Homemade Energy

I know one big question I had when I started seriously considering finding ways to create homemade power was ‘can I do this?’

Let me first just say this, don’t let your doubts keep you from doing this.  It really is easy and here is a very helpful guide if you have any doubts.

I’m not a great handyman, and I’m not a very tech savvy person so I definitely had questions.  And I must admit, I don’t think I would have been able to figure this out without a helpful guide (get the one I used right here).  But once I went ahead and got a guide, everything else  came pretty easily.

I had clear instructions and helpful videos if I ran into questions.  Sure there is some setup involved, but you can definitely get things set up in a Saturday afternoon.

Oh yeah, and just to be clear I was building solar panels.  Coming into this whole process, I would have had no idea what supplies I needed, where to get them, or how to set everything up.  But trust me, if I can do this, you can too.

Overall, the whole process was easier than putting together one of my kid’s new toys .

Ok, so you’re wondering, if the whole process was worth my time, money and effort.  Well, keep in mind that a big part of my motivation for doing this was to ‘go green’ and help my family become environmentally conscious.

But…

Of course that wasn’t my only motivation.  I wanted to generate homemade power to save money too.

And yes, I’ve absolutely been successful.  Coming into this, it was never my intention of going completely ‘off the grid’ (although the setup guide I used gives clear instructions how) so I still pay an energy bill each month, but it is drastically reduced.

My bill has been as much as 60% less some months!!  On average I’m saving about 50% of my previous utility bill.

So yes, this whole process has been very successful for me – helping the environment while saving $1,000’s along the way and even learning a little while I’m at it!!

This is my favorite section, because this is really why we would even consider homemade energy, right?  There must be some benefits or why waste the effort.

The way I see it, there are 2 main benefits:

1)  You save money

2)  You do your part to help the environment

These 2 points are not necessarily in order as they will be different for everyone.  Some people are very passionate about making an impact on the environments while others are looking to save money every way possible.

For me, these are 2 benefits are very close – I try hard to be very environmentally responsible AND I’m looking to keep my costs down and stretch each paycheck.

Now, a little more on point 1).

There will definitely be some upfront costs and I think this discourage a lot of people from going the homemade power route.  But, if you are willing to do some of the work yourself, you can do this for REALLY cheap.

And like I said, if you’re not comfortable jumping in and doing this all yourself, get yourself this helpful guide and it will take you everything you need, supplies, step-by-step instructions, video tutorials, etc

And a little more on point 2)

Don’t underestimate the impact YOU can have.  The statistics on how much energy one family uses are staggering, so by you alone using green/homemade electricity you WILL make a big difference.

But also consider that this whole process spreads.

One somebody sees what you’re doing, they’ll ask questions, get inspired, and maybe they’ll go the homemade energy route too.  In my case, several of my neighbors, friends, and relatives are using some form of homemade power now that they’ve seen how easy it was for me to setup.

So go for it, produce your very own homemade power supply, save some money and make a positive impact on the environment.