IDT Energy Savings

As the weather starts to warm up, it’s important to start thinking about your summer electrical expenses.  A few key actions can help you to save money while staying cool through the summer whether you use IDT Energy or another company.

If you have central air conditioning in the house, keep your thermostat set at 78 degrees.  The statistics on these savings are amazing – for each degree above 78 that you program your thermostat, you can save an additional 6-7% on your monthly cooling costs.  Now that’s savings!

Ceiling fans can make a huge difference in heating and cooling costs.  During hot weather months, a ceiling fan will create a great breeze while circulating air in the house.  It is often enough, without even needing to turn on the air conditioning unit.  Make sure, as well, to close blinds, drapes and shades during the hottest part of the day. This will keep the hot sun from heating the house.

There are two parts to saving money getting the household chores done. The first part is purchasing the right appliance at the right price, and the second part is using that appliance in the most efficient way possible.

When you are in the market for a new appliance, whether it is a new refrigerator, microwave or dryer, it is important to do the research ahead of time. Nowadays with computers so handy, it is easy to check on which appliances are best suited to your needs, which are the most reliable, and which use energy most efficiently. When you have narrowed down your search to a particular brand name and model, then you can shop around for the best price on this appliance. You can also do this research on-line, or you can call local stores and compare prices. Remember to include the cost of running the appliance into your calculations.

Even if an appliance costs more, if it is more energy efficient it will end up costing you less over the long run. For an appliance that you will own and use for many years, this difference can add up to a lot of money.

To insure energy efficiency in your appliances, make sure they have the EnergyStar Logo.  If you find the more energy efficient appliance is too expensive for your budget, ask the salesman if they have the same product in last year’s model. This way you will be getting basically the same appliance, but at a reduced price. Don’t forget to include the kind of service the store will provide if problems should arise. For many people it is worth it to spend more money in a store that offers better service than a discount store which sends you somewhere else if there are problems.

Where would we be without our appliances? Can you imagine life without your refrigerator, washing machine, dryer, or even something as simple as a blender or mixer? We definitely take these amazing household helpers for granted, but we should realize that what we save in time and tedium we pay back in dollars. Every time we turn on an appliance, we are paying for its use through our household bill for electric and natural gas. On the other hand, the amount we spend is miniscule if we compare how much it would cost in man-woman/hours to do the same job without the electricity. For instance, doing the laundry could take all day down by the river just to do one load of clothing.

With the use of a washer this same chore takes about an hour of time and a tiny amount of electricity. Even if you take into consideration the cost of the appliance itself, when divided over the life of the appliance, which can be 15 or more years of use, it still comes out quite inexpensive to use today’s time and money saving appliances. So the conclusion is certainly that our modern appliances do free us up with more time to do things we find life-enhancing, at a fraction of the cost.

Nevertheless it is still possible to use our appliances more efficiently and save even more time and money by just following a few basic tips.

IDT Energy wants you to save on your energy costs.  Here, you’ll find some incredibly easy tips for saving money on your energy bill. Here is a great one.  Reduce your water heater thermostat from 140 degrees Fahrenheit to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.  You won’t notice a difference whatsoever in your showers or your household water use.  What you will notice, instead, is a savings between 3-5% in energy costs with this simple adjustment.

What you’ll also notice is a slower buildup of minerals and corrosion in the water heater and pipes.  This will help your water heater to last longer and to operate to its maximum capacity.  In addition, you’ll avoid scalding which is possible when the water heater temperature is as high as 140 degrees Fahrenheit.  This win-win change can have a great influence on your energy bill and your safety!

There are many easy and quick ways to save money without even feeling the changes. One such way is to wash your clothing differently. Using just a few new strategies, you can save on your energy bill; a goal that IDT Energy certainly has for its customers.

Make sure to separate out your laundry so that you aren’t drying light weight laundry with heavier items. The heavier items take longer to dry, and you’ll be using more energy than necessary by combining the two. Maintain your dryer to run effectively and efficiently.

After every load of laundry, clean the lint filter. This helps with air circulation and makes the dyer work more efficiently and quickly. Occasionally, you should check the dryer vent and the vent hose to make sure they aren’t blocked and that they are letting air flow without obstruction.

When you first start to think about saving money on your energy bill, the first step is to take an energy audit.  What is an energy audit?  It’s a chance to take a look at all of your energy use in the house and to see where you are using the most energy – and where you can save the most.  There are many online resources where you can take energy quizzes and see where your money is going each month.  IDT Energy offers these suggestions.

The Department of Energy has energy audits that can help you to evaluate all of your energy usage.  There are many similar tools available online as well.  Then, once you’ve looked at your resources and expenses, you can begin to pinpoint areas where you can save each month.

Certainly, when changing energy companies or making any other choices in your life, you will always have questions.  IDT Energy wants every customer to be comfortable with this change, and to understand exactly how this energy service will bring customers added savings.

With the deregulation of the energy market, you have choices with your energy supplier.  When you choose IDT Energy with Switch and Save, you are making the choice for IDT Energy to supply your home with the electricity and natural gas from your local utility company. By selecting IDT Energy as your qualified energy supplier, you can save money on the energy that you already receive.

With no sign up or cancellation fees from IDT Energy, the switch is an easy process.  People look forward to having choices in their lives – IDT Energy offers you one more choice for a great way to save money on your bottom line.

IDT Energy has recently made some interesting partnerships with the goal of saving customers even more money.  They have teamed with The NIA Group to create “Protection First” so that customers can save money while protecting their homes.

The NIA Group is offering reduced insurance rates for the home, card and other valuable possessions with additional savings if you own a hybrid car.  For your auto insurance, you can save, on average, $500 if you are two adults with one young driver and two cars; for homeowner insurance, they say you can save, on average, $500 for a framed home in the suburbs valued at $500,000 or more.

In addition, the partnership between IDT Energy and The NIA Group enables customers to receive discounted insurance for condominiums, jewelry, collectibles insurance, identity theft coverage, boat insurance, flood insurance and much more.

You probably already know that a large percent of the total energy you use at home is in the kitchen and laundry room. Did you know that it was as much as one third of home energy usage? That is a big chunk of your budget. Therefore the choices we make in the kitchen and laundry can have a big effect on our energy bill.

Most of that energy is devoured by your refrigerator. So what are some ways to get our fridges to work at peak efficiency, using the least amount of electricity but giving the best results?

Start by setting the thermostat on the fridge to between 38 to 42 degrees Fahrenheit to allow your refrigerator to run about 25% more efficiently.
Another simple and obvious thing to do is to make sure the door of the refrigerator is always kept closed, except for just the few moments when you are removing food out of or putting things into the fridge. Some new refrigerators even come with an alarm that alerts you if the refrigerator door is open for more than just a few moments. If your refrigerator does not have such a device, you can buy one separately.

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.