Solar Hot Water Systems
Solar water heaters, also called solar domestic hot water systems can be a very cost-effective way to generate hot water for your home. They can be used in any climate, and the fuel they use is free.
Solar water heating systems include storage tanks and solar collectors. There are two types of solar water heating systems: active, which have circulating pumps and controls, and passive, which don’t.
Most solar water heaters require a well-insulated storage tank.
Solar storage tanks have an additional outlet and inlet connected to and from the collector. In two-tank systems, the solar water heater preheats water before it enters the conventional water heater. In one-tank systems, the back-up heater is combined with the solar storage in one tank.
Three types of solar collectors are used for residential applications:
Flat-plate collector
Glazed flat-plate collectors are insulated, weatherproofed boxes that contain a dark absorber plate under one or more glass or plastic (polymer) covers. Unglazed flat-plate collectors typically used for solar pool heating have a dark absorber plate, made of metal or polymer, without a cover or enclosure.
Integral collector-storage systems
Also known as ICS or batch systems, they feature one or more black tanks or tubes in an insulated, glazed box. Cold water first passes through the solar collector, which preheats the water. The water then continues on to the conventional backup water heater, providing a reliable source of hot water. They should be installed only in mild-freeze climates because the outdoor pipes could freeze in severe, cold weather.
Evacuated-tube solar collectors
They feature parallel rows of transparent glass tubes. Each tube contains a glass outer tube and metal absorber tube attached to a fin. The fin’s coating absorbs solar energy but inhibits radiative heat loss. These collectors are used more frequently for U.S. commercial applications.
There are two types of active solar water heating systems available:
Direct circulation systems
Pumps circulate household water through the collectors and into the home. They work well in climates where it rarely freezes.
Indirect circulation systems
Pumps circulate a non-freezing, heat-transfer fluid through the collectors and a heat exchanger. This heats the water that then flows into the home. They are popular in climates prone to freezing temperatures.
Hot water ‘free’ from the sun. That’s using our environmental assets to our own benefit and you can’t get better than that !
Reuse Reuse Reuse
Don’t throw away those used plastic shopping bags! There are many household items we throw away every day we could easily re-use instead and help conserve the environment. Here are my top 5 ways to Re-Use Household Items and having a happier eco friendly household.
Shopping Bags
Store any used shopping bags you get while out and about shopping for a variety of uses such as small bin liners for waste paper baskets, or for when you just need to carry something over to the neighbour. You never know when an old plastic bag may come in handy.
Old Greeting Cards
Cut out pictures and shapes from cards to use for arts and crafts with your children. Make them into gift tags, bookmarks or paper chains. If you don’t have want to do this, or don’t have children you can give them to schools, play groups or art centres for children to make collages and other crafts. This is the most popular of our 5 ways to re-use household items.
Glass Jars
Reuse glass jars for storing dried food stuffs in rather than using open packets that have a tendency to spill out. Or store them for making homemade jams and marmalade. You can also use them for holding water when painting.
Old or Chipped Mugs
Mugs that no longer have a use for drinks can be reused as pen holders, paint brush holders or even as pots for small indoor plants on your windowsill.
Yoghurt Containers
Use yoghurt pots as plant pots by cutting a hole in the bottom, placing a large pebble in the bottom and then filling with soil ready for a plant. You can cut the bottom out and use them to protect small plants in the garden in harsher weather.
Old Salad Bowls
These are to be used to photograph an adorable baby. Do you need any more reason? 
Recycle Household Items
When it’s time to do some seasonal cleaning you can often find items that are no longer of any use to you but may be exactly what someone else is looking for.
You may come across all manner of things that you haven’t used in a long time. If this is the case, unwanted cutlery, dinnerware, saucepans can be put aside for charity outlets or, if you are up to it, you can list them for sale on eBay.
Now is the time to go through your furnishings. Make an inventory of furniture items that are outdated and need replacing. Maybe you feel the need for a change in decor - adding new colors and complimentary soft furnishings. You may have spotted an item of furniture that you feel would look great in your sitting room. Upgrade other tired items of furniture. If you plan to offload some pieces of furniture to make way for new furniture donít take it to the local tip if it is in reasonable condition and either ring a local charity outlet to come and pick it up or, if they are small furniture items that you can handle with ease, personally take it in to your local charity store outlet.
Go through your wardrobes and if you have not worn an article of clothing for 12 months, it is obvious you arenít going to wear it. Maybe you will find some items of clothing that just don’t appeal to you anymore, or you have lost or gained weight and they don’t fit you anymore. Gather them aside and bag them up. Go through every wardrobe in the house and get rid of tired clothing that is not used anymore. Even clean worn underwear can be bagged and handed to your nearest Opportunity Shop where they can be sold off as rags.
Go through your linen cupboard and put aside tired bathroom towels, bed linens, and even blankets, which the moths have got to minimally, can be sold off as Pet Bedding. Why would you take anything to the dump when a worthwhile charity could make some money on it?
Old magazines that you have neglected to throw out you may like to take to a nearby doctor’s surgery or nursing home where someone will benefit by reading them.
Children’s toy boxes can be gone through whilst they are at school, to avoid any dramas of toys being removed because, they are sure to kick up a fuss about any toy being taken away from them, even though it has parts missing or they have just outgrown them. Unwanted toys can be taken to your nearest Children’s Hospital where they will be sure of being appreciated.
Again, it is all about recycling. You would have heard that saying ‘One person’s trash is another person’s treasure’.
Maybe you could arrange with some friends to have a community garage sale.
Conserve Water at Home
Most of us have probably been told to turn off the faucet while brushing our teeth or to take shorter showers to conserve water. But new technologies take water efficiency to unprecedented levels, allowing households to save both water and money.
John Koeller, technical adviser at the California Urban Water Conservation Council and the Alliance for Water Efficiency, gave Matthew Shulman of U.S. News some tips on how to conserve.
What new technologies are available to conserve water in the bathroom?
Toilet Fixtures
Toilets can yield significant water reduction through new high-efficiency toilets that flush with 1.3 gallons or less. The current standard in the U.S. is 1.6 gallons maximum. If you cannot afford to replace the toilet, at least try placing a household brick in the cistern to displace the water thus limiting the amount of water used to flush the toilet.
Bathroom Faucets
Bathroom faucets need aerators that [limit the flow to] a gallon per minute or less. It’s still sufficient to shave and wash your hands, but you really don’t need the kind of flows that existed maybe 15 or 20 years ago in older homes.
Shower Head
Install a low-flow shower head. Whereas the trend these days in the luxury homes seems to be high-flow shower systems with multiple heads, generally speaking, the trend on the efficient side is to come down to 2 to 2.5 gallons a minute on the shower head.
Let’s move to the kitchen
People are using their dishwashers less and less and less. Why is that? Because people are eating out more and more and more. Dishwashers that used to be used almost once a day are now cycling only 215 times a year. There are many machines out there that now function with less than 6 gallons. In the old days, it was perhaps as much as three times that much water.
How about the laundry room?
Now we have clothes washers that are so efficient that when it comes time to replace your old one, you ought to purchase an Energy Star washer. Energy use generally correlates with water use. So if you look for an Energy Star machine, you’re going to see both energy and water use reduction.
Faucets
There is nothing worse than a dripping tap both for us audibly and water conservation. At the first sign of a leaky faucet replace worn washers. This is especially important if your hot water tap is leaking. Hot water costs money that can be better spent elsewhere.
Green Building Materials
Having more eco friendly homes is not just about the way in which people live inside them. It is also about what technology is used within the home itself, and encouraging the use of this technology wherever possible when building new homes, expanding old ones or simply adapting your home to a new eco friendly standard.
There are some great technological advances that really make a difference for eco friendly homes. Installing solar panels for instance can be a great way of reducing your electricity bill. More often than not the solar panels you encounter will be hot water panels. These heat the water directly around the system and then pump it into your hot water tank for use. These can however be costly and cost can go into the thousands.
For a more available alternative why not check your house insulation? There is a large range of housing insulation available that can dramatically reduce not only your heating bill but also your carbon footprint as well making an excellent first step towards eco friendly homes.
Switch your normal bulbs for energy saving ones! This technology got off to a rough start as the bulbs had problems with both price and the time it takes them to reach full brightness. This is no longer the case, they are still more expensive then regular bulbs but they last much longer and will save you money in the space of just one year. The bulbs available today react speedily and reach full capacity quicker then the original energy saving bulbs.
Make your self a compost heap at the back of the garden. Getting into a regular routine disposing of your kitchen waste to the compost heap will provide you with nutrient rich soil for growing your own home grown fruit and vegetables.
Organic Garden Composting
What do you do with your vegetable scraps? Don’t wrap them up and throw them away. A better option would be to make some space in your garden for a compost bin or heap.
Turn your vegetable scraps and grass clippings into compost that can be added to your garden once it has decomposed affording your garden soil an organic boost.
Old tired fruit and vegetables that are past their prime and are starting to deteriorate can be composted. Grass clippings, stale eggs, Used egg shells, stale bread, old flour and flour products, shredded newspaper (don’t go too overboard with paper) uneaten food scraps excluding meat and even dog droppings. You can also add horse or cow manure to your compost heap thus introducing further nutrients.
You will need to have a hose long enough to reach your compost bin or heap because the composting materials need to be kept moist. The addition of garden lime, used occasionally, will help in the decomposition process. The decomposition of the contents of your compost bin or heap will attract garden worms that add aeration plus the nutrients contained within their castings to further benefit your compost.
I have read that a large wheelbarrow is ideal for composting. Being made of steel it is a lot sturdier than the plastic compost bins and it allows you free access to get a garden fork into the compost for turning it over and further aerating and redistributing of the contents. A wheelbarrow also affords you being able to wheel your compost to where you want it to be dug into gardens.
If you add pumpkin, watermelon and tomato seeds to your open compost heap you may be fortunate enough to have a pumpkin or water melon vine and tomato plants take root enabling you to pick fresh produce from your own garden.
Should you be lucky enough to have a larger property on which you keep laying hens and manure can be placed in a large bucket of water and can be used for watering your garden and pot plants at the same time as supplying them with totally organic fertilizer. Or, if you wish, just add it to your compost heap and when you turn the contents over with your garden fork the chook manure will be evenly distributed to allow its nutrients to permeate throughout your compost.
Eco Friendly Gardening
How much time do you spend relaxing in the garden as opposed to working in it? Or maybe you find gardening a relaxing and rewarding hobby.
Do you have a garden full of exotic plants, shrubs or trees? Did you know that the planting of native shrubs and trees require less water? There is also another benefit although you may not have thought of it.
Our native birds and wildlife are attracted by the flowering of native shrubs and trees and you can contribute to the welfare of your local wildlife by planting native food trees as a food source for them.
Visit your local Garden Centre and make sure it is local because they will know what flowering shrubs and trees do well in your locale.
You can also put out bird feeders containing Wild Bird Mix or just plain budgerigar mix. Please ensure in the drier months that you put out birdbaths or ceramic pot plant trays containing water for the birds to drink.
Do you use fertilizer on your garden or lawn? Be careful to ensure that anything in your garden that requires fertilizing or requires that you use pesticides or weed control is environmentally friendly. Not just for the birds and animals that may visit your yard but for the safety of you, your family as well as your pets.
Maybe you would like to build a frog pond which would be great to include the children initially and to later educate them about how frogs are initially tadpoles.
There are various fertilizers available that are environmentally safe eg: seaweed emulsion, fish emulsion, blood and bone, horse manure, cow manure (for digging in to garden beds) Garden-Ville Soil Food, CG40 Bradfield ìLuscious Lawn.î And of course, last but not least, chook manure which is best soaked in water to dilute it before applying it to anything. There are also ìorganicî garden pesticides available on the market.
Let me share this homemade totally organic fertilizer recipe with you,:- 3 parts seed meal and 1 part blood meal. This fertilizer mix is particularly beneficial at the start of Spring. Otherwise you can try:- 4 parts seed meal, 1 part Dolomite Lime, ? part bone meal and ? kelp meal.
Do you enjoy garden barbeques? If you do then having a garden that attracts birds and other wildlife is going to be a bonus for you.
Do you have garden lighting to highlight particular area of your garden as night? If not, you should look into it. There are now solar powered garden lights available, that can be used to great effect ñwithout being detrimental to the environment. You can have the garden you have always wanted if you have the space for trees and shrubs to provide you with shade and privacy.
Make your garden a place where you retreat to sit, watch and ponder.
