Winter is Coming: IDT Energy Says Its Time to Get Ready

Here we are watching the days shorten, leaves fall, sun loose some of its warm luster and taking our winter things out of mothballs. IDT Energy is getting ready for winter by sending you some simple but practical and effective ideas to save money and energy while staying toasty warm all winter.

1. If you have a forced-air HVAC heating system then it most likely has a simple filter in the ducts near the furnace. It is important to change this filter every few months to maintain efficient and clean operation. When your furnace is working overtime during the winter this bit of maintenance can become an extremely important to lower your energy bill. The filters are inexpensive and pay for themselves in energy savings in no time.

2. Does your home leak some of the warm air that you spent so much money to heat? Seal up those leaks in your walls and windows, even small ones, with weather-stripping, caulk and other insulating materials, and you will find not only is your house warmer, but your energy bill is also lower.

3. Maybe it’s time for a new furnace? If it’s as old as or older than your teenage children it might save you lots of money to replace it with a new “Energy Star” furnace. The sooner you begin saving on your energy bill, the sooner your new furnace will pay for itself and start saving you lots of money.

4. Ready to change your light bulbs? We use more artificial light in the winter. The more efficient the bulbs you use, the less energy you use and the more money you save. Consider switching to compact fluorescent bulbs for the most efficient artificial lighting solution.

Winter in New York Savings Ideas from IDT Energy

New York in the winter can be fun and exciting. It can also be cold, and a challenge to stay warm within a budget. IDT Energy has some simple tips to keep you warm and cozy, and your pockets full.

1. Put a layer of shrink wrap, plastic film, over your windows. Fast, cheap and effective, adding this extra thermal layer helps keep the warm air in and the cold air out. The tools and supplies you need to do this yourself are easily available at most hardware stores, and the application can be done yourself. Covering your window in plastic creates an air pocket which insulates but at the same time allows the sun to shine in.

2. Because we feel colder in the winter there is a tendency to use more hot water. Our hot showers are a tad longer; we wash hands more often with hot water just to warm up. To balance out this extra hot water use it is a good idea to adjust the setting on the hot water heater. You might be able to lower the temperature even 20 degrees and maintain a high comfort level. Why not leave the temperature at this level during the summer as well? Expect your bill to heat hot water to go down about 10%.

3. If you have a southern exposure, take advantage of all the free solar energy right outside your windows. Pull open the drapes and let the ultimate heat source warm up your cold bones.

IDT Energy Presents: Stay Warm in Winter Without Busting the Bank

Everyone loves winter in New York, but it can be a challenge to your budget to keep warm all winter. IDT Energy has some easy to implement energy saving ideas to get you and your bank account comfortable through the winter.

1. Because most homes are heated with appliances that are fuel-fired, the greatest cost comes at start-up and shut-down. A programmable thermostat helps you maintain constant temperatures or gradual increase and decrease of temperatures. Set to cooler temperatures at night, and begin heating even before you wake up. You will be warmer during the day and save money too. For the most efficient heating, get a programmable thermostat.

2. Set your thermostat to a lower temperature. You won’t feel the difference of just a few degrees, but you will notice it in your monthly fuel bill, which will be substantially lower. Each degree Fahrenheit that you lower the thermostat you can expect a 3% savings on your energy bill. A comfortable daytime temperature for your thermostat is 68 degrees, and about 5-8 degrees less at night during sleep. When spring comes around again you’ll be glad for the money you saved.

3. Did you know that warm air rises and cold air sinks? You can use this principle to circulate the warm air that is stuck to your ceiling down to ground level, by reversing the direction on your ceiling fans. Most fans have a switch to reverse the direction it spins. In the summer make sure the lower part of the paddle goes first around the fan to draw the air up. In the winter flip the switch to push the warm air down.

Save Money and Energy with the Energy Star

At IDT Energy we are trying to help you to save what is precious, the earth and your money.
Energy is something we pay dearly for, and when you save it, you save money.

Looking for the Energy Star on appliances and light bulbs can help you save.

It’s a simple thing to switch your light bulbs to compact flourescent bulbs, with little cost involved.

At a maximum price of between four and nine dollars, changing light bulbs is not a big investment.
In no time at all the CFLs will have paid for themselves.

They continue to save you money for as long as they last, which should be much longer than incandescent bulbs.

More Tips to Save More From IDT Energy

Here are some great tips to help you save some money, while using less of the earth’s limited resources.

• Turn off your computers when not in use for an extended amount of time, like at night when you go to sleep.

• Enable “power management” mode on all computers, and be aware that laptops can use up to 90% less energy than desktops.

• Did you know that about 90% of the energy used in a clothes washer goes to heating the water? Wash in cold water whenever possible.

• Keep your clothes dryer running at its most efficient. Clean the lint filter after each use and purchase a dryer with a moisture sensor which automatically turns off the dryer when the clothes are dry.

• A well insulated house can save lots of energy. Check for leaks, fill in cracks and gaps, and add insulation to save up to 20% on the cost of heating and/or cooling your home.

IDT Energy encourages you to try any or all of these simple tips to start saving now.

Google Plug-Ins Get Great Mileage

As a supplier of electricity, IDT Energy is interested in the latest trends in the development of improved electric car technology. Here is an interesting item from something Google.org has been up to lately.

Google.org is the organizational arm of Google.com. As such they are committed to improving the world in many different ways. One of those ways is a Google.org initiative to reduce CO2 emissions, reduce the use of oil, encouraging greater use of plug-in electric cars in order to stabilize the electric grid.

In Mountain View, California, Google headquarters, there is a fleet of demonstration vehicles to run experiments with and compile data on how well these cars can do.

During a recent experiment Google asked some of their employees to drive these cars for seven weeks and see how they did. They observed an average of 93 mpg for all trips, and 115 mpg for trips just in the city. Remarkable!

Oil Prices Determine Renewable Energy's Attractiveness

IDT Energy has been scanning the news for information about the developing renewable energy industry. What we’ve found a few factors influencing the shape of the industry today.

1. Energy Prices: The higher oil and natural gas cost, the more attractive renewable energy becomes. The opposite is also true. Lower prices for oil and gas make renewable energy less attractive.

2. Availability of Credit: When loans are hard to get people cannot install various types of energy technology. Even if it will save money in the long term, if people don’t have the cash to install, for instance, a solar system in their home, if the bank won’t lend them the money, it won’t get installed.

3. Federal Tax Credit: There is a tax credit of 30% on the installation of renewable energy projects for commercial and residential use. The $2000 cap was removed for residential systems, and the incentive was extended to utilities. The credit, originally enacted in 2005 has been extended until 2016.

4. Election of President Obama: Setting a goal of 25% of U.S. electricity to come from renewable sources by the year 2025 and calling for $150 billion in invests over 10 years in clean energy and infrastructure, it is clear that for this administration green energy is a priority.

IDT Energy Says "ReDuce, ReUse, ReCycle!"

Looking for some great new ways to teach your kids about the importance of recycling? Check out the web site of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Kids Pages. Here you will find some fun ways to learn about our environment, to take responsibility and to take practical steps to help our planet.

You can learn exactly what “waste” is and how to “reduce, reuse and recycle.”

1. Reduce: Buy less and use less! In the United States this is an especially “large” problem. Learn ways to help solve it.

2. Reuse: Either reuse something instead of throwing it away, or give it to someone who can use it. It is good to remember that “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

3. Recycle: When you bring materials that can be reused to special places where they are remade into either the same item or a different item, you are recycling. Did you know that plastic soda bottles can be remade into T-shirts? Cool. A lot better than filling up a big hole in the ground!

Here Comes the Sun

IDT Energy‘s green program offers its customers the ability to choose renewable sources of energy as part of the source of their electrical production. Among the more popular types of renewable energy is solar energy.

Ultimately almost all types of renewable energy are derived from the sun. Secondary solar energy sources such as wind power, wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass in addition to primary solar energy resources like light and heat make up just about all of the Earth’s renewable energy resources.

At the moment we use only a tiny fraction of the potential energy from the sun, but we are beginning to develop ever more advanced technological methods of harnessing the sun’s energy.

Timely Tips from IDT to Help You Save (the Planet)

Just a few small changes in our everyday activities can enormously help our environment. In our never ending campaign to help bring a better world to our customers and others IDT Energy in New York has collected a few easy to do suggestions for making our world a better place to live.

1. Adjust your thermostat. Just a slight increase in temperature in the summer and decrease in the winter, let’s say about two degrees Fahrenheit, can make a big difference. Not only do you save on the cost of electricity but over a year you will have saved lots of energy, too.

2. Adjust the temperature in your fridge. The recommended temperature to store food is 37 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 5 degrees in the freezer. Keeping the refrigerator’s thermostat set to maintain these temperatures will help lengthen the life of your fridge as well as saving you money and energy.

3. In nice weather let the sun shine in. Turn off lights during the day and use natural light and save. When it’s hot outside you can use curtains and blinds to block out the hot sun and keep your cooling bill down. Switching to CFL bulbs (compact fluorescent light) saves electricity and reduces the amount of heat produced by ordinary incandescent bulbs.

4. Clean more efficiently. Shorter shower can save lots of water. A ten minute shower uses about 50 gallons of water. By just taking five minutes less you can save about 25 gallons of water. Be careful to only use your dishwasher and clothes washer when full to get maximum efficiency of water use. And cold water washes using cold water detergents also saves energy, as does air drying your clothes and dishes whenever possible.

5. Rechargeable batteries can also save you lots of money and they are much more energy efficient.

IDT Energy believes that people helping people help the environment is a worthy goal and we are glad to be here to help you.