With the growth of civilization we have started depending more and more on easier means of energy than what our forefathers did. This has lead to a condition where the sources of these easy energies have come a point to getting totally exhausted and in addition our environment too has been affected negatively to a huge extent. Thus, time has once again come to switch to older or newer means which are both environmentally and economically viable.
Analysing energy needs
If you pay attention to the types of consumptions that happen at your home level in UK, you will see that about 56% of it is required for keeping the home warm. Another 26% is needed for heating up the water and lastly only 18% goes in the running of electrical appliances or cooking processes. This kind of a check then helps you then in determining the points where you can put renewable energy to use.
In the UK market, heating through renewable means is done through three main sources.
- Heating Biomass: Being full of greenery, it is not a problem in UK to generate energy out of burning wood and the fallen leaves of trees. There are appliances like pellet boilers which help in the easy burning of biomass and also have high efficiency levels.
- Using heat pumps: It is a great means of utilising the atmospheric heat which is there in the air, water and also beneath the ground surface. This heat is though generated by running the pump on electricity but when used properly they become extremely efficient means of heating buildings.
- Using solar water heating panels: Heating baths, mainly in summers, become very easy with the help of solar water heating panels which can be fitted on the roofs and which can heat a huge amount of water to be used for a considerable part of the year.
While these are some alternative means of heating, it is also advisable that you try to alter your practises in a way so that the demand for heat also goes down. This can be done through means like insulation and other innovative methods.
Use of alternate renewable energies
Amongst all other forms of renewable energy, the most widely accepted option is that of solar energy which is widely used across the homes of the country. Photovoltaic solar panels are available as tiles too which are used on the roofs and are known to produce great results in terms of heating water and also providing warmth to the house. The government too encourages people use solar panels by providing tax benefits and other alluring monetary grants for them to keep using this means.
There are many homes which have good amounts of open area in their surroundings. Wind is also considered a useful resource for such homes. Using wind turbines are known to bring the energy costs down by about 90 percent if the setup is done carefully. In the recent times, like the solar panels, the cost of wind turbines too have come down as more and more people are contributing to make green technology revolution a success.
There are small wind electric systems available which can be put to use to meet the electricity needs of your home if the wind speed of your locality is favourable for the equipment. This readiness can be checked by processes like:
- Wind Resource Mapping
- Observing the flagging of vegetables
- Using a measuring system
- Recording data from local small wind systems
If there are no particular noise or height restrictions in your area then you can get the small wind electric system installed by the dealer.
Apart from using the wind energy there are also ways to put hydro energy to use in order to meet the energy demands at home.
To make hydropower a success, the main requirement is that of a stream or some other source of flowing water near to your home. It is estimated that a system with a capability of generating 10-kilowatt micro hydropower is good for powering a big home, a resort or even a small farm. For running this kind of set up successfully, it is once again needed to check the speed potential of the water source and also to check with the governing authority about any specific type of restrictions and permits which play a role in the area. The factors governing generation of electricity from water are:
- Head: vertical amount of distance of the falling water
- Flow: amount of water falling
Understanding the negatives of using renewable energy at home
By now you must have already understood the fact that using renewable energy means at homes also call for special setups which may in turn incur a high purchase and maintenance cost too. There are also sometimes additional issues like high noise or isolated house locations which become unavoidable to make them a success. It is because of all these reasons that people have not been able to switch over totally to renewable energy means at their homes. Any decision to go for renewable energy options at home should be carefully thought about because once the money gets invested; you may not have the flexibility to back out from the project.