The first step in preventing leakage of warm air out and cold air in is to detect the places where the leakage is occurring.  Check places like:

• Door and window frames
• Mail chutes
• Electrical and gas service entrances
• Cable TV and phone lines
• Outdoor water faucets
• Dryer vents which pass through walls
• Bricks, siding and stucco
• Air conditioners
• Vents and fans

Once the leaks are spotted, they can be sealed with caulking and weatherstripping.  IDT Energy encourages consumers of energy to prevent leakage and save money.

IDT Energy suggests several methods which can be incorporated into a normal household which have the potential of saving lots of energy and money:

• Find ways to decrease household use of hot water: begin by fixing leaky faucets, installing low-flow fixtures and purchasing dishwashers and washing machines which are energy efficient.
• By installing a timer you can take advantage of only heating your water during the off-peak hours as well as turning off the water heater at night when it is not needed.
• An interesting technology which can help save a lot of energy is a drain-water recovery system. Since about 80-90% of the energy used to heat water at home ends up just going down the drain, it is logical to try and recover some of that energy. The system works by pre-heating the cold water going into to water heater or other fixtures using the heat from discarded water.

IDT Energy is interested in helping consumers to save energy, and thus save money, on their household energy bills.

Here are a few new suggestions which can be done with a minimum effort to gain a big reward:

1.    For just $10 to $20 you can buy your water heater a jacket. Believe it or not, this small gesture of insulating the water heater can save about 1100 lbs. of CO2 each year for an electric heater, or 220 lbs. for a gas heater.

2.    Insulate windows and doors. Using caulking and weather stripping, for just a few dollars per door or window, you can plug the leaks that let out the expensive warm air and let in the freezing air in the winter, and the reverse in the summer.  Weatherizing plugs some of the leaks in your budget, too.

3.    How about trying low-flow shower heads? For only about $10-$20 you will not only get a wonderfully stimulating shower, but you will also save about 300 lbs. of CO2 annually for electric-heated water and 80 lbs. of CO2 for gas-heated water.

IDT Energy suggests that a small investment in savings now can pay off in a big way over time.

A large percentage of these birds are attempting the flight at night and become highly disoriented by the lit buildings and other structures as the artificially bright lights confuse and interfere with their natural navigational cues.

The Audubon Society is therefore encouraging New Yorkers to get involved in “Lights Out New York.” This project will begin on September 1st and continue until November 1st: requiring participants to turn off the lights from midnight until dawn every night during that time period. The hope is that thousands of birds’ lives will be saved, not to mention the energy saved as well.

Try out some of these ideas and keep cool while keeping your money in your pockets:

1.    Whenever possible use natural ventilation to cool down your house, especially on cooler nights with a breeze blowing.
2.    Try curtains, blinds and other window dressings to keep out the heat and keep in the cooler, air-conditioned air you paid so much money to acquire.
3.    Keep the thermostat as high as is comfortable, and use a programmable thermostat whenever possible.
4.    Ceiling fans are a low-cost way to keep the breeze blowing.
5.    Insulate or install energy saving windows, skylights and doors.

IDT Energy wishes New Yorkers a cool, comfortable and money saving summer.

Electric Lights

• Remember to turn them off whenever you step out of the room.
• Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs, CFLs, especially in the most frequently used lamps.
• Use natural light whenever possible.

Hot Water

• Turn the thermostat down on the hot water heater. There is no need to get scalded when you open the hot water faucet, and lowering the thermostat also makes taking a bath safer, especially if you have children in the house.

• Buy low-flow shower heads and aerators for your sinks.

• Turn off the water when soaping up your dishes. Wash with hot water, but rinse in cold water, whenever possible.

• Fill the dishwasher before using. Running a half-empty dishwasher wastes a lot of water.

Air Conditioner

• Raise the thermostat to a comfortable coolness. There is no reason to have to wear a sweater inside your house on a hot summer day.

• Turn off the air conditioner when not at home, or at night when you are asleep.

• Purchase a programmable thermostat which will automatically turn off the ac after you leave the house, at night while you are asleep, and turn on the ac a few minutes before you get home. In this way you will get maximum comfort along with maximum energy savings.

1. Clean for Spring: What does this entail? Make sure your fans are working properly. Wash and replace filters as necessary. Change the air flow on your ceiling fans to draw air upwards and cool rooms better.

2. Drapes: Consider spending some money now to save more later. Insulated, thermal-backed drapes can really make a difference in your rooms.

3. Evaluate Air Conditioners: If you’re considering putting in air conditioning, do your homework. You’ll want to buy the smallest capacity unit that will meet your needs. Check out the EER (energy efficiency ratio) of the unit by calculating the unit’s cooling capacity by its energy requirement. If the EER is 10 or higher, it’s good, while a 6-7 is fair.

4. Attic Ventilators: This might just be a great investment for you. An attic ventilating system takes cool air up through the house. It can actually give you as much comfort as an air conditioning unit for a much lower cost.