Making your own cost-effective solar electricity is looking better all the time – especially here in New England! National Grid recently announced a 37% rate increase for their MA customers starting in November.
Certainly, always the 1st step – even in considering solar – is to try to optimize your current home energy use. You can reduce your power consumption by 20-30% without really having to make any lifestyle adjustments at all!
Here are some suggestions:
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Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) or light emitting diodes (LEDs). CLFs use 65-75% less energy and produce the same amount of light! Switching out 10 incandescent bulbs for LEDs saves around $80 per year on your electric bill.
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Minimize the phantom (ghost) loads by unplugging electronics when not in use – just plug in your TV and any AC power adapters, etc., into a power strip that you can easily turn off when you’re not using.
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Insulate your home well for the colder seasons – sealing air leaks and adding insulation can reduce your heating bill by as much as 10% – and save your heating system from working so hard.
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Buy a Programmable Thermostat – this way you can set it to turn off the heat automatically when you’re not home, and back on just before you arrive.
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Upgrade older appliances with EnergyStar rated appliances – if your refrigerator is over 10 years old, this would be a great time to consider replacing it.
Now that you did that – it’s a great time to take the next step of Energy Independence – so you won’t need to worry about the Electric Company raising your rates so drastically!
You can start by just offsetting the majority of your bill with a Grid-Tie System.
Additionally, for further peace of mind, there is the option of a Grid-Tie System with Battery Backup.
With the costs of solar going down, and the cost of electricity going up – you can’t afford to not check it out!
Payback on these systems is almost 1/2 of what it used to be, so now is the best time – Give us a call today!