Here’s why most grid-tied solar systems don’t work when the electric grid goes down. But it doesn’t have to be that way…

Many people think 120 F is the best hot water heater temperature. No, it’s not. Here’s why, what it should be, and how to get best of both worlds…

The Kill A Watt meter measures appliance power consumption, (kWh) watts over time. I use several. Here’s how it works, and why I use them…

I originally wrote this back in 2012. I came across it recently, and liked it. So I’m republishing it for…

How Much Energy Consumption per Household – Residential customers in the United States (132.58 million) directly consumed 1,378.6 TWh (Terawatt…

Alternative Energy. Alternative to what? For this post the context will be alternative energy for ‘getting things done’ that ordinarily…

The Four Essential Parts or Building Blocks of an off-grid solar setup, and the description and basics of how it works.

The answer may sound pretty basic, because it is! And because of the relative simplicity, you could even make one…

A chart to select DC cable size gauge for interconnecting batteries or solar Off-Grid battery bank. Determining maximum current flow (amps).

(time to sweep the solar panels)   When doing any sort of design or even “back of the envelope” calculations…