Chat with us, powered by LiveChat News & Articles – Page 134 – Realgy Energy Services

Business Energy Saving Tips

Check out this great infographic from The Hub, which highlights easy ways for businesses to reduce energy bills. Print it out and share with everyone in the office; the more people aware of  the energy savings possibilities, the more effective it will be.

Simple changes can significantly reduce business electricity costs.

If you are looking for an even larger reduction in your commercial electricity costs, consider enrolling with Realgy Energy Services as your electricity provider. Our customers have realized cost reductions up to 9.6% as compared to the local utility. Find us online www.realgyenergyservices.com or call 877-300-6747 to speak with an account representative today.

Source:

Utility Exchange Online, Business Energy Saving Tips – An infographic

Read More

Space Heater Safety

Space heaters can be a convenient way to temporarily heat a room or a small space, but if used improperly, space heaters can cause nasty burns or worse, create a fire hazard.

Waterproof_Electric_Heater-300x300

According to The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, space heaters are associated with an estimated 25,000 residential fires and nearly 300 deaths each year. More than 6,000 people receive ER care for non-lethal burns resulting from contact with the heating elements or hot surfaces of space heaters.

Here are a few tips to use your space heater safely:

  • Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions when installing, operating, and maintaining your space heater.
  • Keep anything that may be flammable at least three feet away from space heaters.
  • Place your space heater on a level, hard, non-flammable surface. Do not ever place on rugs or carpets.
  • Avoid using extensions cords, but if absolutely necessary, use a heavy-duty cord of 14-gauge wire or larger.
  • Never use your space heater near water because of the possibility of shock or electrocution.
  • Always turn off your space heater when leaving the room or going to bed.

Source:

energy.gov, Portable Heaters

Read More

Why you should toss those old incandescent holiday lights

For most people the holidays mean time-honored traditions. But this year toss out some of those traditions by tossing out those old incandescent lights in favor of newer LEDs which consume less energy and cost even less to operate.

LED lights 1

Older strings of incandescent lights can use up to 99% more energy than new LED light strings. In addition, LEDs are much cooler than their traditional incandescent counterparts, reducing the risk of combustion.

A string of new LED lights could last up to 40 seasons and since they are made with epoxy lenses instead of glass as are most traditional incandescent light strings, they are more resilient to damage.

As an extra bonus you can connect up to 25 strings of LED lights together end-to-end and not worry about overloading a wall socket.

If you are still not convinced that it is time to upgrade your holiday lights, check out these figures from energy.gov.

Estimated cost* of electricity to light a six-foot tree for 12 hours a day for 40 days

Incandescent C-9 lights $10.00
LED C-9 lights $0.27
Incandescent Mini-lights $2.74
LED Mini-lights $0.82

Estimated cost* of buying and operating lights for 10 holiday seasons

Incandescent C-9 lights $122.19
LED C-9 lights $17.99
Incandescent Mini-lights $55.62
LED Mini-lights $33.29

*Assumes 50 C-9 bulbs and 200 mini-lights per tree, with electricity at $0.119 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) (AEO 2012 Residential Average). Prices of lights based on quoted prices for low volume purchases from major home improvement retailers. All costs have been discounted at an annual rate of 5.6%. Life span assumed to be three seasons (1,500 hours) for non-LED lights.

Source:

Energy.gov, LED Lighting

Read More

What should you do during a Winter Storm?

The number one tip from ready.gov on winter weather and how to stay safe is to stay indoors during the storm! However this may not be possible or feasible, so if you must venture out during a winter storm please take these precautions:

winter storm pic

Walk carefully on snowy, icy walkways.

Keep dry. Change wet clothing frequently to prevent a loss of body heat. Wet clothing loses all of its insulating value and transmits heat rapidly.

Watch for signs of frostbite. These include loss of feeling and white or pale appearance in extremities such as fingers, toes, ear lobes, and the tip of the nose. If symptoms of frostbite are detected, get medical help immediately.

Watch for signs of hypothermia. These include uncontrollable shivering, memory loss, disorientation, incoherence, slurred speech, drowsiness, and apparent exhaustion. If symptoms of hypothermia are detected, get the victim to a warm location, remove wet clothing, warm the center of the body first, and give warm, non-alcoholic beverages if the victim is conscious. Get medical help immediately.

Drive only if it is absolutely necessary. If you must drive, travel in the day—don’t travel alone, keep others informed of your schedule, stay on main roads, and avoid back road shortcuts.

Let someone know your destination, your route, and when you expect to arrive. If your car gets stuck along the way, help can be sent using your stated travel plans.

Source:

ready.gov, Winter Storms & Extreme Cold

Read More

In response to “Natural Gas Could Be Bigger Than the Internet, Welch Says”

Written by Michael Vrtis, President of Realgy Energy Services in response to the CNBC article “Natural Gas Could Be Bigger Than the Internet, Welch Says

I greatly admire Mr. Welch, having worked for him at one time. I read his article with interest and thought his statements invited comment.

Natural gas availability has been plentiful and the availability of more domestic supply calls for long term planning considerations.

U.S. Natural Gas Marketed Production from 1900 to 2012 – courtesy of EIA

In planning for the long term, consider just the following two facts:

The United States already has a more than $2.00 advantage per dekatherm (MCF) over the rest of the world. The US average cost of natural gas is about $4.00 and the remainder of the world is over $6.00.

The amount of gas discovered and presently available has occurred with a method of recovery (hydraulic fracturing or fracking) that has been exempt from most of the Federal environmental regulations. State environmental regulations are not superseded by this Federal action. Thus, states can set their own environmental regulation.  The growing state concern is ground water pollution, considering that it takes only 1-2 drops of a petroleum product (frack fluid) to make over 1,000 gals of ground water undrinkable.

So it is not regulation that will prevent natural gas from accelerating the US economy. Instead it is the over inflation of a political issue instead of any economic or environmental issue

Reducing our cost of natural gas has already occurred, reducing it further should not come at the expense of ground water.

Mr. Welch was a great business leader but his comments on regulation of natural gas fracking appear geared more toward political posturing than balancing the economic and environmental concerns that come with recovering natural gas.

Check out the CNBC article: Natural Gas Could Be Bigger Than the Internet, Welch Says

Read More

Storage Season is here!

The natural gas you have stored starting April 1st running through October 31st will begin to be added into your monthly natural gas usage from November 1st through March 31st.

You have probably noticed your summer bills were a little higher than normal, this is because Realgy Energy Services has been storing 20% of your natural gas annual usage at the lower summer rates, to be used during the winter months when the demand and more importantly the pricing for natural gas historically increase.

You may be asking do I have natural gas in storage, and if so how much?

If you are a customer of Realgy Energy Services and you live in Indiana or Illinois and are services by one of the following Utilities: Nicor, Nipsco, North Shore and Peoples Gas.

You most likely have natural gas in storage.

To find out how much natural gas you have in storage you can either:

Log into your account and view your account summary

Call one of our customer services representatives at (877) 300 6747

Enjoy the saving that the Realgy Energy Services Storage Program provides and have a wonderful toasty warm winter!

Read More