Our Rating:

Official Site: Earth 4 Energy

Plenty of people will provide an Earth4Energy review saying the product is great, but few actually tell us why or whether it can really benefit our efforts to take advantage of wind and solar power in the home.  For those of us who are prospective buyers of this type of product, often one of the foremost questions we have in our minds is ‘will this really give me the information I need to get the job done?’.  The reality is, a lot of the online ‘tutorial’ type packages are a bit light on when it comes to the all important details of actually purchasing and installing the necessary components to a wind power or solar energy system.

Without wanting to sound too much the cynic, if I purchase a guide on how to build a windmill…I want a guide on how to build a windmill, not a fluffy overgeneralized guide which blankets basic info with unpersuasive propaganda about how good I should feel for ‘doing my part’ for the environment.  Not that saving the planet isn’t high on my agenda…it is, but I want to make sure that any info product I purchase showing me how is worthy of the investment.

Fortunately, Earth 4 Energy is one of the guides which doesn’t skimp on the details.  In fact, it’s positively brimming with info and that is one of the major reasons it tops our product list.

In short…we like idiot proof.

The Facts

Earth 4 Energy is a downloadable ‘ebook’ and video product which primarily comprises a 70+ page pdf document and associated tutorial video’s.  Ahhhhh video’s…thank goodness for videos.  It is quite literally a step by step, fully integrated guide to purchasing and installing alternative energy systems and if the vids aren’t enough the book is fully illustrated to help the handyman handicapped among us.

What immediately impressed us was the ease of use of the guide, and the emphasis on affordability of alternative energy systems.  It literally takes a step by step, paint by numbers approach to to the task of implementing solar and wind power supply using readily available materials.  For those living outside the States (like me) you’ll need to make the odd metric adjustments, but one other huge benefit of Earth 4 Energy was the provision of exact specifications and material requirements.  Did we mention we loved the video’s?  Anything that lets us be a home hardware expert by mimicry alone gets our thumbs up.

We’re not left in the dark wondering which battery we need, guessing what the appropriate height of our wind tower should be, where to get cells for our solar panels, or how to set up our relay to figure out whether they are actually charging and saving us money or whether we’ve simply constructed an expensive garden ornament.  Those with a bit of technical knowledge will probably want to skip over some of the more obvious guidelines, but can still benefit from the designs.

The Nitty Gritty

Earth4Energy contains 6 parts comprised of plans, diagrams, pdf’s and videos. We think it always helps for people to know exactly what they are getting for their hard earned, so we’ll take you through each of them below.

INTRODUCTION TO SOLAR ENERGY

As with many guides in the industry, Earth 4 Energy starts off by giving us a run down on solar power, its environmental relevance, and the financial benefit to its use in domestic households.  A lot of this info is available from resources online, buts its very nicely packaged in a concise but detailed bundle.  It sets the foundations for whats to come without risking information overload, and would have saved us hours labouring over Google if only we’d found it sooner.

BUILDING YOUR SOLAR PANEL

Part 2 gets right into it.  Step by step instructions from preparing your materials, aligning and fixing cells, to wiring up your entire panel.  This is the action part in terms of your solar power, and the one you’ll probably spend the most time with.  As you’ll see below, it includes full diagrams and instructional video’s.

SOLAR HELP PACKAGE

Part 3 really needs to be digested before commencing part 2 in our view.  This is primarily because it helps you calculate how many panels you’ll require to meet your energy needs (or at least your aspirations for reducing energy consumption) and is really an integral part of the planning stage.  For later, there is information on mounting your panels, and how to gain tax credits once your system is up and running.

I mentioned earlier that Earth4Energy is high on our rating scale because it incorporates videos.  In actual fact, there are two video series.  One is instructional, one is educational.  They are both great and really make up the guts of this product.  Without the video’s, I doubt I would have been confident to even start either project.

VIDEO SERIES – INSTRUCTIONAL

The instructional video’s obviously show us the ‘what’ of Earth 4 Energy.  But what they add to the guide is a sense of having someone come right into your home and show you how to do everything that needs to be done.  Combine that with a shopping list of items to make sure we have everything you need, and suddently the insurmountable starts to seem only a little bit more challenging than putting together that tv unit we bought from OzFurniture last month (although admittedly that was a two beer job). Again, the focus is heavy on the solar panels, but you’ll be able to complete both projects without too much hassle.

Fixing Solar Panels

Edging

Completed Panel Face

MAKE A WIND TURBINE

With solar panels under our belt we then move on to wind power, with a second entire section devoted to this alternative form of energy production.  Again, we have diagrams and step by step instructions which tie in with the instructional video’s.  We liked the attention to detail in both series, which included things like where to place your tower for the most effective wind catchment, and the towers wind up looking really good (not the unsightly sort of contraptions one might expect from a DIY job).

VIDEO SERIES EDUCATIONAL

This is a new addition and is a 7 part, two hour video series covering all the additional information you need to know about solar power and its implementation in your home.  Don’t bypass this part of the product, because it really shows you how to get the most our of the system once you have it in place.  Why go to all the effort of installing solar power if you don’t reap the rewards?

Our wind power saving efforts cost us a paltry $197, sneaking in under the suggested $200 budget for a wind generator.  This included all necessary materials although we did cheat by using (with permission) some aggy pipe from the neighbours who are still building, and this gave us the blades at nil cost.  Had we used more recycled parts we probably could have saved more.  Its a bit of a buzz thing, saying you can build a windmill for under two hundred bucks, but to be fair we had all of the tools we needed to get the job done.

Since originally writing this review we’ve also tried our hand at the solar panels.  In providing an Earth4Energy review, transparency is high on the agenda, and its fair to say that a large portion of the product focuses on solar panels.  The reason for this is obvious, especially after trying our hand at both…solar panels are just that wee bit more complicated.  They also took a lot longer to put together.  That is, I admit, primarily my fault, as I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to how the finished product looks.  My compadre, on the other hand, is a bash and clash builder who gets the job done in a fifth of the time.  We tried to strike a happy medium on the panels, especially since the boss (ie better half) was so worred how it would turn out.

Whilst I did have the assistance of one of the other lads who is fairly handy, I honestly believe I could have followed through with process on my own, although we did take the odd bit of advice from the local hardware store.  We’re in the process of testing out just how much power we’re generating and what the savings will be in monetary terms, so stay tuned for updates.

What Will It Set You Back?

Ordinarily Earth 4 Energy will set you back $89.95 but it’s currently sporting a $49.97 sale price.  Whilst I suspect the ‘sale price’ is probably nothing more than a marketing ploy, these things are prone to change without warning, so it’s probably best to get in under fifty clams whilst you can.

HOT TIP: Want to get Earth 4 Energy $10 Cheaper? Its easy.  Just try navigating away from the main sales page, and you’ll be offered a one time discount, meaning you can pick it up for just $39.97.  Nice one!

My view on the purchase price was pretty simple…I was positive I could easily waste more than the cost of the guide by virtue of the mistakes I would make trying to build this stuff without it.

The Skinny

One of the problems we’ve found with rating info-products is that some are genuinely so crap that the bar for excellence is too low for a high rating to carry much weight.  However, we gave Earth 4 Energy a very satisfied 5 stars and can happily recommend it to those DIY enthusiasts looking to reap the advantages of both wind power and solar energy.

Having this guide made the process a fun challenge rather than a confusing, frustrating exercise, and my better half was acutely appreciative of the lack of thrown hammers and expletives which normally accompany any home project.  We say jump on this one while its hot.

Get your copy of Earth 4 Energy now.

EARTH 4 ENERGY BONUS

Yep, here’s a bit of an incentive for ya.  If you do decide to nab a copy of Earth 4 Energy through our site, we’ll throw in an added bonus called ‘Renewable Energy – Eco Friendly’.  It retails at $27 and includes additional tips about how to get the most out of renewable energy solutions, like water power, bio-diesel and how to deal with renewable energy and tax credits (after all, if you go to the effort of creating an energy source at home, you want to make the most out of it).

You won’t have to chase it up, we’ll send out your bonus automatically.  Like we said…we like to make stuff easy.