Understanding how heat is transferred from the outdoors into your home and from your home to your body is important for understanding the challenge of keeping your house cool. Understanding the processes that help keep your body cool is important in understanding cooling strategies for your home. Principles of Heat Transfer Heat is transferred to… Keep reading →
Illinois’ largest utility, ComEd, is almost finished deploying advanced metering infrastructure to its customers. In fact, there are now more than 3.8 million installed smart meters in Illinois, feeding anonymized energy-use data – recorded in half-hourly kilowatt-hours – back from the grid. How to make use of this unwieldy flood of data and enhance the efficiency… Keep reading →
California has worked hard to build up a nation-leading clean energy portfolio. And the state has been hugely successful in adding renewable energy, especially solar, to the electric grid. However, having too much solar energy on the grid relative to energy demand can lead to grid operators turning off that clean power. This is costly… Keep reading →
Here at Energy.gov, we take energy — and Halloween — pretty seriously. So when the White House announced that, once again, this October would be National Energy Action Month, we knew it was time to celebrate. During National Energy Action Month, President Obama calls on Americans to work together “to achieve greater energy security, a… Keep reading →
The electricity industry is changing. At least 50% of customers have the option to purchase renewable electricity directly from their power supplier, and everyone has the option of purchasing renewable energy certificates. Such power is sometimes referred to as “green power” or “clean power.” In most states, you can buy clean power through one or… Keep reading →
During our first winter in this house, my husband and I realized we had a problem: the house was horribly, unbearably cold all the time. It didn’t matter how high we kept the thermostat. The temperature in the house stayed low, and our heating bills went up. I wrote all about our exodus last year.… Keep reading →
This month the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is making a series of announcements to support its Grid Modernization Initiative. As we do so, we realize many of you may be wondering: what does “grid modernization” mean? Let’s start at the beginning. The electric power grid has been rightly celebrated as the single most important… Keep reading →
Today you can choose from a new generation of wood- and pellet-burning appliances that are cleaner burning, more efficient, and powerful enough to heat many average-sized, modern homes. Pellet fuel appliances burn small pellets that measure 3/8 to 1 inch in length. CHOOSING AND INSTALLING WOOD- AND PELLET-BURNING APPLIANCES When choosing a wood- or pellet-burning… Keep reading →
Houston tech start-up approved for business in Connecticut HOUSTON, Sept. 21, 2015 Today, Innowatts LLC, a technology company specializing in personalized energy products, announced that it has expanded its platform to the northeastern markets. The State of Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority approved Innowatts to operate in the state, bringing Innowatts’ total amount of states… Keep reading →
Many American households and businesses saw energy costs soar this summer with July being the hottest month in Earth’s hottest year on record. Utilities rely on “peaker plants” during these record-setting heat waves to avoid blackouts. Such plants are more expensive and often more polluting to operate, and utilities pass the higher costs straight on… Keep reading →
