IDT Energy Savings

IDT Energy invites you to watch this informative video comparing the energy efficiency of a variety of lightbulbs.

We are all trying to save money by saving electricity. This clever device will tell you the efficiency level of the appliance which you plug into it. The Kill A Watt displays in its large LCD screen the consumption, in kilowatt-hour, of the electricity that the appliance is using. By calculating this information for you in the same way that the utility company does, it is easy to see exactly how much it costs to run that appliance.

The tool can also monitor voltage and line frequency, and it can also test if an outlet is in working order. This useful device can help you decide if its time for a new, energy efficient refrigerator, or if the old one is still cost effective.

Nest Smart Thermostat

IDT Energy has been recommending programmable thermostats to consumers as a great, easy way to save on home heating and cooling. Now thermostats are also cool.

Tony Fadell, the designer of the iPod, has gotten into the green technologies marketplace and he has decided that something as simple, and as important as a programmable thermostat can also have an exciting, unique design.  Not only is the thermostat, dubbed Nest “something that draws attention,” as Fadell put it, but its smart too.

Nest is capable of learning the family’s habits, senses when no one is home, and atomically adjusts itself accordingly. Built in Wi-Fi also connect Nest to a home network, through which it can be controlled, including from an iPhone or Android smartphone.

Take saving energy to the latest coolest level with IDT Energy.

Recycling has really caught on in the past few years. Many municipalities collect recyclable materials separately from ordinary trash. There is good logic behind the efforts citizens are making to recycle whenever possible.

For one thing, in many instances it takes less energy to produce new objects from recycled materials then from new materials, thus saving money and resources. When old newspapers are used to print new ones; used aluminum cans are recycled to create new aluminum cans; or old glass jars and bottles are used instead of new glass; then resources are saved, and if less energy is needed to produce the objects, then money is saved, too.

In the particular case of aluminum cans, recycled scrap aluminum needs 95% less energy to make new cans than manufacturing them from bauxite ore, the raw material from which aluminum cans are manufactured.

Since many of our natural resources are limited, it makes sense to use them as conservatively as possible. One ton of recycled paper can save as much as 17 trees, and needs only half as much water to transform into new paper.

The next time you separate out your newspapers for the recycling bin, just remember that you are helping to preserve the earth’s trees, which are the lungs of the earth.
IDT Energy encourages consumers to recycle whenever possible.

There are several great reasons to consider switching from oil to natural gas as a way to heat water and run other appliances:

Natural Gas Efficiently Dries Clothes

•    As oil prices climb, natural gas looks more and more cost-effective as a means to heat water and run other appliances.

•    Oil must be paid for in advance, while natural gas in only paid for after use, and only as much as you use, no more an no less.

•    No oil deliveries needed, the gas is constantly available through the gas line that is permanently attached to your home.

•    Natural gas is plentiful, right here in the United States. About 2/3 of our oil supply comes from outside the country. Analysts believe there is about 100 years’ worth of gas right here at home.

•    Natural gas is the method of choice whether you are heating your home, heating water, cooking, and/or drying clothes.

For all these reasons and more, IDT Energy believes consumers should consider making the switch from oil to natural gas.

What is a cool roof? It’s a roof which can make your entire house more energy efficient by reflecting back the heat of the sun rather than absorbing the heat and transferring it into your home. As a result your roof stays cooler and you need less energy from your air conditioning system to keep cool.

Consider installing a cool roof and:

•    Reduce air pollution and smog in your city. Using less electricity creates less of a burden on power plants.
•    Preserve your roof so it lasts longer.
•    Save money on your electricity bill.
•    Minimize the effects of “heat islands” in suburbs, towns and cities.

An initial registration statement has been filed by Genie Energy, which is a completely owned subsidiary of IDT Energy. The  filing of the statement, which includes a document of description,  is in preparation for the awaited spin-off of Genie and the announcement to the stockholders of IDT Corporation.

It is possible to view the filed statements through the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Howard Jonas, CEO and Chairman of IDT Energy explained the decision of his company to create Genie:

“The spin-off of Genie is one of the key strategic moves we announced last year to enable stockholders to realize the inherent value in IDT’s businesses.”

In the heat of the summer, it’s hard to believe the weather is ever going to cool down. But, indeed, it will, and it will be time to start to budget for those colder months. There are many ways to save costs on the fall energy bills, whether you use IDT Energy or another energy supplier. Here are some tips that should help you to think about those colder months.

1. Set your thermostat at 68 degrees or lower when you are home, and put it even lower when you’re out or in bed.  Believe it or not, for every degree that you lower your thermostat, you’ll be saving 2% off of your heating bill.
2. Weatherize your home before the cold weather hits. Caulk and weather-strip all the doors and windows. Make sure your windows have locks on them as well, to make them tighter and more draft resistant.
3. Insulate your attic, or increase the insulation you already have.  Do this for the basement and outside walls as well.

When the summer starts heating up, it’s very tempting to just crank up the air-conditioner irrespective of the bills you will thereafter receive.  But when you get the bill, you may reconsider – by which time it will be too late since you will have already used all that extra electricity.  That is why IDT Energy has some great saving tips that will ensure you stay cool but don’t break the bank.  One way is to set the thermostat a little warmer for the night times. According to figures from the Department of Energy, doing this can render a 10 percent saving on heating and cooling bills with a mere thermostat change of 10 to 15 percent for eight out of each 24 hours.  This doesn’t even have to be at all complicated either since these days there are various programmable thermostats available which facilitate the process.  Another way of saving money on the bill from air-conditioning usage, is by regularly changing the filters.  An estimated 5 to 15 percent can be saved by doing this.  As well, it will improve the air-conditioning quality and there will be way less noise.

When you next go outside of your house, take a look at the air-conditioning unit from there too.  It’s important to regularly wash its coils and ensure there is nothing that blocks the air follow.  Coil cleaning can result in a 2-4 percent capacity improvement which again will result in substantial financial savings.

IDT Energy has many tips on how to make substantial savings in the summer when it seems like your home electricity is always in use.  You can indeed remain cool without over-spending. You just need to work out sensible ways of doing this.

The kitchen is one of the busiest rooms in the house, with lots of energy saving devices, meaning that they save humans energy. But in order to save you energy the appliances take the energy from the environment.

IDT Energy presents some ways to reduce to a minimum the amount of energy needed to run your kitchen:

1. Fill your dishwasher to capacity before running. Research has shown that a dishwasher used this way can save 37% of the water needed if the dishes were washed by hand. So you can use the dishwasher guilt-free.
2. There is a way to wash dishes using even less water than the dishwasher; fill one sink with soapy water and the adjacent sink with rinse water, and do not let the water run out of the faucet. Then you will use a whopping 50% of the water used by the dishwasher.
3. Use your microwave to defrost or warm up small amounts of food instead of the stove. This can save up to 50% of the energy that the stove would use. The microwave also heats up the kitchen less, a plus in the summer.
4. Close the fridge door right away. Decide what you want from the fridge before you open the door, take it out, and close the door. Test the tightness of the door by closing it on a one dollar bill. If the dollar pulls out easily, then the door is probably not tight enough, and cold air may be leaking out. Get it checked.
5. Old refrigerators are big energy wasters. Consider replacing your old fridge with a new energy efficient model. Look for the Energy Star.