Will You And I Continue To Be Part Of The Problem Or The Solution When It Comes To Ways To Save Energy?

Starting today, at least promise yourself that you’ll start reading up and considering an alternative to some of the wasteful things that we all do and take for granted.

Like having 2 or 3 soda’s a day and buying them in plastic bottles.  Three soda’s a day is bad enough and I won’t go there in this article but buying them in plastic??  At least if you’re going to indulge in the whole soda need thing, buy them in a can and then RECYCLE IT.

Now I know soda bottles is a small example of what we can really do…  The future in Solar Energy is what we’re talking about and as far as a viable alternative energy source, it can now be effectively approached in a more realistic manor than ever before!

The future looks to be a very exciting and interesting trip!  Are you ready to jump on board?

Just look at some of this helpful info. that we’ve put together. It started out as something we were doing for ourselves. It blossomed into a labor of love and we just had to share what we feel is important enough to tell the World. We want to share with other sharp-minded individuals looking for ways to save money and energy to boot! It couldn’t be more important than it is RIGHT NOW!

For more information about solar and solar related projects and sources visit this highly recommended site now For More!

Here’s my story, review and over-all appreciation of their existence!

You see,

I’m self-employed and can’t afford to stop working even during vacations.  When my eleven year old approached me with his grand idea of a father son adventure, so he could impress me with his newly learned cub scout skills… I thought it might be a once in a lifetime chance for us to have our first important bonding of sorts.

I just couldn’t say no to him and decided to dust off the old tent and have a go at a real-live, weeklong camping fest! The only problem is that like it or not, I have to drag along my lap top, my cell phone, digital camera and of course my i-pod..to mention a few electronic devices I’m addicted to! But how was I going to stay plugged-in to the World if I was to be thrown into the wild?

I knew the first challenge would be to find a spot at or near the campground with wi-fi capabilities. That’s actually not too difficult these days. A bigger problem, however, was keeping all of my gadgets charged throughout the week without being able to plug them into the car-charger. So I did a little homework and discovered that there are solar battery chargers out there for all kinds of gadgets and devices, some of which I didn’t even know existed!

Did you know…


…A tiny fraction of the energy emitted by the sun is enough to power your needs many times over.

That’s right. Only a small amount of power is needed to power your favorite electronic devices from cell phones to iPods to GPS systems.

When chosing a Solar Battery Charger, I was looking for the following features:

I was looking for one that provides an emergency power source when away from power outlets.

One that would work with multiple gadgets, including mobile phones, Bluetooth headsets, smartphones/PDAs, MP3 players, portable gaming devices, digital cameras, GPS and more.

It had to be convenient compact and lightweight. It’s design had to be perfect for travel or emergency use.

Being made from reusable and recyclable materials would be a plus. Greens the thing!

So I took my requirments and I did a good bit of research on the subject at hand. What I came up with was an unbelievable amount of info. Almost an overwhelmong amount!

I was on a quest to get my answers and find the best product for my wants and needs.

What I found was the Solio Portable Solar Charger…


Here’s how it works:

Solio uses photovoltaic cells (PVs). PVs convert sunlight into electricity that can be used immediately. The process is clean, fast, noiseless, and—thanks to Solio—easily portable.

Learn more on how it works here:

You may be wondering how efficienct these are.

First thing I found was that it takes Solio’s internal battery around 8-10 hours of direct sunlight to fully charge but using the included wall adapter, solio will fully charged it in approximately 4 hours.
Something to note: A fully charged Solio will completely charge an average cell phone at least twice.

Something else that’s COOL to note: Solio can store energy for up to one year!

We tried charging a cell phone directly from the sun, 60 minutes later it provided approximately 25 minutes of talk time and ten hours of standby time.

My iPod, charged directly from the sun was charged in one hour with enough sunlight to provide about one hour of play time.

For my purposes, I was excited to find a nifty little product on the Internet called the Solio. For hand-held electronics, it’s the mother of all solar battery chargers. It can provide a charge for everything in my briefcase: my cell phone, iPod, PDA –- even the GPS unit that’s going to keep us from getting lost as we explore Rocky mountains on our camping trip.

Solar battery chargers aren’t just limited to small electronics

Recharging batteries of all shapes and sizes, like AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, and even the tiny ones for hearing aids is a snap!

There’s even a charger available for the lithium-ion batteries that are widely used in digital cameras. This will be great because we plan on taking about a million pictures while we’re out there and didn’twant to lug around extra batteries.

Of course they even make solar battery chargers for cars and RVs, as well as weatherproof, collapsible marine panels for boats, which I’m sure will come in handy for lots of folks out there.

I’ll look into these and report back on what I discover in a later issue on The Home and Garden Guide Online.

I plan to invest in solar power option every chance I get from now on. Battery chargers for all of my hand-helds and for the car as well are on my “to-do” list and now I have a GREAT source for the best ones I could find for the money.

In Summary,

purchasing my Solar Battery Chargers was the answer I was looking for. Doing so truly helped make my vacation worry-free, since I knew I’d be able to stay connected and keep pace with the demands of my business no matter how far off the beaten path we traveled!

We absolutely fell in love with the portable yet powerful Solio Solar Charger. Why wouldn’t we use the always available renewable resource of the sun to power our electronic devices?

Plus, it’s said that Solio Solar Chargers are the most convenient and eco-conscious charger on the market. And remember, they also use the free and clean power of the sun, making them a friend to the environment as well as a friend to all of us at www.homeandgardenguideonline.com

Thank you for reading and please let us know if this was helpful info.

The Editor

Owning your own home seems to be a huge part of the American dream.

People want to feel that they have a place that is theirs. Saving for a home and keeping your home maintained takes up a great deal of our time. There always seems to be something to do or another thing that you want to buy to improve your living situation.

Owning a home is a great thing when everything is working properly.

It can be a real drag when things break down that you have not budgeted for. I have been saving up to buy a new dining room set. The one we have was purchased at a second hand store when we first had a home with a formal dining room.

It is functional, but I have always wanted a new set. I was getting close to having enough money for the one I wanted when our hot water heater quit working. We called a plumber and he suggested going with a Tankless Water Heaters by Low Energy Systems which would give us INSTANT hot water.


He told us that we would notice a big difference in our electric bill because the TANKLESS hot water heater that he was installing was much more energy efficient than the old one.

Here’s what he had to say about it:

He said the Paloma PH24M is the largest tankless water heater of its type in the world!

Superb for commercial and industrial use as well as large residential homes. Just one Paloma PH24M supplies all the hot water you need in your home for shower, bath, dishwasher, laundry, etc. Click here

Turn on your hot water faucet and water is heated instantly as it flows through the heating coils. Paloma’s burners shut off automatically as soon as you turn off the faucet. The Paloma modulating control automatically adjusts the flame to the water flow you select. Paloma tankless water heaters produce hot water only when and as much as you need. That’s why you can save energy and money.

You see, Storage-type hot water heaters lose heat all day long (and all night too!). They consume more energy than any other job in the home except space heating. Paloma tankless gas water heaters heat only the water you need as you’re using it. You never store hot water again.

I knew that this was something that we needed, but a hot water heater was not as fun as getting new dining room furniture.

We had him install the Tankless Water Heaters by Low Energy Systems and I resumed saving money for the dining room table and chairs.

The great thing was that we did notice a great savings in our gas bill. We had no idea that our old water heater was using so much gas.

All of the appliances that are in our home are getting older. They came with the house when we bought it and they were not new at the time.

We realized that we would be better off replacing them so we could cut down on our monthly bills. The dining room table would not help us reduce our living expenses.

Many of the new appliances are much more energy efficient than they were in the past. Washers are now designed to use less water and dryers are equipped with multiple settings so you are not wasting energy. We have agreed that the money that we save in our gas and electric bills will go towards the dining room table fund. It will take a while to purchase it, but in the mean time we are consuming less energy with our new Tankless Water Heaters
Tankless Water Heaters by Low Energy Systems.

The Editor

One of the best renewable energy resources today is wind power. This is something that was first used a long time ago to produce energy, and is now being renewed in present day efforts. Some states, like New York, are putting these wind powered turbines up all over the place in hopes of generating a good amount of power. These are not yet able to produce all the power that we need, and may never, but they are clean and easy. Wind is most definitely one of the best renewable energy resources. Wind is free, even if the turbines are not.

Some other renewable energy resources that were being introduced and improved upon in present time is fuel made from corn. This is something that can be produced over and over again, but some do worry about the cost to the economy. Corn has been used for food for a very long time, and using it for fuel can put a strain on the amount that we can produce. As a result, we are finding it to be a cleaner fuel and power alternative, but there are shortages that are going to affect, if they are not already, the costs of some of the foods we buy in the stores.  I recently saw a sign on the table of my favorite Mexican food restaurant that said, “due to the recent and continued rise in the cost of corn and related product, patrons will be allowed one complementory serving of chips and salsa.“

Fuel made from corn is not one of our favorite renewable energy resources.  There are even more renewable energy resources out there that are being tested and considered for ways to fuel vehicles and to power homes and businesses. One of these is water and steam power, which is something that we used to power trains and cars in the past.  Hot water heating systems are really nice and we will be elaborating on this subject very soon.

Solar power is also another great alternative. Probably by far our most favorite.  A subject that we plan to explore and expand on immediatelt here at Home and Garden Guide Online.  The trick is to find a way to use these methods in a way that is cost effective and at the same time with little impact on the environment.

There are going to be other renewable energy resources that come about soon, making this an exciting time in the history of the world. Things could be changing rapidly, and that will certainly be something amazing to witness.  How about witnessing it with us here at Home and Garden Guide Online.

The Editor