Do you know how to reduce your electric bill? Do you know the benefits associated with going green? The continuous rise of home energy is a major concern for most families. Especially since we are in a slow economy. The problem is, we need our electricity. With the ever growing popularity of the latest and best gizmos and gadgets that supposedly make our every day lives easier, our demand for electricity is higher than ever before.

What is your monthly electric bill? $150…$370…$580… or more? Is that rising cost of home energy cutting into your ability to help the economy and be a better consumer? Then it's time to do what people have always done when their level of satisfaction is not being met. We innovate!!!

Alternative home energy is not a new idea. It has been around since before electricity was even discovered. However, alternative energy as we know it today only becomes popular when the costs of commercial electricity rises in a slow economy, like the one we are living in today.

 Consider this:

Wind energy has been used to sail ships for several millinnia... that's thousands of years. It wasn't until around the 12th century, when the use of wind was harnessed using a mechanical construction called a windmill. The windmill was primarily used to mill grain into flour. Later they were used to pump water from underground wells.

Today, windmills are used in homes. They harness the energy of wind and store it in generators. The generators then provide power to run small appliances. The costs of building home windmills and the systems needed to collect this power has become affordable to just about all home owners.

Also consider, a small 13 pound windmill with a blade diameter of around 3 feet can produce anywhere between 150 - 500 watts of electricity, enough to power a small appliance. A full house windmill with a blade diameter of around 20 feet can produce anywhere between 8000 - 12000 watts of electricity, enough to power your entire home.

Solar energy – Many people think that harnessing this type of alternative home energy is something that’s technologically too difficult and expensive. In a sense, harnessing and storing the power of the sun to produce electricity is an advanced method of going green, but consider some of the products that are on the market right now that rely solely on the sun, such as calculator, emergency weather radios, those decorative lights people put along their walkways and driveways, or how about the municipalities that use solar devices to turn on the street lights.

The cost of harnessing the sun's energy has come down dramatically in recent years. The costs will continue to come down too in the competitive world of our economy. It’s not a new idea either... remember the clothesline. Yes, we have been using solar energy to dry our clothes for God knows how long. Think about that washer and dryer and think about how much electricity it uses to do a task that the sun has been able to do forever.

While the costs of a retail solar array to be installed on your home may cost in the neighborhood of $14,000, if you do the math, you may find out that the system will pay for itself in a few years and then you will be electric bill free...

There are, of course, kits available that you can build yourself, if you're the DIY type, which can save you $thousands$. These kits show you where to get the materials you need to build your own solar panels and how to install them and store the energy for your home consumption. This may be a route you want to explore.

There are several other forms of alternative energy that can be used at the home such as hydropower, which is the use of water currents to produce energy. There is hydrothermal power which uses the water underground to heat and cool your home. And now the use of biogas, which is produced naturally via the decomposition of different biological materials, is becoming more efficient and may allow some home owners to cut back on their heating bills.

As you can see, there are a lot of different types of alternative home energy. What you need to do is explore these options and discover which type is the best for you to use. Right now, Wind and Solar power are probably the easiest ways to lower and even eliminate your home energy costs. The components are small enough for even city dwellers to accommodate. The combination of both types of systems could ultimately lead the power company paying you for your excess energy... Now wouldn't that be a hoot!

By using alternative home energy, you accomplish two things: you save on your expenses and you help create a better world. You see, alternative home energy sources do not produce any harmful effects to the environment. By using these sources, you harness relatively free energy. Some people may say that the devices used to harness these sources may be too expensive, but in the long run, you’ll end up saving so much more than you spend.