by Zoe Zorka
Increasing concerns about the environment have inspired a lot of people to start building self-sufficient homes. The majority of homes are powered with energy that is created by burning fossil fuels and that’s terrible for the environment. Even if you limit your energy consumption as much as possible, you’re still doing some damage. One of the only ways to drastically cut your carbon emissions is to create a completely self-sufficient home and generate all of your own power. It’s not just about saving the environment either, you can save yourself so much money if you don’t have to pay any energy bills. The only problem is that it’s quite difficult to create a self-sufficient home and a lot of people don’t know where to start. If you like the idea but you don’t have a clue what you’re doing, here are a few tips to get you started.
Solar Panels
One of the best ways to start generating electricity, especially if you live in a hot climate, is to install solar panels on your roof. These kinds of rooftop solar panels have become very popular in recent years, and not just amongst people that are trying to go self-sufficient. A lot of people are installing them so they can reduce their energy bills a bit. You should install solar panels on every available bit of roof space on the house and you can also consider putting some more solar panels down in the garden if you have the room. They’re good at producing energy when it’s particularly sunny but they’re not the most efficient things in the world and when the weather is bad, you’re not going to get much out of them, so you need some alternatives.
Wind Turbines
Everybody has seen the giant wind turbines that are used to produce clean electricity, but they’re probably not going to fit in your garden. But you can get a much smaller one that you can put outside. You can also get ones that fit on the roof of the house as well. These will generate more electricity during the winter months when your solar panels aren’t doing that much work.
Water Tanks
Collecting rainwater is the best way to manage your water supply, but it’s not always possible if you live in an area that doesn’t get a huge amount of rain. The other issue that people have is that they don’t really have the space for a big tank, but you can get slimline water tanks that only take up a very small space. You’ll also need to install a system for recycling and purifying the water so it’s safe for use.
Vegetable Patch
Generating all of your own energy and water is one thing, but if you want to be even more eco-friendly and save yourself a bit of money, you could consider growing your own vegetables. If you don’t have that much space in the garden, you won’t be able to produce all of your own food but you can still grow a few things.
Setting up a self-sufficient home takes a lot of time and money, but you’ll see the benefit when you no longer have to pay for any of your energy.
