We’ve been discussing the first batteries which were developed and in use in the early and middle 19th century. Today, the beginning of the 21st century, we use batteries for an enormous number of products and conveniences, and the vast majority of those batteries are rechargeable.

Cell phones, laptops, MP3 players, digital cameras, portable power tool all require batteries, and rechargeable ones are the most convenient and cost effective.

The concept of a rechargeable battery was invented by the French physicist Gaston Plante in 1859, and was called the lead acid cell. This later became the world’s first rechargeable battery and is still in use today in the form of modern car batteries.

The concept behind rechargeable batteries is quite basic and simple. Electrical energy is applied to the battery causing the flow of electrons in the opposite direction from the way they flowed when the battery discharged, restoring the power to the battery. Electrical products and devices with built-in batteries need an adapter to re-charge them. The most common type of rechargeable batteries are nickel-cadmium  and nickel-metal hydride, used for many types of devices such as remote control devices, flashlights, digital cameras and a lot more.

IDT Energy has a large selection of rechargeable batteries for you to choose from. Head to the IDT Energy store and look around.

Electricity is such an indespensable part of our lives, IDT Energy believes people should know a little history and information about this ever-present force in our lives.

Alessandro Volta created the first battery in the year 1800. His design was as simple as it was brilliant. Known as a “voltaic pile,” Volta built a stack using alternating layers of zinc, blotting paper soaked in salt water, and silver. Care must be taken so that the top and bottom of the piles are different metals. A voltage can be measured from the pile, as well as a current, by attaching a wire to the top and bottom of the pile. The higher the pile created will produce a larger voltage, increasing by a fixed amount with each additional layer.

From the time of the voltaic pile’s invention until the development of electrical generators in the 1870s, a cousin of the voltaic pile, known as the Daniel cell, Crowfoot cell, Gravity cell and Wet cell, was used for operating telegraph machines and doorbells, and it was very common. The Daniel cell consists of two plates, one of them zinc and the other copper, inside a glass jar which has a solution of zinc sulfate on top and copper sulfate on the bottom.  This is a good experiment for a school project, and for stationary uses of electricity a Daniel cell is a good solution.

IDT Energy is a supplier of electricity and natural gas to customers in New York. But electricity does not only effect our lives through the outlets in our homes. Today we have become more and more dependent on our ability to take electricity with us everywhere.

Batteries are an amazing invention. They allow us to use electric devices while on the go, giving incredible freedom and power to the user. But have you ever thought about how batteries work? Or when they were first used? Interestingly, the first battery dates to the beginning of the 19th century, and was created by Alessandro Volta. Volta was an Italian physicist, born in 1745 in Como, and taught in public schools there. In 1774 Volta became a professor of physics at the Royal School in Como, and a professor of experimental physics at the the University of Pavia in 1779. Volta held this position for 25 years. Because of Volta’s experiments with electrical capacitance the unit of electrical potential has been named in his honor, which of course is known as the volt. Alessandro Volta is credited with creating the very first electrochemical cell, or battery. It was made from two electrodes; one made from the metal zinc, and the second from copper. Sulphuric acid was used as the electrolyte, or salt and water can also be substituted for the acid. This early, primitive battery is still used today as a way to demonstrate to students the principles of electricity. It is referred to as a Lemon Battery.

By making just a few alterations to your home, you can significantly change your energy expenses.  A programmable thermostat is one such alteration that can help with your bottom line. IDT Energy wants you to save on your energy bill.  A programmable thermostat can make a difference.

A programmable thermostat offers a number of pre-programmed settings that regulate the home temperature both during the heat I the summer and the cold in the winter.  You set the thermostat to create the optimal amount of savings without sacrificing your comfort.  Today’s average household spends more than $2,200 a year on energy bills.  Half of this, approximately, is due to heating and cooling costs. With a pre-programmed thermostat, homeowners can save each month without even noticing the difference in their own comfort.

This is one of the many energy tips that IDT Energy and others offer to help you to reduce your energy bills this winter!