Month: January 2020

How Are Smart Meters Beneficial to Dual Fuel Customers

The United Kingdom is planning to get smart meters installed in all the homes by 2020. What is so exceptional about them and how are they beneficial to customers?

There have been many countries where they have been successfully installed and these countries have proven that they are not just a facility but a necessity.

Between 2000 and 2005, Enel SpA, a utility major in Italy installed 27 million of them ensuring that its entire customer base was taken care of. These meters since then have proved to be extremely useful. They have proved to be extremely useful in many ways.

They have many facilities like remotely controlling the supply of gas/electricity to the property, automatic information relay to the company, immediate reporting of any outage, detect any unauthorized use of electricity and even change the amount of electricity that a customer demands at any time. They also can be converted from prepayment meters to credit meters with regular bills and vice versa from the remote service location. Any change in the tariff plans also become effective with a remote instruction.

Compare this to the situation where they are not installed. Let us assume a locality in a country has got digital non-smart meters installed. These non-smart meters have to be read regularly so that the bills can be generated on time. This causes excessive work load on meter operators and the utility companies alike. The customers usually expect the meter operators to read the non-smart meters and this misinformation can cause a lot of errors in the bills leading to customer dissatisfaction and extra work being done to rectify the errors caused due to estimation, taken in absence of an actual read.

Also, in the U.K. all those who are unable to pay their gas and electricity bills get a prepayment meter installed at the property if the utility company deems fit. All the debt is transferred on the prepayment meter and every time the customer tops the meter up, an agreed amount is deducted from the top up that goes to settle the debt. This is how a utility company is able to recollect any unpaid bills. To achieve this purpose, the whole meter unit has to be exchanged and this exchange is free of cost for the customers. This is a huge investment for the utility companies.

Smart meters help eliminate all such issues that had to be previously borne by utility companies. This has been successfully proven by the use of these smart meters in Italy. This is why many service providers have found the impetus to get smart meters installed at the consumers’ houses.…

What Are Dual-Fuel Heat Pumps and How Do They Work?

You may have heard of geothermal heat pumps (earth-based pumps) and air source electric heat pumps (electricity-based) but what about dual-fuel heat pumps? These are actually a type of electric heat pump but also combine a gas furnace. The natural limitation of air electric pumps is that they do not perform well in extreme temperatures, like the dead of winter. They extract their heat from the air, and thus in below freezing temperatures, they are limited in their capacity.

That is where the dual-fuel pump comes in. This is an effective way to heat the home, as whenever the air electric pump system does start to wane because of low temperatures, a gas furnace activates and provides a more economic and a more effective form of heat. You are taking advantage of electrical power and gas power to heat your home.

Whenever the temperature is above freezing temperatures the system can easily use electricity to generate heat (or air, if it’s reversible). This type of heat isn’t as warm, but still distributes comfortable heat evenly throughout the living quarters. However, when the air gets extremely cold and below freezing temperatures, the pump starts to switch (automatically in most cases) to supplemental gas power. This makes the system not only affordable but also warmer.

There are definite disadvantages to gas power and electrical power in their own right; when combined the two systems complement each other, giving one the “best of both worlds.” The only potential disadvantage here is the startup cost, much like geothermal pumps. Dual-fuel pumps run upwards of $1,000 sometimes because you are basically buying two systems-in-one.

Nevertheless, if you can afford this expense then it’s best to invest in this technology, because over the long run you will be saving money on a superior and more economical system than electric-based heat pumps alone.

There are a variety of systems to choose from, including manufacturers like Bryant Evolution, Daikin, Friedrich, Fujitsu, Heritage and Sanyo. The most notable differences will be in price as well as whether the model is an inside or outside pump system. Some companies also offer financing on these dual-fuel pumps.

Some products like the Heil PDX4 Packaged Two-Stage Dual Fuel Heat Pump Series offer quiet operation, a two stage system, a direct spark ignition system and a 14 SEER performance level. This is a great way to lower your long-term electrical costs while ensuring a warm winter season.…

Ways to Greatly Reduce That Pain at the Pump

The cost of gasoline and other fossil fuel based products has skyrocketed in recent years, which can lead to serious pain at the pump, especially for consumers that must commute to work every day. Fortunately, there are many quick and easy ways to save on gas by simply changing a few habits:

1) Ditch the gas guzzler. This may be tough for some consumers, but it all comes down to what is practical. Most people simply do not need a large pickup truck or SUV, or a six cylinder engine instead of four. Making the switch to a more fuel efficient vehicle can save thousands of dollars a year in fuel costs.

2) Always make sure that the vehicle is properly maintained and tuned. A poorly maintained vehicle can easily burn 25% more gas, which really adds up, especially with today’s gas prices.

3) Make the switch to steel-belted radial tires. Consumers who install these tires will see an increase in gas mileage of up to 10%. For a commuter who drives 300 miles a week, that means an extra 30 miles without spending a dime more. That is 120 extra miles a month, and 1440 over the course of a year.

4) Never use premium, high octane gas. The only exception is when the vehicle has a high performance engine and the manufacturer recommends it.

5) Always check tire pressure once a week. Driving on underinflated tires can reduce gas mileage significantly. For every pound the tires are underinflated, expect to see a drop of six percent in gas mileage – that is a 30% drop if they are underinflated by 5 pounds, which is common.

6) Never top off the tank. On warm days, the gas will expand, and it may overflow the tank, resulting in wasted gas.

7) Never warm up the car by letting it idle. It is far more efficient to warm up an engine by driving than by letting it idle. Not only that, but an idling vehicle can easily burn a quart of gas or more every 15 minutes.

8) Make a conscious effort to combine errands whenever possible and avoid backtracking. This can result in significant savings.

9) Always accelerate gently because flooring the gas pedal will burn more fuel than necessary.

10) Keep an eye on traffic ahead at all times in order to anticipate slow-downs and avoid stops. Remember, there is a reason why city mileage and highway mileage ratings are so different – constantly stopping and starting uses much more fuel.

11) Drivers should always ease up to traffic jams by taking their foot off the gas, rather than approaching at full speed and slamming on the brakes. It takes 20% more fuel to get the car up to normal speeds again from a full stop than it does when the car is still in motion.

12) There is a sweet spot for fuel efficiency when it comes to driving …

Ways to Greatly Reduce That Pain at the Pump

The cost of gasoline and other fossil fuel based products has skyrocketed in recent years, which can lead to serious pain at the pump, especially for consumers that must commute to work every day. Fortunately, there are many quick and easy ways to save on gas by simply changing a few habits:

1) Ditch the gas guzzler. This may be tough for some consumers, but it all comes down to what is practical. Most people simply do not need a large pickup truck or SUV, or a six cylinder engine instead of four. Making the switch to a more fuel efficient vehicle can save thousands of dollars a year in fuel costs.

2) Always make sure that the vehicle is properly maintained and tuned. A poorly maintained vehicle can easily burn 25% more gas, which really adds up, especially with today’s gas prices.

3) Make the switch to steel-belted radial tires. Consumers who install these tires will see an increase in gas mileage of up to 10%. For a commuter who drives 300 miles a week, that means an extra 30 miles without spending a dime more. That is 120 extra miles a month, and 1440 over the course of a year.

4) Never use premium, high octane gas. The only exception is when the vehicle has a high performance engine and the manufacturer recommends it.

5) Always check tire pressure once a week. Driving on underinflated tires can reduce gas mileage significantly. For every pound the tires are underinflated, expect to see a drop of six percent in gas mileage – that is a 30% drop if they are underinflated by 5 pounds, which is common.

6) Never top off the tank. On warm days, the gas will expand, and it may overflow the tank, resulting in wasted gas.

7) Never warm up the car by letting it idle. It is far more efficient to warm up an engine by driving than by letting it idle. Not only that, but an idling vehicle can easily burn a quart of gas or more every 15 minutes.

8) Make a conscious effort to combine errands whenever possible and avoid backtracking. This can result in significant savings.

9) Always accelerate gently because flooring the gas pedal will burn more fuel than necessary.

10) Keep an eye on traffic ahead at all times in order to anticipate slow-downs and avoid stops. Remember, there is a reason why city mileage and highway mileage ratings are so different – constantly stopping and starting uses much more fuel.

11) Drivers should always ease up to traffic jams by taking their foot off the gas, rather than approaching at full speed and slamming on the brakes. It takes 20% more fuel to get the car up to normal speeds again from a full stop than it does when the car is still in motion.

12) There is a sweet spot for fuel efficiency when it comes to driving …

8 Tips To Save Money On Gas

Everybody is getting hurt financially at the gas pump, and for some people the money they spend at the pump is a huge part of their budget. For those of us whose biggest expense is gas, here are a few tips that will help you save some money while you’re on the road.

Drive Slower

This is probably the biggest factor that weighs into fuel efficiency. This may mean that you have to leave a little earlier for work in the morning but if you slow your speed from 75 mph to 55 it’s going to save you a ton of money in the long run. The main reason for this is that aerodynamic drag increases very much when you driving at faster speeds, so your car are using up a lot of fuel to drive at faster speeds.

Driving Steadily

Unnecessary braking and accelerating erratically can greatly reduce the mileage of your vehicle by 2 to 3 mpg. The best thing to do is once you’re on the highway maintain steady pace in top gear, preferably at the speed limit. Accelerating smoothly, careful cornering and prudent braking can not only extend the life of your engine but your tires and brakes as well.

Reducing Drag

When driving at highway speeds of 55 mph or greater 50% of your engine power is used to overcome the aerodynamic drag of your vehicle. So if you’re being conscious of you gas mileage it usually works best to not carry stuff on top of your vehicle, or consider removing your car-top carrier. If you have bike rack on the top of your vehicle consider using a rear bike rack only when you’re transporting your bicycle.

Use Regular Gas

Some vehicles require that you only fuel up with premium gas at the pump, but for those of us that can use regular it’s in our wallet’s best interest to use the loser grade gas. Using regular gas does not affect the performance of your vehicle, the only difference is premium have higher prices. Even when the owner manual recommends that you run premium tests have shown that the vehicle runs fine on regular.

Warm Up Your Vehicle

It’s a proven fact that engines run more efficiently when they are warmed up. Tests have shown that if you’re cold starting your vehicle it can waste up to 4 mpg (depending on your vehicle). If you’re concerned with the environment starting an engine cold produces more pollution.

Keep Your Tires Inflated Properly.

Underinflated tires can greatly decrease fuel efficiency. Not only do underinflated tires decrease your fuel efficiency but it greatly compromises your handling, and braking. It’s probably a good idea to check your psi every three weeks.

Quality of Your Tires

A higher quality tire with low rolling resistance can save you hundreds of dollars a year in fuel, driving around in an old worn tire can also greatly affect your fuel efficiency. Make sure you are constantly …

Home improvement is a good way to return a home to its purchase glory. Making little fixes to a property can make a home look as if it were brand new. The home improvement tips in the following article will help you get started on your own home improvement projects.

Have a missing or damaged tile? Take a sample to your local home improvement store to see if they can match the color. Replacing an entire Renovation House floor of tile is expensive as well as a heinous chore. Save money and time by finding a tile that is a close match to the existing tile.

To lower the electric costs associated to illuminating your yard, you can change your regular light to one that contains a motion sensor. You can still turn it on manually if need be, and you can also adjust sensitivity on some models.

Home Improvement Project

Always insist on references before hiring a contractor to work on your home improvement project. Make sure your potential contractor is properly licensed to perform the work in question. Hiring a professional is worth the money to give you peace of mind that the job is done right the first time.

When choosing a contractor, make sure to interview them and check references. There are few things more painful than a home improvement project gone wrong. At best you’ll have to live in a house that makes you unhappy and at worse you could find yourself without a place that’s safe to live in. Perform your due diligence upfront in making your choice so that you won’t be surprised at the results at the end.

In conclusion, by doing home improvements, you can make your home look the way it did upon the first purchase. Small tweaks and large repairs can do a world of difference for any home. If you remember the tips in this article on home improvement, you can make your home look like a brand new showcase home.…

An Overview of Cummins Fuel Systems

Cummins is a Fortune 500 company which manufactures, designs, distributes and services engines and associated technologies. The company is headquartered in Columbus, Indiana, and has presence in nearly 190 countries and territories with a vast network of over 600 independent and company-owned distributors, and nearly 6,000 dealers. Cummins is made of several business units namely Engine Business, Power Generation Business, Filtration, Turbo Technologies, Emission Solutions, and Distribution Business Unit. In this article we will focus mainly on Cummins Fuel Systems Business.

Fuel Systems Business offers a strategic advantage to the customers by providing them the best technology in manufacturing, design, and support of the product line. It brings top-notch technology to help the engine custom to meet the requirements of increasing emissions, which optimizing fuel economy, and improving performance and fuel economy. Both in product manufacturing and remanufacturing, the Fuel Systems is a critical partner to the Cummins engine applications, and the other main external partners.

In its current operation, Cummins uses more than eighty years of Fuel Systems experience. This business unit is located in El Paso Texas, Juarez Mexico, and Columbus Indiana. Fuel Systems produces as well as remanufactures the common rail systems, the unit injectors, and the electronic control modules. As the business plans to further expand its manufacturing capabilities to other regions of the world, we can expect growth and support in the emerging international markets.

The product line offered by Cummins Fuel Systems supports the engine applications that range from 8 to 78 liters. The supplies of the remanufacturing business include completely reconditioned products for field service needs and remanufacturing. Here are the main product lines offered by the business unit:

Cummins Celect: The Celect fuel system is the first ever electronically controlled injection that was released in 1990. The product is currently used on the Cummins M11 engine platform. It is basically a cam driven system, which provides a high level of injection pressure.

High Pressure Injection (HPI) Systems: This is an electronically operated unit injection currently used by Cummins for its Scania 12 liter and ISX 15 liter products. The open nozzle system of these products offers a high pressure injection than the earlier released systems. Just like the Heavy Duty model, the High Horse Power (HHP HPI) system is a unit injection system that is controlled electronically. To meet the needs of a wide variety of customers, the HHP HPI system may be utilized in the manifold engine cylinder configurations. It is used in the high horse power engines manufactured by Cummins Inc.

Common Rail (CCR) Pump: This type of injection system is utilized in the engine applications which were previously supplied the fuel systems in a mid-ranged and smaller diesel engines. The Common Rail fuel pump also provides higher injection pressure, and it requires comparatively less power to operate, thus leading to better fuel economy and the emissions compared to fuel systems by competitors. This CCR pump is utilized on Cummins products including ISC 8 …

The New Energy Savior: Natural Gas To The Rescue

What would you think about $1.50 gas again? With the recent advancements in Natural Gas extraction methods, it may go lower than that! Many large U.S. companies are starting to replace diesel engine trucks with Natural Gas vehicles. By all accounts we are the Saudi Arabia of Natural Gas. Many estimates put the reserves at enough to last at least 100 years.

The auto companies already make CNG(compressed natural gas) vehicles overseas. As soon as they start building them here they will sell. When people start buying them the oil producing countries will feel the pinch when they see the demand for gas start to plummet. But then the scare tactics will begin.

Everybody will be told that we don’t have the infrastructure to fuel the vehicles. We will be told that cars will be exploding, and be too dangerous. I say BULL!

When T. Boone Pickens was trying to get Congress and Obama to listen to him about the possibilities of using Natural Gas for transportation, all Obama wanted to talk about is Electric Vehicles. They have years to go before the battery technology allows vehicles to be used for more than just traveling around town and then back home.

And the neat thing about having a CNG vehicle is you can have a fueling station hooked up at your home if you use Natural Gas at home. Besides if the service stations know CNG vehicles are here to stay they will get set-up to sell it. A few years ago there were only 2 Ethanol stations in our state, then with Ethanol production going up there were hundreds of pumps across the state within a year.

Then think of the future possibility of Fuel Cell vehicles. All of this isn’t just a pipe dream, it is going to happen sooner than some people think. About 15-20 years ago Chicago had all of their buses in the city on an experimental Fuel Cell program. All the buses in Chicago, can you imagine that? Why doesn’t every large city in the country have this?

As I stated earlier what about $1.50 gas? I not only think it’s coming I think it could go lower than that.

I hear people talking about how much gasoline China will be using but what they are not reading is that China is also working on alternate fuel programs. As sure as I am sitting here today, OPEC will be wanting to give it’s oil away sometime soon. The world will be coming to us for their energy needs. (CNG)

That is enough for today, boy do I feel good about the thought of OPEC shaking in their boots. I hope our politicians have enough sense to stay out of the way and let the explorers and drillers free us from the hell that hostile countries enjoy putting us in.…

Inventory Software Can Allow You To Manage Your Inventory Much More Effectively Almost Immediately

Inventory software for a lot of business is never really given a second thought. A lot of business feel they have the right inventory management system to make everything work just fine, and they very well might. It is not my goal to convince you that as a business owner your way of managing your inventory is not effective.

One of the goals of inventory software for you and your business is to make you see that what you are doing can be maximized if you were to incorporate inventory management software into the daily operations of the company.

Now you might think you have an idea of how much inventory your business needs to carry in order to operate the right way. You might have an idea of costs. However, do you really know how much money you could be saving or making if you did things differently?

Keeping costs down by means of knowing how much to order to maximize discounts because with any business that holds inventories there are going to be discounts depending on how much of the products needed for production are ordered from a supplier.

The overall cost to produce certain products can also be lowered as a result of ordering larger quantities of materials. Does your inventory management system factor this in and is it able to make adjustments based on information you feed it?

Chances are it does not. Inventory software is not designed to really replace your way of doing things. It is really designed to make sure the way you do things is the best for your businesses overall profits.

Warehousing software can quickly help you realize that you could be purchasing larger quantities of goods in order to keep cost down, even if this means having to store them for longer than what you would like.

If your business has to also manufacture products then having longer runs in order to keep costs down is a good thing. The right inventory software is going to allow you to know how much you need and when you need it. It is going to make sure you run at maximum efficiency so you do not take heavy financial losses.

Inventory software is going to help you keep operating costs down because there are so many costs associated with doing business and that without an accountant it is going to be easy to get confused.

You might not have the money to hire a top notch accountant to do all of the work in helping you manage the costs associated with inventories you have to purchase and carry. Software will enable you to do this yourself without having to consume too much of your time.

When you are able to do this you can focus on making sure you always have what you need, when you need it, and for the price that will allow for you to …

Inventory Software Can Allow You To Manage Your Inventory Much More Effectively Almost Immediately

Inventory software for a lot of business is never really given a second thought. A lot of business feel they have the right inventory management system to make everything work just fine, and they very well might. It is not my goal to convince you that as a business owner your way of managing your inventory is not effective.

One of the goals of inventory software for you and your business is to make you see that what you are doing can be maximized if you were to incorporate inventory management software into the daily operations of the company.

Now you might think you have an idea of how much inventory your business needs to carry in order to operate the right way. You might have an idea of costs. However, do you really know how much money you could be saving or making if you did things differently?

Keeping costs down by means of knowing how much to order to maximize discounts because with any business that holds inventories there are going to be discounts depending on how much of the products needed for production are ordered from a supplier.

The overall cost to produce certain products can also be lowered as a result of ordering larger quantities of materials. Does your inventory management system factor this in and is it able to make adjustments based on information you feed it?

Chances are it does not. Inventory software is not designed to really replace your way of doing things. It is really designed to make sure the way you do things is the best for your businesses overall profits.

Warehousing software can quickly help you realize that you could be purchasing larger quantities of goods in order to keep cost down, even if this means having to store them for longer than what you would like.

If your business has to also manufacture products then having longer runs in order to keep costs down is a good thing. The right inventory software is going to allow you to know how much you need and when you need it. It is going to make sure you run at maximum efficiency so you do not take heavy financial losses.

Inventory software is going to help you keep operating costs down because there are so many costs associated with doing business and that without an accountant it is going to be easy to get confused.

You might not have the money to hire a top notch accountant to do all of the work in helping you manage the costs associated with inventories you have to purchase and carry. Software will enable you to do this yourself without having to consume too much of your time.

When you are able to do this you can focus on making sure you always have what you need, when you need it, and for the price that will allow for you to …