The sun can save you money. As strange as that may sound, it’s true. Solar-powered energy for your home can save you boatloads on electricity bills.
The average home can save between $10,000 and $30,000 over the lifetime of its solar panel system. But how do you reap these solar savings?
Learn how by checking out these four tips for homeowners who want to maximize their solar savings.
1. Use the Sun Liberally
Help yourself to a generous portion of the sun. Solar panels don’t only function during the day. Rather, they build a reserve of energy during the day that they then can use at night.
But solar panels do work best when the sun’s out. You can power most or all of your home with solar energy alone during the brightest hours of sunlight.
So plan accordingly by scheduling your most energy-using events for sunny times of the day.
A local utility company may provide extra incentives to homeowners who use solar energy during hours of peak use in the afternoon. Maximize your solar panels by installing them so they face in the right direction. The right angle can raise efficiency by up to 2%.
2. Use Appliances at Certain Times
Don’t use various appliances at the same time. Rather, you could run the dishwasher at 10:00 am and the dryer in the afternoon. In doing so, you’d use solar energy throughout the day instead of depleting it all at once.
Or you’d even have to use electricity and solar energy at the same time.
As a rule of thumb, don’t use more than one major appliance simultaneously. If you have a newer, more advanced appliance, you can schedule an hour of operation in advance.
3. Insulate Your Home
Your solar energy system will perform better if you lower your total energy consumption. So pick up more environmentally-friendly living habits or make your HVAC’s job easier.
To help your HVAC out, try sealing off air leaks. Your cooling and heating bills will sink as a result. Seal them off by insulating crawlspace, attics, floors, and walls.
You can also seal ducts. If you use less energy for HVAC, you’ll have more energy for other household purposes.
4. Get a Monitoring System
With a monitoring system, you can track your solar power performance, overall home energy usage, monthly energy bills, and local weather forecasts.
Your utility company can provide elementary monitoring services free of charge. Third-party app services or your solar installer can offer more advanced monitoring.
The bottom line is knowing where, when, and how your household uses energy. That way you can maximize your solar savings.
Maximal Solar Savings
Boosting your solar savings is as easy as following the steps discussed in this article. However, it could be even easier if you let us handle all your solar panel needs.
Contact Browning Electric today for a free quote, and a member of our dedicated staff will be happy to help you with all your solar panel questions. We’ve got the tools and experience to complete your next solar panel project.
