Every year when winter approaches my first thought is “How much will it cost to keep my house warm?” This year I have been thankful for a milder winter but with massive increases in the cost of energy I am still seeing expensive heating bills.
As the cost of heating our homes with fossil fuels continues to rise many of us are considering cost cutting answers. One easy solution is to switch to solar energy.
Solar energy is not only both beneficial to your wallet and the environment; it’s also practical and efficient.
The initial set up of switching to solar energy isn’t always cheap – but sunshine and the payback are worth it. When you add up the cost of heating your home, turning on the lights and cooking a long and lazy Sunday roast you soon realise how much energy you use – this in turn affects your bank balance. Reports have suggested that by switching to solar power to heat your water and your home you can save up to 70% on your bills, freeing up cash for something you’d prefer to spend your money on.
There are now also UK government and local authority grants that help make the set up affordable. These include ‘Feed-in-Tariffs’ which guarantee a minimum payment for the electricity generated by a solar panel system, as well as a separate payment for the electricity fed into the grid.
Apart from giving you more bang for your buck, solar energy has many environmental benefits.
Solar energy reduces air pollution. Yes that’s right. When fossil fuels are burned, particulate matter is released in the air. This can cause smoggy cities – solar energy does not cause air pollution.
CO2 (carbon dioxide) is produced when the fossil fuels are burnt. This is called a greenhouse gas. It is now believed that greenhouse gases are now affecting the climate and may be responsible for increased floods and hurricanes.
Another great thing about using sunshine is that it doesn’t run out – well according to scientists not for billions of years! Fossil fuels (coal, natural gas and oil) and limited and are also being used at a pretty inconceivable rate. As the demand for fossil fuels in developing countries also continues to rise it has become pretty clear that eventually it will run out.
There are also other benefits to solar energy. As well as saving you money and being green solar power is dependable and requires little or no maintenance. Photovoltaic (PV) cells that are used in solar energy systems are designed to provide energy for a long time and manufacturers of solar panels can give as much as 25-years warranty. This means you can rest easy once your panels are installed and won’t have to worry about upkeep costs or replacements. As your panels have been built to last you can just sit back and enjoy the benefits.
Please visit Solar Contact for further information on solar energy.
Solar Contact, the solar power experts provide up-to-date information on solar energy suppliers and installers in the UK.
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