Introduction: Why I Chose SOLAR POWER

Hi, my name is Bryan. A couple of years ago I had to find a way to save on my electric bill. It was a time with record high temperatures (had to run the a/c) and Edison had a big rate hike. My electric bill for the month of June 2006 was over $700.

I can't blame Edison for the whole thing since the year before I had built a 10,000 gallon water garden and Koi pond with a stream and two big water falls. The pumps for the pond were a large part of my energy usage. My wife and I really enjoy the pond so I wasn't about to shut it down. This left the question of how to have the same energy usage for less money.

Since we live in Southern California, there is no lack of sunlight. With my electric bill so high, I had to act right away.

I contacted several Solar Power contractors for pricing and advice. Since I am big on doing everything myself I did not want to spend the money to have a contractor install a system for me. I purchased the equipment and installed a 5 kilowatt Grid-Tie Solar System. This took 4 days to install and saved nearly $10,000.

Since putting my Solar System on line I have not had an electric bill over $250. This is a savings of over 60%. The Solar System should pay for itself within 5-7 years and should continue to produce power for at least 30 years.

Start by Not Wasting Power!!!

In order to start saving money on your electric bill you will need to stop wasting power.

One of the easiest things to do is get rid of all your power wasting incandescent lights (the ones with the filament that get really hot). You can save a lot just by replacing all of those lights with Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL). These lights have come down in price and last far longer than incandescent lights. You will actually spend less for these lights because of how long they last.

You will also want to make sure when you replace your appliances you get Energy Star compliant appliances. These will save a substantial amount of power over your older appliances.

What many people don't realize is the amount of power many of your modern electronics will consume even when turned off. These devices when turned off continue to operate at a lower power level giving you the convenience of quick start up when you turn it on. The easy way to deal with these devices is to plug them into a power strip and use the power strip switch to turn them off.

I also use a programmable thermostat for my central air and heat. This allows me to set a comfortable temperature for the times my family is home and awake. I set the programming for energy saving temperatures during the times we are sleeping or nobody is going to be home. With this I never forget to change the settings and always save power. You can pick up a programmable thermostat at your local home improvement store for a very reasonable price. It will pay for itself in energy savings and comfort in no time.