This subject is not new. Man has made energy for thousands of years since the first camp fire. Some renewable eco-friendly energy technology is new and becoming very popular around the word.

DIY Energy Projects
• Solar Photo Voltaic
• Wind Turbine Generator
• Solar Hot Water
• Solar Air Heater
• Geothermal Heat Pump
• Magnetic Generator
• Home Energy Audit
• Solar Installation Course

Cost is a factor and startup costs are lower than ever. Residential Energy Kit is dedicated to presenting Do-it-Yourself (DIY) plans, guides and products to help you go green and save our environment. DIY projects are 1/3^rd to 1/10^th the investment cost of commercial solutions. For example, a completely solar home commercial cost is $20,000 to $80,000 with a 25 year pay back. DIY can do the same project for $3,000 to $5,000 with a 3 year pay back.

As populations grow and wealth increases, the stress on our planets resources grows too. Now we have to be more conservative and use alternative energy sources. Methods for reducing energy consumptions should be our first effort. Insulate, seal, use energy star products, and many other methods need to be employed. These are detailed in our Articles

Another consideration to saving our environment is to stop using power company energy. Over half of the US electricity comes from coal. Coal and oil usage is extensive around the world. We can make our own energy at home. The energy is free in nature. We just have to harvest this energy with techniques that are more feasible today than ever before. Wind, Solar, Solar Hot Water, Wave, Geo-Thermal and Fuel Cell technologies are readily available and encouraged by governments around the word. Energy Tax Credit Incentives of up to 30% can save you a ton of money. This is Important ~ If you seriously want free energy at home and you are willing to build a device yourself to save investment cost, you need a guide. They are relatively inexpensive. You will find my critical reviews under the Index on our Home page. These new guides have all the development worked out and offer step by step instruction. This will save you both time and money. Usually you can be operational in less than a week. All of these guides are written for the layman without high technical requirements. Material and tools required are common around the house items. The first model that you make is like training. Once you make your first, you can make another bigger and more powerful.

With all these projects you can scale up the size to eliminate most if not all your dependence on the power company (the grid). These guides even show you how to tie into the grid (grid tie) and sell the power company your excess electricity. That’s right. The power company will pay you for power!!. Make power at home with solar or wind to eliminate your power bill. Get our complete guide at Residential Energy Kit

Respectfully,

Free Power From Magnet Generator

We bought it and here is what we found out. This magnet generator is a great free electricity from a mini electric magnet generator project. You will gain so much confidence after your first generator you will want to built a bigger one right a way. Residential Energy Kit regards Magnets 4 Energy a safe buy.

Magnets 4 Energy project is based on the Perendev and Bedini (the wheel) magnetic motor principles; but, repackaged for easy home construction to make free electricity from a mini electric magnet generator. Magnets 4 Energy is very easy to build and modify for smaller or larger scale.

Read More Click Here

Off-Grid: Green Homes, Yachts, Vans and Cabins

How to live off the power grid.

Off-Grid living, (not using a power company) is a requirement for some remote locations like a cabin at the lake, hunting lodge, campsite, barn, field station, mobile home or a yacht. To live Off-Grid you need to make your own electricity. Conventional ways could include a gas or diesel powered generator that costs $1,000 – $5,000. The fuel cost alone to make energy will be expensive as much as ten times what a Power Company charges. What if you could make free power? Consider the Sun, Wind and Magnetism as free energy sources.

Living Off-Grid can be a way to save cost but that would require no cost power. Making power with solar panels, wind turbine generators or magnetic powered generators is how you can create free energy to get Off-Grid. You need to know-how to put these free energy generators all together for a reliable system. Concern for reliability may still include a gas or diesel generator but need a much less significant size and cost.

Evaluating Your Energy Loses and Improvements Needed

This is the most cost effective step. Any cost you have hear will pay you back 300% to 500% in the first year. Finding improvements in you energy consumption such as heat loss through windows door, ceiling, walls etc.

DIY Home Energy Audits

Think about replacing lighting with the new LED lamps. Appliances need to be Energy Star compliant an the list goes on and on. You can do the evaluation in a day. Develop a plan and do the most important first. In the next step you will define the amount of power you will need and that translates to the size of you off-grid system. The smaller the system, the less it will cost. So you see this step is very cost effective. See Easy-Energy-Audits

Evaluating Your Electrical Load

Your main electrical loads are appliances, cooking and lighting and in a few situations hot water heater, heat and air-conditioning. All have a calculation and a duty cycle. For an illustration a refrigerator consumes between 350 - 550 watts while the compressor is operating. The compressor “ON” ratio to compressor “OFF” is the duty cycle. In a day the 350 watts multiplied by the duty cycle of say 30% would evaluate to 24 x 350 x 30% = 2520 watts per day or 105 watts per hour average. Your energy source and power storage would need to be big enough for this load. Repeat the calculation for all the loads and you will determine the size of the Off-Grid scheme.

Power Sources for Electricity

Solar

If you enjoy a lot of sun you ought to consider Solar Panels. These devices can deliver 70 - 175 watts of free energy for each panel for a portion of the day. By having several panels, 1,000+ watts of free energy is feasible.

Wind

DIY Wind Turbine

Wind turbine generators can create 450 - 1,000 watts of energy the entire day. How much free energy they produce can vary with the wind patterns. Wind turbine tend to be more efficient for the installation dollar when the weather conditions are favorable. You need a minimum 10+ MPH and 20+ MPH is ideal. In addition you need space for a tower and a zoning permit.

Magnet Generator

Magnetic generators are allot smaller devices in the order of 24 - 100 watts. Their advantage is making free energy at a regular rate 24 hours a day, each day regardless of the weather. Several magnetic generators should be considered. A standard gas or diesel powered electric generator can produce energy also but not free energy.

Solar Hot Water and Solar Air Heaters Reduce Electrical Load.

These two devices are a good way to reduce the burden of electricity. Electrical heat is the most power hungry use of electricity. Getting heat from the sun will reduce the electrical load by over 30%, thus the cost of electricity power installation.

Solar Hot Water

Solar Hot Water

systems can use the sun to heat water that is stored in a well insulated tank. The temperature of this water can exceed 140 degree Fahrenheit. If you choose an active system you can plumb the heated water throughout the home as primary heat. As a passive system it would augment the hot water heater.

Solar Air Heater requires no moving parts yet it will heat a room with just air currents, of course only during the day. It need not be a cloud free day for it to work.  The construction cost is very low, cheat even.

Energy Storage

All the above electrical energy sources need to store up their energy supplies to get totally Off-Grid. Power storage is in the form of deep cycle storage batteries.

Power Storage

Deep cycle batteries are unlike your car batteries. Car batteries convey a lot of energy for a few seconds then get re-energized. Car battery’s chemistry will be damaged if they get strongly discharged. Deep cycle batteries can supply power for hours by design an are not damage by strong discharges. Deep cycle batteries approximate cost each is: $129 @ 33 Amp Hour to $200 @ 450 Amp Hour. The battery Amp Hour rating should be two times the anticipated load. The batteries last longer that way. Battery maintanace and renovation is important and can be costly. See How To Recondition Batteries

Battery Charge Controllers

To correctly charge a battery from the above energy sources you need a charge controller (regulator). The controller will take a variety of energy source voltages from 14 volt to 48 volts and regulate it to charge the batteries safely. Over charging protection circuits are included. Charge controllers cost from $24 to $84 for 4 - 30 Amp models.

Battery Power Inverters

2000 Watt Power Inverter

To use the free power that you have stored you need to take the battery voltage and direct current up to household voltage and alternating current with a power inverter. Household voltage of 110 Vac or 220 Vac are electronically made with a device called an “Power Inverter”. Inverter power output rating (watts) is important to consider. This power output needs to exceed your peak power load. Inverter cost range is at $36 @ 400 Watts to $852 @ 2,000 Watts. Having more than one inverter gives you built in backup.

Backup Systems

2,000 Watt Gas Generator

Backup systems are mandatory for Off-Grid living. By definition you do not have access to the Grid energy. Your stored power is your primary line of backup. That should be designed for a 24-hour load. What do you do after that? If your solar, wind and/or magnetic power sources no longer work. You will need a gas or diesel generator. Because you have battery power storage, you just need to refresh the batteries and that will take a much smaller generator. A 400-watt gas generator will cost $102 and a 3,750-watt gas generator will cost $500. Don’t forget these generators have a fuel and service cost and don’t provide free power.

Conclusion

Off-Grid living is an exciting idea and can have free power. Live or play anywhere without a Power Company. If you purchase Solar Panels @ $5 per watt or Wind Generators @ $1 per watt you will be paying 3 to 10 times what it would take to make your own Solar Panel or Wind Generator. Magnetic Generators are near impossible to buy. To make your own power sources buy a guide. The guides will show you how to make these power sources at home. Free power is the way to go Off-Grid.

If you want my critical review of two of the best guides Go To: www.ResidentialEnergyKit.com

by Jana Bain,  HomeInsurance.org

A home with a brain, limited only by your imagination. In one touch, the movie of your choice starts, the shades close, surround sound kicks in at the perfect volume. You can program a hot bath to begin on the way home from work. Can’t remember if you left the stove on or the garage door open? Just check on your phone. Smart homes are no longer just depicted in films or restricted to the properties of billionaire Bill Gates. It’s becoming more mainstream for homeowners to “smartify” their homes, resulting in more customizable options, greater comfort, increased efficiency, and quick, seamless technological responses to human interaction. Here are just some defining features of a smart home, even though the possibilities are truly endless.

1. Interconnected Personal Computing

   A staple defining feature of a smart home is a completely networked home. Anything that can be controlled with buttons or clicks is capable of being accessed anywhere in the home and even controlled remotely. Imagine every appliance in your home interlinked with personalized settings. The curtains automatically close at 7:30 p.m. while lights dim to the perfect setting; you can start your day or end your day with a push of a single button.

2. Personalized Home Automation

   Much like interconnected personal computing, which allows devices and appliances to be accessed and controlled, home automation processes integrates all these devices so they can be centrally managed in one place. With so many technology formats — Blu-ray, Bluetooth, MP3, 3d, HD, and whatever the next best thing is — technology may be getting more cluttered and less organized. Intelligent home control allows the user to connect all devices, appliances, lighting systems, entertainment consoles, and even security systems to interact and communicate with us. Monitoring and managing energy consumption for optimum efficiency, controlling specific environmental conditions, and delivering updates and important information to us are just some features of home automation.

3. Total Programmable Entertainment Systems

   Much like the smart home mansion of Bill Gates, interconnected entertainment systems are a staple element in smart home technology. The user is able to customize music, movies, TV shows, resolutions, and communicative systems using one centralized remote or using voice command. The technology may also be habitually based, or according to personal taste over time. Access a comprehensive library of movies, music, and shows from any computerized device or TV screen. Music programmed automatically to come on during half-time makes for the ultimate man cave. A whole-home audio system with in-wall speakers allows for the possibility of multi-zone systems, which allow different members of your family to listen to different audio or choose an entertainment mode of their choice.

4. Integrated Telecommunication Systems

   Telecommunication shouldn’t be limited to just cell phone use. In a smart home, imagine being able to transfer calls throughout the house. When someone calls you, only the nearest phone to you rings. If you’ve got a videophone, the nearest LCD display is activated. There are also personable features including hold, mute, intercom, and conference calling options displayed as visual messages.

5. Security Services

   Heightened levels of security may be easily managed and accessed through intercom systems and surveillance cameras available on any TV or touchscreen in the house. You are also able to set automatic email or phone alerts when the garage is left open, the stove is left on for extended times, or a window or door unexpectedly opens. Your smart home actually acts like a fortified, intelligent monitoring system.

6. Eco-friendly, Smart Appliances

   All the electronics in our home have a significant impact on energy consumption, so eco-friendly smart appliances promise huge cost savings in energy use. What’s more important is that they come smart-grid ready, and also have the ability to operate during times of low electricity usage or outage.

7. High-tech Thermostats

   Climate control that adjusts based on your own lifestyle, schedule, and habits come standard with these high-tech thermostats. With the advent of cloud computing, data can be stored so that the entire climate system may be adjusted and scheduled remotely. In some cases, users may save on average $100 per month by setting back automatically the temperature when people were asleep or away from home. You can also download an app for iOS and Android devices to determine when you are out of the house, so that the system knows when you’re headed back home to modify temperatures in anticipation of your arrival.

8. Smart Architecture

   From the ground up, smart homes may be designed primarily for interconnectivity, greater energy efficiency, and controlled use throughout the home. Insular sliding walls and responsive rooms that may automatically change settings according to event or different functions are great advances that need to be embraced in the future. Solar panel technology on roofs, heat sensitive floors, and electric charging stations for smart cars are other elements of this “smart architecture.”

By Kirsten Korosec | December 7, 2011, 9:04 AM PST

Tremont Electric, creator of the motion-powered gadget charger, wants to scale up its kinetic energy harvesting tech to turn the Great Lakes into a power plant— of sorts.

The nPower Wave Energy Converter developed by the Cleveland-based company is about the size of an automobile and can be integrated into buoys. Inside the converter is a magnet, which moves along with an induction coil to generate pulses of current. A mechanical fuse line would runs from the anchor to the buoy as a primary elastic line (see graphic below). That current is then collected at a transfer hub and delivered to the power grid. Voilà, wave-generated electricity for all! Or at least for folks who live nearby.

The tech inside the wave converter is essentially the same as its personal energy generator (PEG), which charges a battery when a magnet, placed between two springs, moves up and down. The PEG device is tuned for walking, but it also has the ability to harvest ambient vibrations from pedaling around on a bike or riding in a car or train.

Founder and CEO Aaron LeMieux says in the video below the wave converter would be commercially viable and able to compete with coal-fired electricity. He claims the wave electricity could be sold at 5 to 7 cents per kilowatt hour. He also sees an opportunity for the devices to be made in Ohio, a state where 10.3 percent of displaced workers have come from the manufacturing industry.

The company proposes anchoring clusters of buoys onto the floor of Lake Erie.  According to a recent video produced by the company, testing was supposed to be conducted this past summer.

Of course, even if the tech works, there are numerous challenges to work through before the project would be able to power homes of Ohioans.  The buoys might not attract the same NIMBY reaction as offshore wind turbines, but it could face some public backlash. And the company must navigate the permitting process. According to Great Lakes Echo, the company will need submerged land leases, which are regulated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Energy monitoring systems are already a popular fixture in commercial buildings, but they’ve yet to take hold in the multi-family housing market. The reason for this is unclear. However, it’s obvious that this is a missed opportunity.

Energy monitoring systems are an often ignored method for renters to measure and reduce their energy cost and ecological footprint. Renters can instantly tell how much energy they are using by plugging in a simple energy monitoring system. Just having this knowledge is shown to reduce energy use by at least 12%.

Given this backdrop, it’s surprising that more apartments owners don’t promote energy monitoring systems such as Google PowerMeter. It can be a great way to help renters reduce consumption, and for apartment owners to attract the coming wave of tech- and green-savvy renters.

Promoting these tools in apartments is easier than you think. If marketed as an extra amenity, it could serve to attract more occupants. Apartments can use this as a selling point to differentiate them from other, less environmentally conscious, complexes. In the coming age of environmental responsibility and smart energy usage, property owners would be wise to make use of these devices.

For more information on how apartment owners, and renters, can take advantage of energy monitoring visit the Software Advice website. You can view find the full article at: Cut Apartment Energy Costs with Energy Monitoring Systems.