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Products Reviewed
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Featured Product Review:
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Power 4 Home |
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We understand that some people are not as handy with tools as others
and that's why we've spent so much time making our manual as easy to
understand as possible.
Each step is fully illustrated and we've just added
step-by-step videos that you can follow along with, so even an
absolute beginner will have no problems. From the beginning we
knew that if the average person couldn't build it we would not be able
make a big enough change in the environment.
After completing the Power4Home package
we found 25 people with no experience with solar or wind power and asked
them to build the kit themselves. Every single one of them finished the
project and started generating power for their home. They were
amazed, they could hardly believe how much their power bill went down.
Remember, these people weren't technically savvy, they knew nothing
about creating their own solar and wind power system and yet what they
made looked and worked amazing! If they can create renewable
energy, anyone can.
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Editors Note:
Read the
salespage to get more information about this product and about the
results that every-day folks like you are getting
closer to energy independence. This program has plans for both solar and
wind generation. It also has instructions about how to install and
integrate your energy generating devices into your home's electrical system. |
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Your Source For
Product Reviews
We review online products related to .
You decide which ones
work best for
you and your plans for your own
off-the-grid, Transitions Movement lifestyle.
Transition Initiative:
Going Off The Grid
Total Energy Independence
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Transition US talks about the Transitions Model:
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"The
Transition model is based on a loose set of real world principles and
practices that have been built up over time through experimentation and
observation of communities as they drive forward to reduce carbon emissions
and build community resilience. Underpinning the model is a recognition of
the following:
- Peak Oil, Climate Change and the economic crisis require urgent
action
- Adaptation to a world with less oil is inevitable
- It is better to plan and be prepared, than be taken by surprise
- Industrial society has lost the resilience to be able to cope
with shocks to its systems
- We have to act together and we have to act now
- We must negotiate our way down from the “peak” using all our
skill, ingenuity and intelligence
- Using our creativity and cooperation to unleash the collective
genius within our local communities will lead to a more abundant,
connected and healthier future for all."
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Much of the practical support for the community based Transitional Movement
is going to come from individuals like you and me working to solve our own
personal petroleum dependence. As more of us have experience with the
practical aspects of moving off the grid, we will become the important "Know
How" and "Go To" folks for developing the long-term, local community
approaches to the Transition Initiative.
As more of us move off the grid, we will be gaining the experience at the
nuts and bolts level which can be the resources our communities need for
successful transition.
For those of us who want to take these kinds of steps, I have started
compiling access links to downloadable, practical resources which are aimed
at going off the grid.
What does going "off the grid" mean for you?
There are many combinations and
I will review a variety of those options for you here on this site.
Home Electrical Power
One of the most popular approaches these days is to build solar panels or
wind turbines to provide electricity for the home. Many of the products I
have reviewed here are plans (including video instructions) for
making your own units for less that $200 each. Some of these include
step-by-step instructions for integrating your home-based power generation
equipment into your local utility grid.
Power 4 Home and
Home Made Energy and
Green DIY Energy
are all programs which help you with solar or wind power generation.
Solar Water Heater
 You
can easily build a solar water heater which connects to your existing gas
or electric hot water heater. This program teaches you all you need to know
to make this system and save you hundreds of dollars per year. It includes
where to find the parts you need and it estimates the costs for this system
to be about $70 for everything.
DIY Hot Water is another Program for building a
solar water heating system.
Home Heating And Cooling
Wood-burning and coal-burning stoves have been a common heating source for
humans since we harnessed fire. Over the eons we have gotten more
sophisticated with how we do that. And our ability to heat large spaces with
minimum fuel has gotten better and better.
Solar window-boxes have cropped up as a simple weekend project which can add
a lot of BTUs to your home for very little effort and very low cost.
Some folks are burning biomass to produce steam for heat as well as running
steam turbines for electricity.
And biodiesel is now coming into its own as a renewable energy source for a
wide range of energy needs for the off-the-grid home and farm. Two programs
you can use to learn how to make your own biodiesel:
Biodiesel At
Home and
Biodiesel Fuel Online
Unique approaches are being used in warmer climates to make use of the
resources of sun angle, natural materials, the earth, and recyclables to
keep homes cool in summer. I've seen a wonderful design that uses the heat
of the sun on the roof to pull air into the house through a network of 200
foot long, 6 inch, underground pipes, which cools and dehumidifies the air.
Eliminating Petroleum Based Fuels From Your Lives
If you really want to go off the grid, you will want to convert your
internal combustion engines to electric or biodiesel. If you are producing
your own electricity, you will be able to convert over to electric motors to
power your car, tractor, and other gas engine equipment. Here are two programs which give you all the information and instruction
you need to convert your car from gas to electric.
Electricity4Gas/strong
and
Convert2EV
If you are producing your own biodiesel, you can continue to operate your
equipment without using petroleum-based fuels.
"Flex" is a
'new' fuel system
which permits an internal combustion engine to run on gas or biodiesel.
Home Hydro Electric
If you have a steady flow of water on your property, you can tap into that
power to operate a small hydroelectric plant to give your home a stead
supply of electric generation.
Other Home Power Generation
Our current economic and environmental crises will be bringing other
technologies out of the closet. "Necessity is the mother . . ."
will be in action for us as we move forward. So, we will start to see other
inventions and discoveries, which will seem far-fetched when we first hear
about them.
We harness the energy of gravity for creating hydro-electric power.
We harness the energy from the sun and the earth to create heat and
electricity for us.
We harness the energy which has been stored in biomass, biodiesel, coal, and
petroleum and release that energy to give us many different forms of useable
power.
We will start using gravity and geothermal energy in different ways as more
of us want to get off the grid.
One "new" idea is to use the energy stored in magnets to create electricity.
Well of course, mechanical electrical generators all use moving magnets to
make electricity. That is how the wind turbine works. The wind turns a shaft
which holds some magnets. As these magnets spin, their magnetic field passes
over some wires and this action creates the electricity.
As a practical matter, the magnets never lose their magnetic field. So, as
long as the shaft spins those magnets around, and as long as the wires stay
intact, this action creates electricity.
It turns out that if you use an electric motor to spin the shaft
(instead of wind or water), a well-tuned generator will generate five
times more electricity than it takes to spin the shaft.
I know this flies in the face of conventional wisdom, because most of us
assume the power is generated by the spinning. So, we assume that we cannot
create more energy by this spinning than is used to do the spinning.
But, the reality is that the electricity comes from the magnets spinning.
Not from the "shaft" spinning.
The energy stored in a magnet is somewhat like the energy in gravity. As
long as the conditions continue to exist, the force of gravity remains
constant. Gravity is a force which we can harness and even though we use it,
the energy of the gravity does not change.
The same with the energy stored in a magnet. It will remain constant. We do
not lose any of that force by using the magnets to generate electricity.
 So, using a small electric motor powered by a battery to run a generator can
give you 5 times more electricity than it takes to operate that small
electric motor.
Here is a program with the plans to build this for yourself. This program
gives you the basics and instructions to build your first version with
helpful information about expanding so that you could replace all your
household electrical needs with no energy costs.
Watch the videos and explore all that this gives you.
I hope that these ideas have sparked your imagination. It can be done. You
can go off the grid and folks are doing it around the world.
If you are committed to the Transition Initiative Movement, you can start
preparing yourself by making a personal commitment with respect to your
dependence on petroleum products. You will be building the experience needed
in your community as you start saving money while moving yourself off
the grid. |
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Rodger Bailey, MS is committed to
natural health and writes about health issues. He
focuses on blood pressure & hypertension, diet,
developmental problems, sensitivities and intolerances,
our immune system, natural and alternative solutions, and
he is particularly interested in how we interact with
our
environment. |
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Products Reviewed
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Home Made Energy |
Wind And Solar Plans: You will be able to
choose between two types of electricity generators, solar-based
or wind-based. Inside the guide you'll get specific instructions
on what is best to build, based on your geographical location
and the size of your house.
And this doesn't mean you need to build one or another. You can
easily build both systems and generate even more energy.
You will get the step-by-step diagrams on how to create each of
the systems with very little effort. All the components can be
purchased from your local hardware store. |
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Editors Note:
Read the testimonials to learn what other buyers have done
with their plans. If you want energy independence, this is what
you need. |
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Green DIY Energy
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Why pay thousands of dollars for
solar energy ($27,000 average cost) when you can build your own
solar panel system for just a fraction of the retail cost. You
can build a single solar panel or you can build an entire array
of panels to power your whole house.
When you “Do It Yourself”, you can cut your costs to a fraction
of what “retail” would normally cost. It’s a fun project and
with this step-by-step guide, you can quickly and easily start
producing your own electricity.
It Works! Thousands of people have successfully
built their own solar energy
It Saves Money – you save money when you don’t
have to spend $thousands$ on a “retail solar system”
You Go Green – reduce your carbon footprint and
help the environment
You Save Energy – you could cut your energy bills
in half, or even completely eliminate them!
It’s Fun – just wait until your friends and
family see what you have created!
Editors Note:
Read the sales material
to see this approach including some YouTube videos about solar
panels. |
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