Generally speaking, choosing a renewable energy supply for a household’s central heating is a principled choice. It is not, however, traditionally seen as a way to make money. This is because the installation of, for example, solar hot water heating demands a hefty financial outlay – and the bigger the property, the bigger the upfront cost – which can be difficult to justify in these harsh economic times.

Whilst loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and double glazing are all superbly efficient ways in which energy can be retained, it takes a while for these to result in a significant financial benefit. Furthermore, they are cost-saving initiatives as much as they are environmentally friendly, which simply means that they will not make you any money but should save a bit – a perfectly respectable consequence, it should be added.

Nevertheless, it is possible to be green and actually generate money in the process. No, we are not talking about opening a fitness centre full of exercise bikes that are hooked up to a giant turbine – although that does seem like a fantastic idea – but instead a tried and tested source of renewable energy can produce a little sterling on the side.

Sunny Money

Solar panel installations, as aforementioned, can punch a sizeable dent in the bank balance. Because a solar-powered home remains hooked up to the National Grid, the home is capable of using traditionally generated electricity as and when the solar powered juice runs dry. However, if your solar panel installation is generating more energy than your home consumes, which is especially possible with larger installations, the extra power can be fed back to the National Grid.

The National Grid will then pay the home supplier for this excess under whatever tariff was agreed – normally, this will be either as a typical export tariff for the extra power or a generation tariff that includes all power generated by the panels.

So, what are you waiting for? Once you have the solar panels installed, all you need is a little unbroken sunshine…

Okay, so it may be a stretch to suggest that the woeful economy or ensuing natural catastrophes may be thwarted by a little common sense employed at home. Indeed, it may be the case that neither can be recovered. Likewise, neither might prove quite as serious as forecasts would have us believe. Nevertheless, both problems started with people and it is only right that people try to provide solutions to them.

The Beaten Path

An article calling for environmentally friendly home living is certainly nothing new, but that ought not to cloud the sentiment behind its repetition. Change on a large scale must be continuous before it can bear any benefit to the world. This is why it is vital that solutions to the above issues are frequently reiterated.

Today’s homes have central heating, which, although necessary, uses a lot of energy. That energy is spent from the refining processes of coal, oil and other fossil fuels, which have a negative impact on the Earth’s ozone layer. Much of this energy is wasted through the roof of a house, which can be easily addressed with adequate loft insulation. Furthermore, in terms of trapping warm air inside the home, single panel windows are about as useful as a chocolate fireguard! Therefore, double glazing should be used and, in addition to this, cavity wall insulation completes the job.

Green Power

Nevertheless, more can be done to reduce energy consumption in the home, thereby saving money and the planet – at least to an extent – in the process. Renewable energy can be sought from solar power, which can typically generate enough electricity for a number of household appliances. The idea of employing solar energy is as much to reduce electricity bills as it is to harness a form of energy that is freely and cleanly available to us all.

Finally, if solar panels seem too expensive in these hard economic times, a simple boiler service might make a difference. Ensuring that your boiler is working at its peak efficiency will mean that it consumes less energy…

Tom Gocze, a home improvement writer and energy expert has said that by the year 2030 he predicts most of us won’t be using oil, gas or wood to heat our homes. Gocze’s predictions are based on information from a variety of sources.

In an article for the Bangor Daily News, Gocze cited heat pump technology as one way that future homes will be heated. ‘Heat pump’ technology stores heat from the hot Summer months, making a house cooler during June, July and August and then they allow that heat to be used to keep a home warm over Winter. He suggested the electrical power needed for a heat pump would come from ‘photovoltaics‘ a system of solar panels on the roof of a house or apartment building which turn the energy from the sun in to electricity.

Gocze also said there would be an increase in popularity over the coming years, for ‘super insulation’ saying that all new builds will be super insulated to help keep warmth in during the Winter months and he says thicker windows will be created to help increase the retention of heat. He says such windows could be programmed to open or close at different times of the day or when the outside temperature varies in order to ‘air out’ a home without cooling it too much.

The third technology on Gocze’s list of predictions for future home heating is solar space-heating. This is a tactic used to heat many green home builds in the US. The heat which the solar panels collect can be stored in the walls of a house using a method called ‘thermal mass storage.’ Gocze also predicts that people will live in smaller homes which better reflect their needs and a smaller home is easier to heat than a larger one. He also says these changes could occur because of Government pressure, or even due to climate change which is currently the main reason people consider alternative ways to heat their home, rather than using the national grid.

Reports have recently announced that Canadian officials are eager to help the country’s citizens to use greener ways to heat and power their homes. Over 400,000 Canadian Dollars are being poured in to a specialist water heating program that uses solar panels to store heat. The new green-heating scheme is called ecoENERGY for Renewable Heat and Minister for Natural Resources, Lisa Raitt, made the announcements in partnership with Ron Canan who is an MP for a local British Columbia constituency earlier this month.

Making Green Progress

Talking about the decision to invest in greener ways to heat the Canadian peoples’ homes, Raitt said that the government initiative would help homeowners to reduce their power bills. She described it as giving Canadians more money but also stressed it would be better for the environment. Additionally, she talked about how spending less money on energy could help stimulate the economy; suggesting that the green heating initiative could also create new jobs for people all over Canada.

The program which champions ways of heating homes (and water) using solar technology will be delivered by a company called Fortis BC and experts think it will have a sizeable impact on the amount of clean energy being created in British Columbia. 1,000 Canadian Dollars (of a rebate) are going to be given to those who become new developers of the system and make themselves responsible for installing the solar technology in other peoples’ homes. This incentivises the scheme as a new independent job option.

Meanwhile, homes which participate in the scheme can claim as much as £300 in rebates for having the new solar hot water heating systems fitted. Canadians can also get some other bonuses to help to pay for the solar energy systems, including a special ecoENERGY Retrofit Homes Grant to cover the costs of the work and many people are also eligible for the country’s standard Home Renovation Tax Credit, which can also pay for some of the expense involved in adding the simple solar water heating system to a person’s home.

A company named Armageddon Energy are making waves in the US by trying to make solar power more accessible to normal households. The new technology can be installed quickly on to the roof of a person’s home straight from the box and they make what was an awkward and difficult conversion to solar power a much simpler process. One solar panel which the company calls the ‘clover’ can provide a home with up to 400 watts of power.

The panels are made from silicon, hexagon shaped and placed within a triangular frame which is then loaded on to the roof. They also slot together making it easy to add a customised panel design to any rooftop. They then must be secured in place and angled to collect as much sunlight as possible, before being plugged in to the home’s power systems. The panels are breaking news because as well as being very easy to install they are also far lighter than conventional solar panels and this is because they are Teflon coated instead of glass coated. Some reports also claim they are cheaper than a conventional panel set up.

Although the news about the panels is spreading fast, the company has stated that these are prototypes and won’t be on the market for a year. When they are released they are expected to be a huge success, however. A different company, Veranda Solar, is also working on some competitive solar panels which can be plugged straight in to a home’s power systems and require little more than a screwdriver to set up. Some expert hypothesise that in the next two years normal home improvement stores could start selling plug-and-play style solar panels for homes all over the world which will revolutionise how we make energy.

Once again British Gas are launching a new dual fuel product, WebSaver 3 will replace WebSaver 2 as the cheapest available online dual fuel tariff on average use. Savings are are up to £109* with key points of the tariff broken down as follows…

• WebSaver 3 is the cheapest online dual fuel tariff at average consumption.*
• The dual fuel savings are £109* on average
• 6% reduction on the British Gas standard tariff for credit customers until 1st August 2010
• Paperless billing
• £30 per fuel cancellation fee should you move prior to 1st December 2009
• Online account management
• No more estimated bills

More information can be found here

*Versus British Gas standard tariff prices. Based on average annual consumption of 20,500 kWh for gas, averaged across all regions, rounded and including VAT. Price as at 7th May 2009.

**Based on average annual single rate consumption of 3,300 kWh, comparing standard tariff prices as at 7th May 2009.