It takes a lot of energy to heat a swimming pool. Above-ground and semi-above-ground pools tend to use more power for heating because there is more expected heat loss from the surrounding frame than in-ground pools, but overall, pools (and hot tubs) can be expensive to operate, especially if they are used all-year-round.

While energy conservation and swimming pools don't usually mix, there are still some ways to save money on heating and reduce energy consumption.

Pool Covers

The top of the pool is where 99% of the heat is lost, so whenever the pool is not in use, it should be covered up. Many states already require that pools have covers and pool cover locks to prevent accidents, but also, solar powered pool covers can actually provide a lot of heat energy to the pool. For many above-ground pools without heaters, this, and the natural ambient temperature, are the only things that heat a swimming pool. These pools tend to be cooler (translate: more refreshing), however other than energy required for the pool pump, these are low energy consumers. Also, you're obviously going to get more benefit if the sun hits your pool directly.

Water conservation is important to everyone, but not everyone takes into consideration the value of the amount the water they flush and drain every day. You know that if you had to pay for every litre of water you used, it's likely you would be a lot more conscious of how much water you used every day.

But it shouldn't have to come to that. You wouldn't need to be fined or charged for all the water you use if you were more aware of the value of water, and really, it doesn't take that many changes in your attitude to be able to decrease your water consumption significantly. Items like low-flow toilets might be considered expensive to many people, but placing a couple of bricks in your toilet's water reservoir can reduce the amount of water used by a 1,000 litres a year! Other people choose to flush their toilets only when "necessary", minimizing the number of times they waste water.

Changes in Energy Trading Analytical Tools and Forecasting

Because of the rise in financial players in the commodities sector there has been an increase in trading related less to fundamentals and more aligned with technical reasons to buy or sell an energy commodity. Energy markets are highly interactive complicated systems where many different influences from several energy markets cause the price of a particular commodity to go up or down. Many different buy and sell decisions result in a price changes and it is not all attributed to just a choice based on energy sector fundamentals. Psychology is beginning to effect the energy markets much in the same way as it has with the equities market.

Technical Trading and the Energy Hedging Process

Over a long period of time supply and demand ultimately decide if energy will continue to go up or down but in the short term technical trading skills can allow a trader to bring in more cash to the bottom line of an energy provider or even large commercial or industrial facility looking for the cheapest electric price. For instance, in Texas there is a company by the name of Dremline Strong Perma Frost that has been able to successfully hedge their energy several percentage points lower by keeping up to date with daily technical energy market data. For many businesses this may seem risky but the strategy has been proven over a year now and staying one step ahead of the competition is what many companies look for when finding that competitive edge.

April 22nd is officially Earth Day, which hopes to bring more awareness to global environmental concerns. If everyone can do their part today (and everyday), by reducing electricity use, using less water, walking instead of driving, and making choices that are better for the Earth, then we will make considerable progress in dealing with the challenges of global warming.

The prospect of reducing greenhouse emissions and combating global warming seems like an impossible task, but if everybody made even just the smallest choices to lower their home temperatures by one degree and wear a sweater, or turning off the air conditioning for an afternoon, or switching to a push lawn mower instead of a gas mower, their decisions would contribute to thre greater good.

You might have noticed more and more L.E.D. (Light Emitting Diode) lights, flashlights, and other forms of lighting showing up in your hardware and department stores. That's because LEDs are far more efficient than incandescent lights, using less energy, lasting longer, and providing more light.

You might've seen these last Christmas season, LED strings of ornament lighting. These sets of lights use an amazing 1% of the energy that traditional strands of Christmas lights would use. New LED seasonal decorative lights can easily replace your existing incandescent holiday lights, and you can expect them to last over 20 years of normal usage (that represents a rated life of 50,000 hours), compared to the 600-1,00 hours for incandescent lights. You can quickly realize the savings, even if you end up paying more for LED holiday lights.