Energy Conscious Consultant

Solar Heated Swimming Pool Will Save You Money

What’s involved with a solar heating swimming pool? The amount or size of solar collectors directly reflects from the size of your pool.  Collectors are heat solar panels, solar heaters.  Collectors collect heat from the sun to heat water.  The heat of the sun is necessary for heat exchanging.  We exchange cold water for warm. We are exchanging the heat.  The water is collected and run through these heater panels that the sun heats up and run down back into the pool. It is similar to a regular pool pump.  It takes the water from the pool and pumps it back through the filter and into the pool.  If you have a pool heater, it pumped it through a propane heater exchanger.  That propane tank heated up that water and it flowed back to the pool.  But it used propane to do that.  Solar heated swimming pools are more efficient and will save you money.

House Circuits: What Can They Handle?

To become an electrician, it takes years.  You must first start at the bottom as an apprentice.  Then you can become a journeyman.  Then after approval from the electrical contractor you worked under, you can become an electrician. An experienced electrician has dealt with a lot of problems within the same realm of the electrical field.  He can find and identify a problem - like overloading house circuits. 

Insurance Coverage For Contractors

As a homeowner, you should hire a licensed professional to perform work on your home.  He should be licensed in the state where you live. I have a license that my state sent me when I applied and registered.  I renew yearly for my state license.  I can copy it and show it to homeowners but a piece of paper may not mean much to some homeowners.  It would be better to go directly to a source to obtain that information.  Many states have websites that you can go to for information to find out if a contractor is licensed. 

Electrical Contractor: Professional vs. Handyman

When you have a problem, do you call a professional or a handyman?  A handyman may not always be cheaper.  I had a lady call me (an electrician) to hook up a new TV.  She needed a receptacle for a TV that she wanted placed high on a wall in a bedroom and also install cable to it.  She told me last time she had a cable guy just come and drill a hole through the wall.  I told her I am a licensed professional and can’t just drill a hole through the wall and stick wires in. I am a professional.  I am licensed, insured and I am responsible for my work.

Solar Powered System Installers Must Be State Licensed

Thinking of going green?  Ready to install an alternative energy system? There are many roads toward achieving energy efficiency.  The main course would be to change your energy source.  Instead of purchasing your electricity from your local power company, you need to have your own power source.  You can have solar power, wind power, or thermal power.  Evaluate your needs to see which would be best for you and your family.

Computer Crashes Need A Back Up Plan

As a small business owner, you must have a computer to keep track of your accounting.  You can also order parts online, place orders, or sell online. As we live in the age of technology, computers have become part of our daily lives.  We become dependent upon them.  But what happens when your computer goes crazy or even worse, what happens when it crashes?

Hiring An Unlicensed Contractor

When hiring people to work on your house, it is better to hire local contractors rather than out of state workers.  Customers think they are getting a better deal by going with someone who is not licensed, but that is not always the case.  And your uncle’s second cousin’s neighbor does not qualify.

Living Green In Your Home

Are you in the market for a new home?  Are you ready to remodel your existing home?  The Environmental Protection Agency site gives information to homeowners who strive toward a green building environment.  They list everything from basic information to frequently asked questions.  All of these ideas will add value to your home and reduce energy usage.  By reducing your energy usage, you are fighting climate change.  By reducing energy usage, you reduce the chemicals in the air which will help improve your health.

Surge Capacity On Generators

Can you place a generator on your house with a partial load?  Code says the generator must handle the load it is under.  You can size your generator to the load that is necessary.  If you have a 5000 sq ft house and place a 15 KW generator, you must decide what load you want placed on that generator  You can runs lights and your refrigerator, or maybe lights and one central air conditioning unit.  You can isolate the load to that generator.

Backup Generator Undersizing Can Cost You Money

Backup generators are designed to give you power when you loose local utility power.  How often does that happen?  That would depend upon where you live and your power utility company.  With a back up generator you can have power available whenever you need it and you won’t be without.  But you must have the correct size whole house generator for your home.