Living Simpler: My Solar Panel

Im going to start a new series of posts on our blog about the ways Katie and I are trimming back to save money here and there. We have made some entertainment decisions for the past couple of years that has saved us quite a bit of money and I want to share them with you. I will be entitling this series: Living Simpler.

Now, upfront, I will tell you that alot of my posts will be quite complicated but in the long term the decisions we have made has helped us live simpler and cheaper.

My first post will be about my latest money savings purchase... I know this is a paradoxical statement but know that money is being saved.

I recently bought a 15 watt Solar Panel from Amazon and installed it on our roof. With this panel I bought a Marine Deep-Cycle and a little DC/AC Inverter. The power that is stored in the battery from the solar panel is converted to AC and is sent to a couple of lamps in our bedroom. We use the power for lighting and to charge our phones, Katie's computer and occasionally power our small bedroom TV. Even though it will take several years for us to recoup the initial purchase this process has made us more aware of the power we waste everywhere throughout the house. We now try to only use lights when needed and open our blinds and windows for natural lighting.

Our next Living Simpler purchase is a fan for our bedroom window. We waste a ton of electricity using our bedroom window unit when the temperature outside is in the sixties. Our house bakes during the day and keeps the heat in at night which forces us to turn on the a/c. I believe a window unit will work wonders.

My current problem is finding the right fan. I could buy a cheap box fan for $20 but it uses between 67-100 watts of electricity depending on the speed setting. Or, I could purchase a $50 window unit fan that has a built in thermostat, timer and other cool features AND only uses between 40 - 60 watts. Not sure. I am leaning towards the $50 unit but it will be much more difficult to move to other windows throughout the house... oh the conundrum!