5 Ways To Generate Your Own Electricity (and Abolish Big Energy Bills)

With the cost of bills skyrocketing, many homeowners are looking at ways to generate their own electricity. Instead of relying on the grid (which can be extremely expensive), they’re taking matters into their own hands. 

Thanks to modern technology, there are a surprisingly large number of ways to generate electricity for your home. Read on to learn more: 

Heat Pumps

Governments around the world are encouraging their citizens to install heat pumps. They are several more times more efficient than regular boilers, but, critically, they cut your reliance on mains gas. 

How do they work? Well, it all comes down to the fact that temperatures below ground tend to be substantially more stable than above. Geothermal heat pumps can access this buried warmth and then use a closed loop of pipes to pump liquid through underground channels and into your home. It’s essentially a classic heat exchanger, but it can be extremely effective and it eliminates your reliance on gas. 

Solar Water Heaters

Another option is to use solar water heaters. These work similarly to a magnifying glass on a piece of paper. They direct the sun’s rays into the water, effectively warming it up passively, without the need for a flame of any kind. Usually, you’d put a solar water heater on the sunny, south-facing part of the roof. 

Hydropower Systems

In the past, many wealthy families had watermills close to the properties that they used to mill their grain to produce flour. Now, such systems are making a comeback. 

The idea is simple: find a source of flowing water on your property and then divert a channel so that it runs through a turbine. As the turbine spins, it generates electricity in a copper coil that you can use in your home. 

What’s great about these mini-hydropower plants is that they tend to be extremely reliable. Most watercourses run year-round, giving you constant power. 

Solar Electric

Solar electric systems are perhaps the most popular way to generate your own electricity at home. Companies like the Melbourne Energy Group install dozens of such systems each year. 

The nice thing about solar is that it hardly requires any maintenance. Most panels will continue generating electricity for more than 30 years before needing to be replaced. 

Combining a solar electric system with a battery could provide even more utility. This way, you can use self-generated electricity in the evening, instead of having to rely on grid power. 

Wind Turbines

Most homeowners never consider wind because they imagine that they will need to install the massive generators found in offshore wind farms. However, that’s not the case. These days, there are many smaller varieties on the market, no bigger than a trash can lid. What’s more, they can provide a substantial quantity of electricity, particularly when you pair them with a storage battery. 

You can also get solar and wind hybrid systems. The idea here is to take advantage of both the sun and wind to generate electricity. Wind, for instance, can provide power during the evening, while solar provides energy during the day.