Running a household is financially difficult for everyone these days. With fluctuating gas prices, interest rates and rising unemployment rates everyone is waiting for the second shoe to drop, alternative energy resources are becoming a viable option for most homeowners. With this in mind I set out myself to attempt to cut or eliminate some of my household bills.
I have always been a fan of alternative energy and blame it mostly on my hippie upbringing. The thought of being completely energy independent has always been a goal for me but after looking at the prices of even the smallest of solar power or wind turbine systems kept me from taking the plunge. The initial layout of a few thousand dollars that might be recouped in a time span of years kept me looking for a solution that made more sense.
It was in a moment of desperation that I came across "Home Made Energy." Home Made Energy is a book written by Bill Ford, a scientist, researcher, inventor and energy consultant. In his book Bill lays out in very easy to understand manner a step by step guide that will show you how to build your own solar panels and wind turbines from readily available materials.
Turn around time on building a solar panel or wind turbine for me has been a couple of weekends of my spare time and the cost was under $200. I am fairly handy but no means will you ever see me with my own handyman show on TV! I am pretty sure that my neighbor's teenage son could have pulled either of these projects together but I'm not sure about my wife...(sorry, honey!)
The thing that I liked the most about Home Made Energy was that I wasn't going to have to wait years before I was seeing any sort of savings from my little project and I felt empowered by doing something with my own hands to provide for me and my family. For me, this is simply a step in the right direction in attaining my goal of being completely energy independent and producing all of my own electricity. Mr. Ford claims that if you are able to produce enough electricity you are actually able to sell your surplus electricity back to the power company and that your meter will actually spin backwards.
Overall, I would have to say that Home Made Energy should be considered as a low cost resource for those wishing to build their own solar panels or wind turbines to produce their own electricity.
Check out other alternative energy resources at http://www.alternative-energy.consumerproductsreview.info
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