the gas can and remember, we’re talking about thirty two gallons. (2) It’s ability to dispense gasoline safely. You don’t wont the type of gas can that you have to wrestle with the spout or it has known splashing issues. (3) Can it safely store gasoline in any element; hot or cold weather?

Taking those questions into consideration, there are a number of brands that can suit your needs. Some examples are, Justrite, Flo N’ Go DuraMax and Eagle and there are a few others. These manufacturers put out reliable products that will compliment your emergency power generator very well. The smart thing about storing gasoline for emergencies is this: keep recycling the gas if you have no outages. That means, use the stored gasoline for other outdoor power equipment and then replenish your storage container with fresh gas.

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FindGenerators.net is your one-stop shop for all of your generator needs. Whether you are in the market for a Portable Generator, RV Generator, Marine Generator, Wind Generator, Standby Generator or any other type of Generator, you’re sure to have questions… and we are sure to have the answers and solutions you need

So, what is electricity? Watt indeed! Even though we may not all be scientists or engineers, it’s safe to bet we know a bit about what happens when we turn on the light switch in our office and switch on the computer – the room lights up and the computer starts up. But, how exactly did that happen? We’ll do our best to explain the workings of electricity and its terminology.

Electricity – A Defining Moment

Here’s a short definition of what electricity is:

Electricity is the flow of electrons through a circuit. The force or pressure of moving electrons in a circuit is measured as voltage. The flow rate of electrons is measured as amperage. The power of a system is measured as watts.

And here’s a list of the various components that make up the above definition and help answer “What is electricity?”:

A volt is the unit of force (electrical pressure) that causes electrons to flow through a wire. Volts are abbreviated V, or expressed by the symbol E. Electrical pressure is sometimes referred to as the electromotive force (EMF). Some common voltages used in light-duty electrical systems include 12v, 24v, 48v. Most homes use 120v and 240v systems.

An ampere or amp is the unit of electrical current flowing through a wire. Amps are abbreviated A or expressed by the symbol I (for intensity of current). Just as pipe is sized by the rate of water passing through it, a wire is sized according to the rate of electrons (amps) flowing through it. One amp of current flowing for one hour is referred to as an amp-hour (Ah). The term amp-hour is commonly used when describing battery capacity.

What’s A Watt>

A watt is a unit of electrical power equivalent to a current of one ampere under a pressure of one volt. Watts indicate the rate at which an appliance uses electrical energy or the rate at which electrical energy is produced. Since consumers need to gauge how much electricity they use, the watt-hour, an electrical unit of energy, is an important measurement. An appliance that consumes electrical energy at a rate of one watt for one hour will have consumed a quantity of electricity equal to one watt-hour.

To calculate watt-hour, there are two things you’ll need to know:

* An appliance’s rated watts.

* The estimated duration of time the appliance will be operated.

The term watt-hours probably sounds familiar, since utility companies bill their customers for the number of kilowatt-hours consumed. Kilowatt-hours of electricity are equal to 1,000 watt-hours and are abbreviated kWh.

Types of Current

There are two types of electrical current. Alternating current (AC) is electric current in which direction of flow reverses at frequent, regular intervals. This type of current is produced by alternators. In an alternator, a magnetic field causes electrons to flow first in one direction, then in the reverse direction. Electric utility companies supply alternating current.

Direct current (DC) is electric current that flows in one direction. Direct Current is the type of current produced by PV modules and stored in batteries.

What is electricity? We’ve got an equation for that!

Here we’ll sum up what we’ve just discussed with an equation or two:

Power = Watts (W) = Volts (V) x Amps (A) 1,000W = 1 Kilowatt (kW)

Energy = Watt-hours (Wh) = Watts x Hours 1,000Wh = 1 Kilowatt-hour (kWh)

Amp-hours (Ah) = Amps x Hours

And just to round off – here’s an illustration of how watt-hours are calculated:

Problem: How much electrical energy is consumed if a 100-watt light bulb is used for 10 hours?

Solution: 100 watts X 10 hours = 1,000 watt-hours (or 1 kilowatt hour).

Electricity is a major part of most people’s everyday lives and is something we generally take for granted, like breathing or eating and sleeping, never really giving any thought to what an amazing thing it is or exactly how it works.

Hopefully, after reading this, you’ll be more aware of the miracle that’s taking place next time you walk into a dark room and switch the light on.

Grab your FREE report, and much more information about electricity and how it works by clicking on the only energy resource you’ll need. Ray Boreham suggests you’ll find a wealth of information and tips on solar and renewable energy at http://www.all-you-need-is-solar.com/.

Off-Grid living, (not using a power company) is a requirement for some remote locations like a cabin at the lake, hunting lodge, campsite, barn, field station, mobile home or a yacht. To live Off-Grid you need to make your own electricity. Conventional ways could include a gas or diesel powered generator that costs $1,000 – $5,000. The fuel cost alone to make energy will be expensive as much as ten times what a Power Company charges. What if you could make free power? Consider the Sun, Wind and Magnetism as free energy sources.

Living Off-Grid can be a way to save money but that would require free energy. Making energy with solar panels, wind generators or magnetic generators is how you can make free energy to get Off-Grid. You need to know how to put these free energy generators together for a reliable system. Concern for reliability may still include a gas or diesel generator but need a much smaller size and cost.

Evaluating Your Power Load

Your primary electrical loads are appliances, cooking and lighting and in some cases hot water heater, heat and air-conditioning. Each has a calculation and a duty cycle. For example a refrigerator draws between 350 – 550 watts when the compressor is running. The compressor “ON” ratio to compressor “OFF” is the duty cycle. In 24 hours the 350 watts times the duty cycle of say 30% would calculate to 24 x 350 x 30% = 2520 watts per day or 105 watts per hour average. Your power source and energy storage would need to be large enough for this load. Repeat the calculation for all the loads and you will determine the size of the Off-Grid system.

Power Sources

If you have a lot of sun you should consider Solar Panels. These devices can produce 70 – 175 watts of free power per panel for a fraction of the day. By having more than one panel 1,000+ watts of free power is possible. Wind generators can produce 450 – 1,000 watts of power all day long. How much free power they make will vary with the wind patterns. Magnetic generators are much smaller devices in the range of 24 – 100 watts. Their advantage is making free power at a steady rate all day long, every day regardless of the weather. Multiple magnetic generators should be a consideration. A conventional gas or diesel powered electric generator can make power too but not free energy.

Energy Storage

All the above power sources need to store their energy production to get completely Off-Grid. Energy storage is in the form of deep cycle storage batteries. Deep cycle batteries are different than your car batteries. Car batteries deliver a lot of power for a few seconds then get recharged. Car battery’s chemistry will be damaged if they get heavily discharged. Deep cycle batteries can deliver power for hours by design an are not damage by heavy discharges. Deep cycle batteries approximate cost each is: $129 @ 33 Amp Hour to $200 @ 450 Amp Hour. The battery Amp Hour rating should be two times the expected load. The batteries last longer that way. To properly charge a battery from the above power sources you need a charge controller (regulator). The controller will take a variety of power source voltages from 14 volt to 48 volts and regulate it to charge the batteries safely. Over charging protection circuits are included. Charge controllers cost from $24 to $84 for 4 – 30 Amp models.

Energy Inverters

To use the free energy that you have stored you need to take the battery voltage and direct current up to household voltage and alternating current. Household voltage of 110 Vac or 220 Vac are electronically made with a device called an “Power Inverter”. Inverter power output range is important to consider. This power output needs to exceed your peak power load. Inverter cost range is at $36 @ 400 Watts to $852 @ 2,000 Watts. Having more than one inverter gives you built in backup.

Backup Systems

Backup systems are required for Off-Grid living. By definition you do not have access to the Power Company’s power. Your stored energy is your first line of backup. That should be designed for a 24-hour load. What do you do after that? If your solar, wind and magnetic power sources no longer work you will need a gas or diesel generator. Because you have energy storage, you only need to recharge the batteries and that will take a much smaller generator. A 400-watt gas generator will cost $102 and a 3,750-watt gas generator will cost $500. Don’t forget these generators have a fuel and maintenance cost and don’t provide free energy.

Conclusion

Off-Grid living is an exciting idea and can have free power. Live or play anywhere without a Power Company. If you purchase Solar Panels @ $5 per watt or Wind Generators @ $1 per watt you will be paying 3 to 10 times what it would take to make your own Solar Panel or Wind Generator. Magnetic Generators are near impossible to buy. To make your own power sources buy a guide. The guides will show you how to make these power sources at home. Free power is the way to go Off-Grid.

If you want my critical review of two of the best guides Go To: http://www.ResidentialEnergyKit.com

by Woody Wilson

Woody Wilson’s background: Marketing Major with honors; US Navy Electronics and Computer expert; Bio-Medical Field Engineer; Salesman; Applications Programmer; US Coast Guard Merchant Marine Captain and all around handyman.

Buying an infrared sauna cabin can be too expensive, especially if you’re not sure you’ll benefit from it. Infrared sauna blankets, bags or domes force you to lie on one place for half an hour and are not cheap too. However, another option exists – it is to do an infrared sauna yourself.

In this article I want to tell you about two ways to build a sauna completely with your own hands, without prefabricated kits. It can be a relatively cheap solution, so you can enjoy a sauna in your home environment for a reasonable price. You can build it to prove yourself that infrared will give some benefit to your health before buying an infrared sauna cabin, or it can be a convenient way to have a home sauna when you have not much free space at your home.

Before I go into explanations I want to warn you about safety. Building a sauna yourself may involve doing some electrical wiring. Infrared heaters used in a sauna usually have high power requirements – as much as 1000 Watt. Please, do not try to build sauna yourself if you don’t know what you’re doing. Better ask or hire someone who has experience with electricity to do it for you. If you’ll set up a sauna in a bathroom keep in mind that as a wet place it has strict requirements for electrical wiring safety.

Infrared sauna with two infrared heaters

First way to set up a home sauna is described by Jim Clements in his article The Bathroom for FIR Sauna, in which he explains how to use two infrared heaters placed in a relatively small room (5×11 feet suggested). He uses two 500 Watt 9 Amp infrared heaters from THMI, saying that these heaters give similar experience as in an infrared sauna cabin. He gives no specific information about this heaters aside from wattage and don’t know if any other brand of heaters will suit for this sauna set-up. I think it is important that heaters should not have too high wattage (not above 600 Watt).

These two heaters should be placed on the either sides of the room (5-6 feet apart). As they are 9 Amp you should either use 20 Amp outlet or use extension cord from some other outlet in your house to split current between two 15 Amp outlets. Make sure that extension cord can safely handle power requirements of an infrared heater.

At pre-heating stage Jim recommends to turn heaters to a door or to a wall for heating to occur faster. Don’t place heaters too close to the walls or other objects due to the risk of inflammation. The heating time is usually greater than with infrared sauna cabin and can be from 30 minutes to an hour. When the room is heated you can use it as a common infrared sauna, just go and sweat there. You may want to place a towel under the door and not to use ventilation as it will let air flow to lower temperature in a room. You don’t necessarily have to use a bathroom for a sauna; you can use any suitable place or make a special enclosure.

As an addition for two heaters Jim uses a 250 Watt infrared lamp hanged on the room ceiling (in his description he suggests to attach it to a shower curtain rod. He says he uses a light bulb from Sylvania but I think other manufacturers will be fine. Try to get a lamp with not focused but radiant infrared light.

Infrared sauna with infrared lamps

Another way to build an infrared sauna at your home is proposed by Dr. Lawrence Wilson. On his page about sauna therapy he describes how to use three 250 Watt infrared light bulbs to build an infrared sauna. You will need three 250 Watt infrared bulbs (not clear heat, as he writes that they have wrong spectrum). He recommends using Philips, General Electric or Sli lamps. Also you will need three ceramic or plastic lamp sockets for the bulbs, fifteen feet of heavy lamp cord, medium duty male wall plug and a switch, or better, timer-switch which is capable to handle seven amps current.

Socket should be mounted on a 46′’ high by 15′’ wide (or 12′’ high by 24′’ wide if you want to mount it on a wall) board made from wood, plywood or veneer. They should form a triangle with the middle socket on the top of it. The top socket should be at chest level when sitting. Sockets should be wired in parallel. Connect socket wire to a switch. After attaching sockets to the board with screws you need to make a cover form hardware cloth to prevent bulbs from touching anything.

Be very careful when using this sauna, always secure a board to a wall to ensure that it will not fall. Do not allow children to play with or use it without your supervision.

Dr. Wilson also describes how to build an enclosure for your sauna with a set of pipes. They form a frame which can be covered by blankets or other fabric to create a small room which can be used for sauna sessions.

Comparison of two methods

The first method described, by Jim Clements, is much easier to implement than the second, by Dr. Lawrence Wilson. And what is more important it uses prefabricated equipment so no additional wiring is needed so the risk of harm or malfunction is low. Heaters are covered so they cannot be touched by design and all wiring is made at factory. The minus is that infrared heaters cost more than infrared heat lamps.

From the other side, Dr. Wilson’s sauna, if made well and accurate is no worse that the first one, but costs significantly less. To build it one should know how to do electrical wiring or have someone who will do it for them. This sauna’s safety depends on a skill of the person who made it and can be dangerous if done improperly.

Once again, I want to warn anyone who wants to build a sauna that you must do it only if you are sure that you’re doing. You should be familiar with electrical wiring and should have skill and knowledge to do it right. Authors of the original articles or me can not be responsible for the misuse of a sauna or any problem with poor construction. Remember – safety first.

I hope this overview of the ways of building an infrared sauna yourself will be helpful. If you’re interested I recommend reading original instructions by the authors of these methods.

If you want more facts and independent opinions on a far infrared sauna, visit Paul Mernon’s infrared sauna web site. Series of articles about infrared sauna health benefits, comparison of different infrared sauna heater types are examples of information you will find there.

More and more homeowners are turning their eyes towards LED bulbs as a technique to save energy. But will you really get the best efficiency by buying this still expensive alternative right away? Or is it better to wait, or to buy other energy-efficient lighting, and use the savings that generates to buy LED house lights later?

You have most likely seen LEDs already: camping headlamps, LED Christmas tree lights, wind-up emergency flashlights. How about LED house lights? If LEDs use so little energy, why aren’t manufacturers scrambling to sell LED lights for the home, and why aren’t consumers scrambling to buy them?

I wouldn’t try to sell you on LED lights as a way to address high energy bills or as the most environmentally beneficial lighting solution around. In fact, I think LEDs have a stretch to go yet, in terms of light strength, durability, and price. There are some LED applications you should invest in now, such as LED Christmas lights. And you might enjoy testing out one or two LED lights, if you’re the energy-saving type. But you are going to do better keeping with your existing lighting, and moving over to fluorescent lighting in the short term. Compact fluorescent lights, or CFLs, will pay for themselves before LEDs have improved enough to make CFLs obsolete.

LEDs are more efficient than incandescent or fluorescent bulbs. But LEDs have very directed light. An incandescent bulb shines over a wide area quite evenly, while LED bulbs are very focused, so that the area they directly illuminate is very bright, while the further you go from the direct beam, the fainter the light. For LED Christmas lights, that isn’t an issue; you just want some bright points of light, which LEDs do very efficiently. But an incandescent or CFL will do a much better job of lighting your dining room than an LED bulb in the same fixture. The light will be more evenly and broadly spread, and with a warmer color temperature.

When you see LED merchant claims of LED light output, you should be suspicious. A rating in Lumens, which indicates brightness, is misleading for LEDs, because of their focused beam. Lumens levels are measured using a sensor placed immediately below the light source. A household LED bulb at 2 watts could have the same lumens rating as a 50 watt incandescent lamp, or as a 15 watt compact fluorescent, but the LED bulb may only send a focused light directly below it to the photo sensor, while the incandescent bulb and compact fluorescent will light up a much broader area, and still give that same lumens measurement for the area immediately beneath the bulb. This could be the source of a frequent negative comment among LED purchasers, such as: “The packaging claims this 2-watt LED light is equivalent to a 50-watt incandescent but it seems closer to a 30-watt incandescent bulb to me.”

When it comes to halogen lights, they are only as energy efficient as incandescent bulbs, so the same energy efficiency considerations apply here. But since halogen lights are generally much more focused than incandescent lights, LED house lights that are made to be swapped in to replace halogen lights are both more efficient than the halogens they replace, and work well for the direct lighting that halogen bulbs are known for. You can purchase LED replacements for the most common halogen bulbs such as GU10 and MR13, and here’s where you may want to start the switchover.

LED house light designers work around the problem of the narrow beam of a light emitting diode, by designing household LED bulbs that are a collection of individual LEDs, with each LED aimed at a different angle, so that a wider area is highly illuminated. This increases the angle of full light provided by an LED light. However very few such bulbs provide the breadth of area coverage of traditional incandescent bulbs or CFLs and at the same time match their total light output.

Where LED lights are an improvement over existing bulbs is as replacements for lighting that is (or should be) highly directed. For example, a light in a narrow hall, where the chief point of the light is to show people their way from one room to another, would be a good use of LEDs.

Task lighting is another area where LEDs are suitable. Why light up your entire workshop if all you need to see is the tools on the work bench right before your eyes? A couple of LED bulbs hanging above the work bench will do the job. But you can only cost-justify this in energy savings if you live half your life in the workroom.

LED lights are, in theory at least, very reliable, when compared to incandescent bulbs and CFLs. LED bulb life ranges from 35,000 to 200,000 hours, versus 1,000 hours for an incandescent light, and 8,000 hours for a CFL. But I have seen consumer reviews of LED lights that report burn-out within a few weeks of installation. So there are quality control issues still to be resolved – again, this is a good reason for holding off a year or two before a major conversion to LEDs.

Whether LEDs will really fulfill their long life expectancy remains to be seen – even the 35,000 hour ones would need to be left on 24×7 for 4 years before they come close to reaching their advertised range. And LED lights do dim with age – so while a bulb might have a lifetime of 35,000 hours, that doesn’t mean it will emit its starting light level for the full 35,000 hours – the older it gets, the less light it will emit. LED lights do slowly fade in brightness and therefore in efficiency, although they will remain more efficient than either CFLs or incandescent bulbs throughout their life.

The “color temperature” of a light, measured in ‘degrees Kelvin’, determines how we respond to its light. Most people are used to the yellowish glow of incandescents at around 2800 Kelvin (2800K), even though fluorescent lights are closer to the natural daylight temperature of 6000K. Any LED house light with a color temperature of 6000K or higher will seem to appear bluish, and any LED house light with a color temperature over about 4000K will appear whiter than an incandescent.

While people are typically worried about how fluorescent or LED lights can make their rooms look hospital- white instead of the comforting yellow hue given off by incandescent lamps, remember that a little compromise on color temperature will really help reduce your energy bill. Be a trend-setter, not a trend-follower – start converting your lights to true daylight colors, whether with fluorescent lights or LED house lights. You will make it easier for your neighbors to switch over, when they find out they won’t be the first people with a slightly bluer light tinge in their homes.

Whether you switch some of your lights to LED lights now, or wait for the technology and reliability to improve, you can be sure that LEDs will play a bigger part in lighting our houses in the years ahead. In my opinion it makes sense to wait, except in certain special lighting situations where the highly directed, focused light of LEDs is what you want, and where you have money to spare. If you just want to save money – or to cut your energy use for environmental reasons – the same amount of money spent on weather-stripping, or most other energy efficiency upgrades, will reduce your energy bills and CO2 emissions more than buying today’s LED lights.

Robin Green runs Green-Energy-Efficient-Homes.com, a website that helps people save energy in their homes. For more on energy efficient LED lights, see LED house lights on Green Energy Efficient Homes.