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.

While we all want to be safe in the house, we don’t always know how to be.  This is particularly true when dealing with electricity and energy.  IDT Energy wants to make sure that you, and all children in the house, know how to keep yourselves safe.  Use this checklist to learn about energy safety and to check on your safety in the home.

First of all, there should always be a multipurpose fire extinguisher in the house.  Electric appliances that can get hot should always be kept away from things that might burn.  When leaving the home, small appliances should always be turned off, and unplugged when possible.

If small children live in the home, safety caps should be used and inserted into the outlets so that children can’t stick their fingers or objects into these outlets.  Finally, all extension cords, lights and appliances that are used outdoors should have labels on them that indicate that they are for outdoor use.

IDT Energy, and other energy service companies, offer a number of ways to heat the home.  More than 50% of people use natural gas for this process.  The process of heating and cooling the home actually uses more energy and drains more of your electric bill than does any other system in the home.  In general, 43% of the utility bill is from heating and cooling.  In addition, heating and cooling systems add to global climate change, with 150 million tons of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere each year in the United States.
With all of this said, there are sage ways to save on your energy bill and to help the environment at the same time.  Here, IDT Energy explores a number of important tips to help you to save on your bottom line.

1. Set the thermostat as low as you can handle it in the winter and as high as possible in the summer.  Purchase a programmable thermostat as well so that you’ll only be using energy at key times throughout the day.

2. Clean filters on furnaces once a month and clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters and radiators as necessary.

3. Turn off exhaust fans in the kitchen, bath and other areas within 20 minutes after you’ve finished cooking or bathing.  If you need to replace exhaust fans, use high-efficiency, low-noise models.

4. Pay attention to your drapes and shades (or install some if you don’t already have them).  In the winter, keep drapes and shades on your south-facing windows open during the day for more sunlight and closed at night to reduce a chill from cold windows.  During the summer months, keep the windows closed during the day to prevent extra heat from the sun.

One interesting renewable energy source that seems to be catching on across America is hydropower.  Hydropower is the energy we make from moving water, and it’s a great source of renewable energy.  Hydropower consumption in the U.S. increased 4% for the first eight months of 2009, according to the Energy Information Administration.

In both Washington and Oregon, which are the highest hydropower-producing states, consumption actually decreased just a bit.  Interestingly, Alabama recorded the biggest increase by 54.6%.  Kentucky came in second, with an increase of 52.1.%.

Hydropower is one of the many interesting and useful forms of renewable energy sources that IDT Energy supports as part of its “Buying Green” program.

It’s important to understand what Green Electricity is, and how it can help you to save the environment.  Green Electricity is really two different items.  It can be electricity that comes from an environmentally friendly and renewable location such as wind, hydro, geothermal or solar electric.  It can also be an arrangement between you, the electricity user, and the supplier, such as IDT Energy, who delivers the clean electricity to you.

Some people question if using Green Electricity really makes a difference.  The answer is that it certainly does.  When you sign up with a green supplier, you are telling that supplier that you want more green electricity in your package of electrical consumption.  The more people sign up for Green Electricity, the more the supplier will need to source.  As the customer pool grows and the demand increases, the supplier finds more partnerships with wind farms and other sources.  This means that less non-green power needs to be generated to meet the overall demand.

Each person really can make a difference when they choose to use Green Electricity.

“Buying Green” at IDT Energy is a choice all of its customers can easily make if they want to participate in the development of clean and renewable resources for electric production.
The green choice is surprisingly inexpensive, too. According to estimates of monthly electrical use of individuals at 250 kWh and families at about 750 kWh, IDT Energy charges about 1.5 to 2.0 cents more, per kWh above the cost of standard electricity. On average this comes out to only 7 dollars more per person per month, or about $20 for an entire household. Not a lot of money to receive the following benefits.

Buying Green means:

•    There will be increased use of renewable energy resources.
•    Cleaner and healthier air for everybody.
•    Less of a need to build and use nuclear power plants.
•    Reduced dependence on foreign oil supplies
•    Increased opportunities for employment as “green technologies” develop.

Opening up the power supply industry to competition through deregulation not only allows individual consumers to choose their energy providers, but they now can also choose whether to support more environmentally friendly sources for producing electricity.

IDT Energy has a ‘Buy Green’ option for its customers. Choosing this option means that a certain amount of the electricity a consumer receives is produced from sources which use our natural resources in a way that does no harm to the environment. These sources may include wind power, running water, solar power and organic matter, which are all renewable and are relatively clean compared to the more standard sources of electricity which often include the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas.

IDT Energy is proud to say that they have joined the State to help create a center for environmentally friendly technologies here in New York. Within 10 years New York hopes to obtain 25% of its power from green sources, and IDT is playing an important role in this development.

In Rockland and Orange Counties, New York, IDT Energy is one of two providers of electricity which is generated by wind and water to consumers who are served by Orange and Rockland Utilities Inc.

The good news is that this green solution is actually coming down in price, making this alternative source for electricity production more attractive to consumers.

It is a sign that renewable energy is becoming a viable alternative to traditional forms of electricity production as business in this sector increases, while the costs goe down.

This is the first time that the green power alternative was actually cheaper than power produced by coal, natural gas, nuclear power or hydro plants.