Posts Tagged ‘outdoors’

Solar Swimming Pool Cover Alternatives for Dummies

Evaporation is a large deal when it comes to why your pool water does not stay warm. A great pool cover will reduce this evaporation, thereby keeping much more water in the pool. A swimming pool cover used when combined with a heating method provides a can’t-fail answer to utilizing your pool almost year-round. Pool covers are versatile and there are choices for indoor, outdoor, in-ground and above-ground pools.

Solar pool covers are an excellent choice simply because they’re inexpensive and they help maintain your pool clean. Late spring, summer and early fall are fantastic occasions to use a solar pool cover. If you don’t like getting to take a pool cover on and off each time you get within the pool, or if you’re searching for a much more permanent winter cover for those months you simply can’t get inside your pool, then read on.

Liquid Pool Covers

Liquid pool covers are one of the most popular solar pool cover alternatives for individuals who do not want to take a cover on and off of a pool. They carry out the same tasks as a conventional solar pool cover or blanket, however they don’t need to be removed. They’re made of biodegradable supplies and are generally poured onto your pool. At $200 for a gallon of great stuff, they are definitely not a cheaper choice, but they function fine if you are the kind of individual who desires a cover 24/7, or if you always forget to put your pool cover on. This option is not the very best for extremely windy or cold climates, and they do not help maintain debris out in the pool.

Winter Pool Covers

Unique winter pool covers are solar pool cover alternatives when you just aren’t going to use the pool. Sometimes the climate outside is so vicious that the pool could be miserable. In these months, a great winter pool cover is probably necessary. This really is a heavy-duty choice that is retro-fitted to your pool and will keep inclement climate from harming your pool. If you live somewhere with extreme winter weather, or even stormy summers, these covers are good solar pool cover alternatives. They can be used in place of a solar pool cover to safeguard the pool and will withstand wind much better than a solar cover will.

There are extra solar pool cover alternatives, but these are the best ones out there. A simple tarp or safety cover are other solar pool cover alternatives, but those don’t do anything to heat the pool.

Thomas Hayden has been in the field of green energy for a long time and maintains a website about pool blankets where you can get answers to the rest of your questions.

Are Solar Swimming Pool Covers Effective?

It’s common for individuals to wonder if solar pool blankets actually work. The answer is a definite yes! For the consumer that has been looking to get a cost-effective method for saving money and help the environment, a solar pool blanket may be the answer. It is very important to remember that a solar pool blanket isn’t the same thing as one of those very pricey pool covers – they’re far more affordable.

The cost of energy is rising; so many individuals are looking towards sunlight as an inexpensive way to create the energy required for their heating and cooling needs. It can be very to heat a swimming pool, but by using the power from the sun, our most abundant natural resource, consumers are able to cash-in with this renewable energy source and cut down on their energy bill. In fact, many people are transitioning from their gas and electric heating to solar energy.

Using a solar pool blanket consumers quite often experience huge savings. Having a solar pool blanket will cut down on the cost to heat the pool in order to use it, cut the cost of cleaning due to less debris getting into the pool, and allow consumers to cash-in on solar rebates from local, state, and federal government agencies. The majority of a pools’ water is lost because of evaporation. This evaporation is caused by harsh rays from the sun and gusts of wind beating down on your pool. By having a solar pool blanket covering your pool these sun rays will be utilized to heat water and reduce evaporation.

Consumers seeking to save even more should combine their solar pool blanket with a solar pool heat pump. This combination will save money and heat the pool faster. When using this combination one can expect their pool to be heated in a matter of minutes, rather than hours.

For consumers residing in colder climates, a solar pool blanket is a superb way to extend the usage of your pool. A solar pool blanket will give you heat throughout the day, and keep the water warmer at night. It will reduce a lot of the nighttime evaporation. This is a great way to cut down on heating costs. Even in warmer climates like Arizona, a swimming pool can be too cold to use during warm months like May. Combining a solar pool blanket with a solar heating system will get you many extra months from your pool. Considering how much you paid for your pool in the first place, this is a great investment.

While solar pool blankets work nicely in sunny states like California and Texas, many people are concerned about their effectiveness in the cooler states. There is no need to worry; solar pool blankets have been shown to keep pools warmer in every environments. Many owners in northern states have reported temperatures to the high 80s. The summer time is nearly here; save time, money, and the environment using a solar pool blanket.

Thomas Hayden has been in the field of solar for a long time and maintains a website about solar swimming pool solutions where you can get answers to the rest of your questions.

Approaches To Conserve Energy: Learning More About Renewable Energy Sources

Energy conservation is the process of reducing the use of energy. This is of major importance to many organizations and different governments around the world especially with the increase in cost of energy production and distribution. Thus, it is not surprising that many ways and programs are being employed and introduced which focuses on energy conservation.

We use energy sources to generate electricity we need for our homes, businesses, factories, etc. Some of the energy we use are constantly being renewed or restored and are called renewable energy. However, most of the forms of energy we use today at home and in businesses are called non-renewable energy sources as they cannot recreate in a short period. Also, these non-renewable energy sources have limited amounts that once they are gone, they cannot be used again.

Non-renewable energy also known as fossil fuel is the energy source used by most countries in the world. Coal, oil, and natural gas are some examples of fossil fuels widely used in energy production. Electricity, petrol, and diesel are being produced with used of all these non-renewable energy sources. These non-renewable energy sources, as mentioned earlier cannot be reused once already salvaged. Given this, it is important to know that the growing demand for energy sources brought about by the massive increase in population is slowly leading to shortage in supply of energy. This problem is experienced by most countries that more and more organizations are trying to find energy conservation ways to minimize or reduce the use of energy.

Biomass, geothermal energy, wind energy, solar energy, and water energy are the four main types of renewable energy sources. Living things such as humans, plants and animals are the main sources of biomass or bioenergy. Less sulfur dioxide is produced with the use of bioenergy that it is a great alternative to be used in plants instead of coal. On the other hand, we have geothermal energy which draws power from the heat of the earth’s crust and is mostly used to centrally heat a house or a building. Thirdly, we have the water energy which is also known as hydropower and is extracted from water. The fourth and fifth kind of non-renewable energy are the solar and wind energy which draws power from the sun and wind, respectively.

The use of renewable energy sources is one of the many ways of energy conservation. Aside from such, we individuals can also help conserve energy and hence, save valuable resources and protect the environment. Among the simple ways to save energy at home is turning off unneeded lights. This will not only right away save energy, it will also extend the lifetime of your bulbs. It is also recommended to use compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs than incandescent bulbs as CFL’s as they are better energy savers and they last longer. Installing motion sensors on lights that turns on only when movement is detected is also a great way of saving energy.

Turning off the computer at night or when not in use is also one of the simple ways we can do to promote energy conservation. Another way is to increase your home’s insulation by sealing holes, cracks, and openings around all door and window trim. It also is recommended to use energy efficient heating and cooling units that have the “Energy Star” logo which symbolizes that the product met the energy standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency. All these are only simple ways that we can incorporate in our daily lives. Yet, all these will help us save energy.

All of us can contribute in energy conservation. No matter how simple a step is like turning off unnecessary light and computers or huge steps such as creation of power plants using non-renewable energy, what is important is we do our part in conserving energy not only for us but for the future generation.

Atkins thinks that our environmental resources are slowly diminishing and that there’s a need to save for our grandchildren. He supports the use of national grid lighting. Thus, he often pens aritcles regarding Energy Efficiency Rhode Island.

The Many Uses of Solar Battery Maintainers

Solar battery maintainers are a fantastic tool to have at your disposal if your the type of person who wants to cut expenses and be kind to the environment.

Solar battery maintainers and trickle chargers look just like larger versions of the photovoltaic cells used as the power source for calculators-which is more or less what they are. They convert the sun’s rays directly into electricity at low electrical power (generally from 1.8 to 6 watts) which makes them handy devices for counteracting the gradual loss of charge that is a feature of all batteries, particularly rechargeable ones, such as car batteries.

Most people use a solar battery maintainer to make sure that they will be able to start the engine of a vehicle that is in disuse for a period of time. A common example is that of an RV that is kept in storage for most of the year. The battery would go flat if it weren’t kept topped up by one means or another. They are also useful for keeping the charge on the battery of a vehicle or device that at times isn’t run for a long enough time for the alternator to recharge the battery-in particular if the battery is a bit long in the tooth.

Solar battery maintainers can be used with any type of lead-acid battery, whether it be an automotive starter battery or deep-cycle battery. Seeing as lead-acid batteries are used in a wide variety of vehicles and crafts that may not necessarily always be next to an electrical outlet, a tool that can keep them charged up using only the sun’s shining rays also can be just what the doctor ordered.

RVs and boat batteries are obvious choices for trickle charging as most people only use them seasonally, and sparingly at that. They also pose an additional challenge of how to keep the house batteries charged. A solar battery charger, mounted on top of a motor home for example, is the perfect solution.

But it’s not only the crafts and vehicles you use to enjoy nature whose batteries might need maintaining. How about the truck or motorcycle that you use only rarely, or your lawnmower?

Do you have a spot away from the house and electrical outlets where you like to go and just spend time with the dog? If you had a solar battery maintainer and a deep-cycle battery it would be a piece of cake to set up a system to power a laptop or some other electrical device. Some people purchase a solar battery maintainer to be used as a power source for their kid’s science project.

As you can see from the limited number of examples given here, a solar battery maintainer is a very handy gadget that can be used for much more than just maintaining the charge on your car battery.

Learn more about solar battery maintainers. Stop by Solar Battery Maintainer.Net where you can find out all about solar battery chargers and what they can do for you.

Solar Swimming Pool Covers Explained

A solar pool cover traps heat from the sun and then transmits that heat to the swimming pool. A solar swimming pool cover may also be called a solar blanket. A solar pool cover traps the heat from the sun in the pool and keeps it from escaping into the air.

A solar pool cover floats freely on top of the water. There are no anchors or tie-downs. This makes the solar pool cover very easy to remove. A solar pool cover reel may also be used, and this will help roll up your solar pool cover easily and makes for great, clean storage. A solar pool cover can also be pulled out and folded up, but this can be a messier task. Get more information on solar pool cover reels, because these are usually the best bet for storage.

A solar pool cover is ideal to use in a sunny climate because the more heat they can gather, the longer the swim season. Note I did not say the climate needs to be warm all the time, but the blanket does need to have access to the sun.

Consumers must understand that a solar pool cover is not a safety device. Solar pool covers should always be completely removed before anyone enters the pool. The goal of a solar pool cover is not cleanliness, but they do keep a lot of debris from the pool.

Solar pool covers are available in many different shapes and size. They are often times round, square, oval, or even a custom design. They can be used for in-ground or above-ground pools just the same. A solar swimming pool cover can keep your pool 10-15 degrees hotter and are much cheaper than a pool heater, which can cost hundreds of dollars a month in the summer, especially if you have a larger pool.

Rose Thomas is an expert in solar pool covers and runs a very informative and busy blog about solar pool covers. She has helped thousands of people get educated on the benefits of solar. Save time, money, and the environment. Go Green!