IDT Energy Savings

Understanding your energy usage, and particularly that of your electrical appliances is essential to properly manage your budget and home expenses, and it is also essential in order to become part of the international efforts in looking after our world.

When an appliance is labeled “X watts” this meant that this is the maximum measure of electricity the appliance uses. While some appliances will indeed use this volume of electricity constantly and consistently, refrigerators, for example, only use the maximum energy consumption when the compressor is running. When the fridge is quiet after having reached its goal temperature, it will simply maintain that temperature and it will then be using far less electricity.

IDT Energy, the New York ESCO, is not merely a supplier of energy, but it is concerned with the environment and your pocket. Therefore, IDT focuses on green energy and on consumer education.

When creating a plan to reduce household expenses on energy, it is crucial to see where most of your energy dollars are going. According to the 2007 Buildings energy Data Book we see the hugest chunk of money spent on household energy goes to space heating, around 31%.

When planning  your household usage energy audit you should be sure to:

•    Check insulation in attic, basement walls and exterior walls, floors, ceilings and all those crawl spaces which can lose a lot of heat if not properly insulated.

•    Inspect in your walls, windows, ceilings, doors, lights fixtures, plumbing fixtures and even electrical outlets, for cracks and/or holes which can leak your expensive warm air out into the cold, cruel world.

•    Are your fireplace dampers open?

•    Look for ways to conserve energy use for lighting. Perhaps using occupancy sensors, dimmers and/or timers can help save electricity. Replacing incandescent lights with compact or standard fluorescent bulbs could save you a bundle.

Considering that about 12% of household energy expenditure goes toward heating water, it is a great idea to find ways to save on the use of that precious hot water. Here are some simple yet powerful ideas.

•    Low-flow, aerating faucets and shower heads can save lots of water and the energy it takes to heat that water.

•    You can waste a surprisingly large amount of water in a short time if you don’t fix leaky faucets right away.

•    Check the thermostat on your hot water heater. Newly installed heaters have factory settings that are probably way too hot. A moderate setting of 120? Fahrenheit is hot enough for the majority of household needs.

•    In addition to insulating your electric hot-water storage tank and/or natural gas and/or oil hot water storage tank, be sure to insulate the first 6 feet of the water pipes which are connected to the hot water heater, both hot and cold.

•    Be sure install heat traps on the water pipes at the water heater, both hot and cold, so that heat loss is reduced to a minimum. If you are purchasing a new water heater, be sure it has built-in heat traps.

Air Dry Dishes to Save Energy

In its relentless search for more ways for you to save on your electric and other energy bills,  IDT Energy has compiled some more ideas on how to start saving, right now!

1.    Turn off the heated drying cycle on the dishwasher and let the air dry your dishes instead.

2.    Did you know that washing your clothes in hot water is not only a waste of energy which is needed to heat that water, but it is also harmful to your clothes?  Wash in cold water whenever possible.

3.    Replace your light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. They last longer and use less electricity.

4.    Showers are much more energy efficient than baths, and they save water, too!

5.    Products with an “Energy Star” label have met strict guidelines for energy use efficiency as set by the U.S. Department of Energy.

At IDT Energy we are doing all we can to help people save energy and money now and protect our world for the future.

Stay Cool!

IDT Energy wants you to save on your energy bills with some tips on what you can do right now to achieve this goal.

1.    Get a programmable thermostat which will automatically adjust to keep your house just the right temperature, either comfortably warm or cool.

2.    Not only does it save energy when you reduce the temperature on the thermostat of your hot water heater, it is safer, too. 120 degrees Fahrenheit should be hot enough for just about anyone, without that “scalding effect” you might experience at higher temperatures.

3.    It is more energy efficient to run your dishwasher or washing machine when fully loaded.  Go out and buy more clothes and then you won’t need to do a wash so often!

4.    Keep your electronic equipment hooked up using power strips. When not in use, turn off your equipment with the power strip. This saves your equipment from the constant and wasteful energy draw of “stand-by” mode.

5.    It is incorrect that turning your computer on and off is damaging. Save electricity by turning off your computer when not in use. If you leave your computer for differing amounts of time make sure to set the power save options.

Summer’s coming and IDT Energy wants you to think about saving on your electric bill. We all know that summers in New York can be challenging when it comes to staying cool, so here’s a simple summary of the basics of saving energy, and keeping cool, too.

It’s always important to keep in mind that there are two aspects to saving, efficiency and conservation:

Conservation refers to how you use energy; do you only use exactly how much you need, or do you leave lights on when you’re not in a room, or let the water run when it’s not in use. Recycling would also come under the category of conservation, because whenever you don’t need to use resources, for instance if you can use paper, glass or plastic over again, you have conserved the resources that would have been needed to produce new paper, glass or plastic.

The other half of the saving equation relies on energy efficiency. This often refers to how well a machine or appliance, such as an air conditioner or refrigerator, turns energy into the form that you need it, such as turning electricity to cold air. Efficiency can also be increased using insulation and other mechanical ways of focusing or directing the effect you want to the place that you want it. For instance, if you want to cool off your living room you can increase the efficiency of your air conditioner by closing curtains to keep out excess sunlight and heat, and closing doors to keep in the cold air. In this way your air conditioner does not need to work as hard to produce the same cooling effect.

IDT Energy wishes you a cool summer in hot New York!