Do-It-Yourself Energy Assessments: IDT Energy

In order to find ways to save on your energy costs, you can always conduct a do-it-yourself energy assessment. Certainly, you may also want to look for a new energy supplier like IDT Energy if you live in a state that has deregulation.
A do-it-yourself energy assessment includes a simple walk-through of the home where you will look for problems, air leaks, and more. Keep paper with you and a checklist of the area so that you can keep track of what you have inspected and problems that you discovered. For a more extensive energy assessment, you can always hire someone to come to the home for an evaluation.
Your energy assessment should include locating any air leaks, looking at insulation, evaluating your heating and cooling units, and taking a look at your lighting. You can read up on each area to find out exactly how to evaluate your usage and your needs, and how to make improvements based on your findings.

IDT Corporation News: IDT Energy and More

In recent IDT news, they have just announced that they are increasing the size of their board from five to size members at IDT Corporation, with the appointment of W. Wesley-Perry.

Perry has already been serving as the chairman of Genie Energy Corporation for one year. Genie Energy Corporation, an IDT subsidiary, is comprised of IDT’s interests in IDT Energy, American Shale Oil, LLC (AMSO) and Israel Energy Initiatives (IEI).

W. Wesley-Perry owns and operates S.E.S. Investments, Ltd., which is an oil and gas investments company. In November of 2007, Perry was elected Mayor of Midland, Texas where he still serves in this capacity.

Energy Changes for New Yorkers as of October 2010

Whether you use IDT Energy, Con Edison or another NY energy delivery company, you’ll want to know about these upcoming changes. There will be a new reactive power charge starting in October 2010. Customers who have a monthly demand higher than 1000 kW and power factor lower than 95% will see a reactive power charge on their bills.

One year from now, in October of 2011, this charge will also apply to customers with monthly demands higher than 500 kW. People who correct power factor by installing capacitors will have this charge eliminated.

Certainly, you should ask your power company, such as IDT Energy, about these upcoming charges and get yourself more educated about your energy needs and usages.

IDT Energy Looks at What's New at the DOE

The Department of Energy is getting into high gear with some of the programs which are helping to develop electric cars and more advanced batteries with which to run them. The DOE hosted what was called a “Plug-In Vehicle and Infrastructure Workshop” which was attended by almost 200 interested parties and another 600 who participated on-line. The main topic of the workshop was how to speed-up the introduction of electric-drive vehicles into the marketplace. The program showed in what ways federal leadership can quicken preparation for vehicles which are hopefully going to be in car showrooms by the end of this year. The Obama Administration has dedicated almost $5 billion in loans and grants to motivate innovation, creativity, manufacturing and finally the deployment of these electric-drive vehicles.

UNC Chapel Hill Dorm in First Place In ENERGY STAR Competion

With about three months left to the national building completion sponsored by the EPA and ENERGY STAR, the Morrison Residence hall in Chapel Hill, North Carolina is in the lead with over 19% reduction in energy usage. The dormitory building is part of the University of North Carolina, and houses 800 students. It was the leader on its campus in using solar panels, and it is the home of UNC’s Sustainability Living Learning Community.

Morrison Hall was built in 1965 and is a 10 story building housing 800 students and 50 support staff. In 2007 it was renovated with energy savings in mind, installing central air and heating to all rooms and solar panels for the production of hot water.

Companies like IDT Energy and many others are certainly interested in the creative ideas put forward by students like those at Chapel Hill.

Buildings Reducing Energy Consumption in Energy Star Contest

Different types of buildings have different energy needs and can therefore have radically different EUI numbers. For instance, a hospital which is full of equipment which is energy intensive will have a much higher EUI than an elementary school which only uses lights, heat, and other simple types of power for the people inside. So it is not surprising that a normal EUI for a hospital might be 470, while that for a school is only 169.

The ENERGY STAR competition will judge each building according to the percentage it reduces energy consumption over the course of the contest, and not the total amount of energy usage actually reduced.

ENERGY STAR Building Competion Brings Down the EUI

The Environmental Protection Agency and ENERGY STAR are sponsoring a nationwide building competition to see how efficient a building can become over the course of one year in its use of power and its creation of waste. The 14 buildings in the contest will be measured for their EUI, energy use intensity, which describes in an easy to understand number how much energy a building consumes relative to the size of that building.

How is EUI measured and calculated?

The EUI is arrived at by finding the total energy consumed in one year, which is measured in kBtu’s, and dividing that figure by the building’s total floor space. As an example, if a school with 50,000 square feet of floor space used 7, 500,000 kBtu of energy, then its EUI is calculated to be 150. Usually the lower the EUI is the more energy efficient the building.

Going Green with Energy Companies like IDT Energy & More

It’s certainly always interesting and important to keep up with new green energy products. Many companies, such as IDT Energy, are offering green options and working to help the environment in any way possible.

One of the world’s largest solar module manufacturers, Canadian Solar Inc., just unveiled two new solar module products. Learn more about their new product offerings and the presentations that they made at the Intersolar North America in San Francisco, California at the Moscone Center.

American Solar Challenge Highlights Importance of Solar

The American creative spirit is alive and well, as evidenced with the American Solar Challenge that just wrapped up. This annual competition challenges groups to design, build and race solar-powered cars in a cross-country event. The purpose of the event is to bring greater awareness and understanding about solar and its many applications. Way to go University of Michigan!

Cleaner Water?

Finally there may be a way to clean water that is polluted “without producing toxic byproducts.” New research by scientist from the Florida Institute of Technology has invented a compound based on ferrate (a revved-up form of iron). Following that, a chemistry professor from the institute (Virender K. Sharma) joined Ferratec, LLC to commercialize this project.