Uses of Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources in Homes

Cooking

• A large fraction of the energy consumed in homes is used for cooking. In most cases, when boiling or frying, you may consider using either a gas range or an electric range. Choosing between the two is really a matter of preference, since both have different pros and cons. However, if you base your decision on purchasing cost alone, then the electric range would suit you best. Other forms of cooking, such as baking or warming food, would require appliances such as ovens and microwaves that generally ran on electricity while roasting and smoking need grills and special burners that use coal, wood or propane. Therefore, most of the cooking done at home uses up nonrenewable resources unless the electric appliances are plugged into an electricity grid that is fed from renewable sources, such as solar farms or hydroelectric plants.

Temperature Control

• In the United States, air conditioning units are considered standard equipment in homes. About 87 percent of the homes in the United States have air conditioning systems installed. The only exceptions are the homes located in the temperate regions, such as the northern part of the West coast. Most air conditioning units are electric, giving you an option of using electricity from domestic solar panels or tapping from the electricity grid. In addition, passive cooling methods can rely solely on renewable resources, such as the local breeze and the fact that hot air tends to rise. For instance, you can open a lower window on one side of the house, open all interior doors, then open upper windows on the opposite side of the house so that hot air exits through the upper windows while cooler air flows in through the lower windows.

Cleaning and Bathing

• Water heating accounts for about 18 percent of the energy consumed from the utility. Hot water is used at home for cleaning, bathing and washing clothes. Other than the gallons of water used for such activities, other resources, such as coal, gas and electricity, are used to generate the necessary heat. You can also use the sun to heat water directly using a solar water heating system. This ingenious invention passes water from a reservoir through channels placed on your roof so that heat from the sun is concentrated to warm the water running through. The handy homeowner can use simple black tubing to preheat water before it enters the hot water heater, thus saving the fuel it would take to heat cold water.

Lighting

• Lighting is one of the most important uses of energy at home. The average American home can spend anything between $50 and $150 each year for electricity meant for lighting. Since most lighting systems do not consume much electricity, you can use solar panels to solely power all the light bulbs in your house, especially if you are using energy efficient bulbs, such as fluorescent tubes or LED bulbs. You may also conserve a lot of energy by using solar tubes to brighten a room during the day instead of turning on the lights.