Let the sun shine in!

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Solar powered appliances for your home are a big step in the right direction.

Consider installing solar powered fans, lights and electronics. When you use electric power or gas you are consuming energy, which is costly. In addition, producing energy is hard on the earth’s resources. Solar powered appliances are eco friendly products that are fun to use, clean and green. Solar powered appliances are utilizing the free energy of the sun.

A solar powered attic fan can save you up to 30 percent on your cooling costs. In the summer, an attic can get extremely hot. If you have passive and small roof vents they are unable to dissipate the heat, which heats up the lower floors, and drives up your air conditioning costs. In the winter, the heat that is trapped in your attic makes the snow on your roof melt, which then refreezes and results in ice damming, which is destructive and costly to you as the homeowner.

Moisture from your activities, such as showering and cooking, resulting in water vapor that travels to the attic and leads to mildew and mold. When moisture saturates your insulation, fungal decay occurs which can destroy your roof frame as well as any decking. If you have a solar powered attic fan this helps eliminate these costly problems. A solar powered attic fan also reduces the potential for indoor pollution.

What about a solar oven? Yes, you can cook without gas, wood or charcoal. Cooking with solar energy is considered the most forgiving and easiest cooking method that there is. A sun oven - one of the most ingenious green appliances - is used in many deforested countries where solar is the only fuel option. Solar ovens only weigh approximately 21 pounds and can be used for camping trips, in urban apartments where grills are not allowed, for tailgate parties or at home. A solar oven captures maximum solar energy.

Imagine a conventional clothes dryer that has been converted to one that is solar-powered. Pipes carrying solar heated water enters a heat exchange at the bottom of the dryer closet where wet clothes are hung. Hot air rises and dries the hanging clothes. Clothes that are dried in one of these solar powered appliances will require very little ironing. Heat from the dryer closet can be passed by use of an adapter to a conventional dryer eliminating the need for a gas-powered heat source or conventional electric source to run the dryer.

Consider purchasing a portable solar powered power unit that you can use to charge your cell phone, your laptop, a small TV, work lights and emergency lighting during a power failure. The solar powered power unit has enough strength that it can operate a computer and monitor or an electric drill for short periods of time.

Solar energy can heat your water. The solar powered water heating system relies on the solar collect to collect the sun’s energy, which is transferred to your water. This system can be designed to be used on any application that requires hot water in your home. Your savings will be substantial if you go this route because hot water is one of the largest energy demands that there is. A solar water heater will save you a lot of money down the road so you may want to trade in your current water heater for a more efficient version. The solar water heater is considered a clean energy appliance because it reduces CO2 user emissions by 75 tons over a 30 year period.

You can turn your entire home green by using solar powered appliances, sustainable and non-toxic cleaning supplies and accessories and by reducing your waste, which is a boon to the environment as well as to your health.

Resources:

ScienceDaily.com

Solar4Power.com: solar power devices