IDT Energy World

Second only to home heating, water heaters use the most energy in the house.  You can actually make quite a few small changes to save with your IDT Energy bill or your energy bill from another company and maximize your savings.

Make sure to insulate your hot water pipes and to wrap your electric water heater with a blanket (made for this purpose).  This blanket helps to reduce heat loss and to save you money.  Make sure that all faucets work well and are not leaking and install aerators on the kitchen faucets.

While you may enjoy soaking in a hot bath, this activity uses about 75 liters of hot water.  Taking a shower that has an efficient showerhead actually uses only half of this amount.

Certainly, we’ve all seen amazing developments over the decades with air conditioning.  While air conditioners used to be only for the lucky few, today they are ubiquitous. With technology in all different types of appliances advancing rapidly, it is no wonder that the same improvements will be used in air conditioning technology.

In April, 2009 the United States Mission to the United Nations in Geneva introduced to the world its latest “MagLev” chiller, a 225-ton air conditioner of the future.  The “MagLev” which stands for magnetic levitation, solves the problem of the wearing out of the compressor component of a standard air conditioner due to the generation of heat and the wearing out of the ball bearings that support the spinning drive shaft of the compressor.  By the time you need to replace the compressor the air conditioner burns double the energy to create the same amount of cooling.
The “MagLev” uses a magnetic field instead of ball bearings. The drive shaft of the compressor is suspended in air with magnets while it spins at about 40,000 revolutions/minute. This clever design completely illuminates friction, allowing the compressor to work 30% more efficiently, creates less heat, and works at maximum efficiency throughout its life.

IDT Energy New York continues the explanation of how your air conditioner keeps you and your family really cool.

The coolant arrives at the compressor as a cool, low pressure gas. As its name implies, the compressor squeezes the gas, which raises its temperature.  The fluid then leaves the compressor as a hot, high pressure gas which flows into the condenser. The fins of the condenser act like a radiator in a car and help the heat disperse faster. Then the coolant leaves the condenser as a much cooler liquid now under high pressure. This liquid goes into the last part of the air conditioner, the evaporator, through a narrow hole. When it comes out the other side the pressure drops and the liquid begins to evaporate back into a gas.

While the liquid changes to a gas, evaporation, heat is remove from the air around it. The fins of the evaporator are there to enhance this process. Inside the evaporator a fan helps to further distribute the cool air created by this process throughout the house.
IDT Energy hopes that having a better understanding of your air conditioner will help you use it more efficiently and with more appreciation for the work it does to keep us comfortable in the hot, humid New York summertime.

One of the most beloved of all appliances, especially in New York City in the summer is the air conditioner. IDT Energy would like to take readers on a little tour of how these wonderful devices work.  First off, it is good to know that air conditioners work the same way as refrigerators, the only difference being the scale on which they work. The main principle involved is the use of a volatile liquid, meaning a chemical that easily changes form liquid to gas and then back again. This is referred to as the coolant. The coolant is used to transfer the heat which is found inside the home, and remove it to the outside.

There are three main parts to an air conditioner. Two of the parts, the compressor and the condenser are usually found on the outside part of the air conditioner. The third part, the evaporator, is inside the house.

Continued…

Where would New Yorkers be without air conditioners to make summer a bit more bearable? IDT Energy in New York wants to take a look at our good friend the air conditioner, its history, how it works, and what we can expect from these marvels in the future.

The first air conditioners began way back in the middle of the 18th century when Benjamin Franklin and a chemistry professor of chemistry at Cambridge University did some experiments examining how evaporation can be used in order to rapidly cool an object.  They discovered that liquids that evaporate quickly such as ether and alcohol could be used to reduce the temperature of something lower than the freezing point of water.

The earliest uses of air conditioning were industrial and not for the personal comfort of individuals.  In 1902 Willis Carrier invented the first electric air conditioner in Syracuse, New York. It was made for a printing plant to control the temperature and humidity which could adversely affect paper dimensions and alignment of ink.  Soon the technology was used to improve working conditioners in the plant, and this developed into the Carrier Air Conditioning Company of America. As time passed air conditioning was used more often to increase the comfort level of homes, cars and workplaces. By the 1950s air conditioning quickly gained popularity, and now today it is hard to imagine living in a place like New York City without it.

Most energy companies, whether they are IDT Energy or other choices, work to offer green energy options for customers.  In the 21^st century, green energy is certainly the place to put our emphasis as a country.  This blog post offers a fascinating look at our New Energies standards will be set.  Taking offshore wind as an example, the writer says that offshore wind installations will not mimic an oil industry or coal industry.  Rather, “the offshore wind industry knows that the world’s oceans are precious and irreplaceable and has fully engaged in doing installations only where lengthy and comprehensive environmental impact studies have approved them.”

Certainly, Americans are focused on the idea of going green. Whether you’re using an electric company that offers green options like IDT Energy, or not, it’s always worthwhile to think more about the possibility of using green energy.

This article explains topics to consider before putting in solar energy panels.  The author actually advocates taking a number of specific steps to reduce overall energy consumption before switching to solar energy.  Such steps include getting en energy efficiency audit, taking easy steps in the home to reduce energy consumption, installing a T.E.D. or similar device to monitor your usage, and more.

We’ve heard for a long time how important it is to reduce water usage and increase water efficiency.  In that realm, there is good news since “companies committed to sustainability are finally getting serious about environmental challenges beyond carbon emissions…with a strong focus on reducing water use.”   Companies are trying to reduce water use by setting targets for their customers.  There are now many more measures being taken to help in the reduction of water from various large companies.

Renewable energy is one of those buzz phrases that you may hear a good deal about.  However, it’s not always easy to understand all of these terms, or to know if renewable energy is something that you should consider using.

Fossil fuels, like coal, oil and natural gas are not renewable. This means that they draw on a finite resource that will eventually become non-existent or at least too expensive or environmentally damaging to use.

Renewable energy includes wind and solar energy. These are constantly replenished and there is no fear that they will ever run out.  Most of the renewable energy sources come from sunlight and this is a never-ending and inexpensive way to generate energy for our purposes.

Certainly, we all wonder what the long-term impact will be of BP’s gulf oil spill on the American oil supplies.  This is an interesting blog post examining this issue and looking at a report issued from the International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental group that studies energy policy for industrial nations.