Air Quality Awareness Week 2015 – Part 2: Homing in on home energy use

The name of the game: reducing pollution.

Various air-pollution-reduction strategies will be presented throughout this series. Obviously many, many more exist than what are being offered here. But, each and every one presented has value and benefits air quality, even if the benefit is but a minor one.

Meanwhile, the two presented today – indoor lighting and outdoor independent photovoltaic power generation – equally find application in residential, commercial and industrial settings.

Let there be (LED) lighting: a good place to start is inside the home. Replacing fluorescent with light-emitting diode (LED) lighting could result in energy use being less. Perhaps LED lighting’s most attractive feature is its relatively low power consumption. Moreover, LED lights operate far cooler than what typical incandescent lights do. Add to this that LEDs last and last and last. And what’s more, they are easy to replace.

In discarding, both fluorescent and LED lighting should be properly disposed of. Check in your local area to learn what provisions (programs and services) are in place for proper fluorescent and LED lamp/light disposal.

Under the sun: In the home saving energy is the name of the game. And, in some cases, it takes going outside of it to achieve just that. A home powered by an outdoor solar (photovoltaic) system is one that can do much in the energy-savings regard.

Solar system purchase and installation costs can be high. Though once installed and operational, these save money over the long run compared to electricity that is purchased exclusively from the utility.

Photovoltaic (PV) panels are relatively easy to clean when dirty. By simply hosing them off, panel surface dirt will wash away. Not just this, but clean panels make for more efficient panels.

A big advantage of having one’s electricity being PV produced and supplied becomes quite clear during black and brown outs. In other words, in many cases, there is no interruption in service.

The operation of a PV system coupled with home LED lighting on the inside along with other energy-savings-measures taken, can go a long ways toward reducing demand on the utility-fed grid supply and that, in turn, can help in the area of less pollution being pumped into the air from power plants that rely on the burning of fossil fuels as a means to produce energy and electricity.

You may wish to consult the book: “30 Simple Energy Things You Can Do To Save The Earth,” an Earth Works Press publication distributed by Pacific Gas and Electric Company, to learn more.

Up next in Part 3, the commute.

Image above (upper): U.S. Department of Energy

Published by Alan Kandel