Time | Cheaper Gas & Electricity Bills

March 18, 2010

With Soaring Cost of Gas, It?s Time for Diesel Engines?

Filed under: Cheaper Utility bills — Tags: Cost, Diesel, Engines, Soaring, Time — admin @ 5:05 pm

With soaring cost of gas, it’s time for diesel engines?

Hybrids might be the fad right now but have you considered the new diesel engines coming out of Europe? In the last few years, most European countries have adapted diesel because of the technological advances that made it more reliable and a good alternative for gas guzzling engines.

Author BIO:

Mr. Richard Trent is a regular contributor of articles for DIY ezines. He also owned about a dozen websites designed to help drivers beat outrageous auto repair costs. To see some tips on how you can save money on auto repair, please visit: Auto Repair Made Easy

Diesel engines can deliver extra power compared to any gas engines invented including hybrids which relies on the combination of gas engine and electric motor. Diesel engines are simple to operate and are known to produce higher torque and fuel efficiency which 30%-40 % higher than gas engines. Hybrid might deliver more mileage but the developed pulling torque of diesel engine is unequal. This is attributed to high compression of diesel which is 3-4 times that of gasoline engines.

Tip:

In 2006, a German auto maker unveiled a 2 cylinder turbo diesel car that developed 20 hp with a fuel rating of 157 mpg. This is unheard of on any fuel rating produced by hybrid cars. The car also can seat 4 passengers.

In the first oil crisis of 1970s, a few diesel cars appeared in North America and it was a disaster. Those cars were noisy, very slow and emit lots of black smokes. The fuel injection was based on a single fuel pump driven by the front camshaft gear and hard to control. This resulted in over fueling which has 2 devastating effect: black smoke and detonation since the engine cannot burn all the fuel. Furthermore, because the fuel injector timing is not based on specific load and rpm, it resulted in poor acceleration.

A better fuel management must be found to resolve this problem.

With advances in gasoline electronic fuel injection management, it was also adopted for diesel engine. One of them is the use of electronic common rail fuel distribution system. Using a solenoid for each cylinder coming from the common rail, fuel can be better managed since the engine computer can control the solenoid. This made combustion complete and eliminated the excess fuel that was causing poor acceleration and gas emission. A new turbo charger technology was also added to get more exhaust air at lower rpm. With these 2 additions, the new diesel engines run quieter in various rpm loads.

Although diesel fuel has a higher energy per-liter content compared to the same liter of gasoline, it has 15% more greenhouse gas emissions. This can be blame on sulfur which is added to diesel fuel for lubrication purposes. Sulfur also cause the formation of particulate matter which is a miniature carbon like particles formed after combustion. When breathe into our lungs, this particulates are hazardous to our health. To remedy this, a double air filtering system is added to the engine so the particles can be collected and recycled back to the combustion chamber. This eliminates pollution and made the engine run more efficient. Finally, since diesel engines are also known to produce Nitrogen oxides which cause acid rain, an exhaust gas recirculation (egr) system was also added.

Overall, the performance of the new diesel powered cars is very encouraging. On a test conducted on VW TDI engine recently, it showed one of the best mileage ratings for engine performance. Compared to hybrid engines, diesel engine is not complicated and cheaper to operate. This was made possible because of the innovations in electronic fuel injections which made it reduced emissions to help our environment. If you want to save money on gas bills and have a strong reliable engine, diesel engines might be the answer we are looking for.

Comments (0)

December 19, 2009

Re-bill for your Time Using Account Codes

Filed under: Cheaper Utility bills — Tags: Account, Codes, Rebill, Time, Using — admin @ 10:32 am

Do you ever get tired of giving away free advice to clients over the phone? Do your clients think that if they call you via telephone instead of coming in to your office that they won’t be billed for your consulting time? If this is an issue for your company, then consider using account codes to accurately re-bill your clients for your valuable time spent consulting over the phone.

Everyone loves to offer advice and to solve pressing and complex issues for clients. It’s what you’ve been trained to do. However, if you are in the business of providing such services to your clients for pay, it is a necessity to be compensated for your expertise. That can be a challenge when your clients call you in a mad rush and need an essential answer on the spot.

Can you tell them they have to come into your office before you can give them the answer to their problem? Unrealistic. They will likely go elsewhere to solve their problem.

Do you bring up how much the advice will cost them over the phone before you give them the answers they need? Unprofessional and uncomfortable.

So how do you avoid being taken advantage of and avoid giving your valuable time and expertise away for free? Simple. You use account codes to track client conversations and time frames spent with them over the phone, and then you re-bill for your time at the previously agreed upon rate. Key words being previously agreed upon. Billing for consulting over the phone must always be addressed in advance of the actual occurrence..

For years, certain business professionals such as lawyers, architects, and accountants have all billed for their time spent over the phone with clients. The only proven, provable, and professional way to successfully track and bill for their time over the phone was to use account codes. Account codes track customer conversations by an assigned number, as well as track the length of the calls.

There are two main ways to implement the use of account codes and bill for your time. You can either implement account codes through software that interfaces with your telephone system, or you can use your telephone company’s account code service. Let’s look at these two options in more detail.

Account codes via telephone system software: This is by far the best option if you have the need or desire to run reports, or if you need more than just a few codes. With the right software package, you will be able to run reports, input minimum billing time increments, hourly dollar rates per customer, export data in a number of formats, and easily create billing statements to send directly to the client. Some programs even allow you to graph the data in several pre-configured chart options if so desired. The account codes can be forced or verified, non-forced and non-verified, or a combination of both. They may also be changed at any time by software setting, and new codes can be added within moments. With this option, account codes may even be able to be assigned to a call after the call has begun depending on the package.

Account codes via telephone company service: This is an inexpensive and adequate option for the right scenario. In this scenario, the local telephone company you use allows you to have a block of account codes for a small monthly fee, and the monthly billing statement will detail out the volume and length of calls by code. With this option, you may also have a combination of forced, verified, un-forced, and un-verified codes. Changes to any settings can be expected to take a couple of business days after requesting the changes with your local phone company provider. Account codes from the telephone company will only work on outbound calls, so they may not be a fit for companies that will be dealing with inbound calls that require re-billing. In the case of an inbound call, the client will often be told they will need to be called right back. This will allow for implementation of the account codes and proper tracking via outbound call.

Account codes typically will range in length from 1-9 digits long, and must be input into the phone prior to making the call. This will allow the software or telephone company to start tracking and reporting on that specified call. Speed dials are often programmed into phones to make account codes more convenient for both options, as dialing a lengthy code up to 9 digits, along with a 10 digit telephone number could become quite cumbersome. Re-billing via telephone company account codes is a little more tedious, as there are no import/export reporting capabilities. The process of re-billing for your time will often involve copying off portions of your telephone bill with the assigned account code, transferring that number into your billing software, and sending out your statement with partial phone bill copy attached as appropriate. The labor involved in this process can often eat up the benefit of the ability to re-bill for one’s time, so company’s of any size swiftly move to software based account codes for ease of use and efficiency of time. Consult your local telecommunications professional to determine which option is best for your company.

Steve Norris is a Texas based Energy” target=”_blank”>www.energyretrofitters.com”>Energy Efficient Electrical Contractor and Telecommunications Broker for over 80 carriers nationwide. He specializes in hardware solution for multi-location business with advanced infrastructure needs. Over 90% of his clients are able to implement a new Business Phone System without increasing their budget with TeleTAP.

Comments (0)

December 4, 2009

Fall Into Lower Electric Bills – the Fall Season is a Perfect Time to Lock in a Lower Electric Rate

Filed under: Changing energy supplier — Tags: Bills, Electric, Fall, Into, Lock, Lower, Perfect, Rate, Season, Time — admin @ 10:33 pm

As a full-time energy analyst and business owner (www.ChooseEnergy.com), people always ask me – when is it a good time to lock in an electric rate? Well, you can “fall” into lower electric rates if you lock in during the fall months. There are peeks and valleys (head and shoulder) months in regards to energy prices. Electric rates track closely with natural gas prices and historically the months during the fall are valleys or shoulder months which makes for a good curve when trying to determine when to lock in your electric rate.

So what should you do? There still seems to be a premium on pricing out in 2012 and 2013 so I would recommend signing either a 12 or 24 month contract at the present time. This is where the rates are most attractive and the best time to end your contract during these same shoulder months so you can renegotiate during the low season.

Just as the Internet has made it easier for people to compare mortgages, travel rates and other services, ChooseEnergy.com has developed a compare and buy site that offers a trusted and objective comparison of available Texas electricity providers for residential and small commercial customers. Not only do we select the providers that participate on our site, but we also show their most attractive rate plans for your home or business. Plus, as I mentioned the fall season is a great time to lock in a lower Texas electricity rate. Electricity prices usually track with natural gas costs, and natural gas is traditionally lower in shoulder months during the fall and spring season, before consumer demand increases during the cold winter months when consumers are using more natural gas.

As I mentioned in a previous post – just like cell phone providers – like AT&T or Sprint – Retail electric providers bid on customers’ electricity business. These providers can also personalize their bids to each customer or modify their offers and terms as often as they wish. For instance, electricity retailers may offer exceptionally competitive rates tied to longer term contracts (but we recommend not signing longer than 36 months at the present time) to attract customers in a targeted geographic area or offer a renewable energy product, like energy produced from wind, for the same price as you are currently paying.

It certainly pays to not only get the right offering that fits your home or business needs, but also getting that offering at the right time. So do some shopping for your home or business during this holiday season and take advantage of fall electric rates.

Jerry Dyess is the President & CEO of ChooseEnergy.com (www.ChooseEnergy.com) – Choose Energy is a neutral service that compares offers from the best Texas energy providers to help residential and small business customers choose the best energy plan for their home or business. Residential and business customers now have a simple way to compare offers made by different Texas electricity companies and switch to their choice of preferred provider in just a few clicks. Choose Energy gives consumers the power to save money on electricity while making educated choices based on accurate, up-to-date, comparable information.

Comments (0)