Important Update: Choosing replacement windows <br /><br />Windows are the biggest cause of heat loss in our homes, and are responsible for 25-50% of our heating costs due to their low insulating ability and air leakage. If your home is older, chances are that the glass itself is allowing direct heat loss, especially if the windows are not double paned. Air leaking around the old panes of glass, or around the entire frame of the window, is just money leaking out, summer and winter.<br /><br />In the summer, older windows allow radiant heat to enter, in a greenhouse effect. In winter, heat is lost directly through the glass and around the frame. Replacing your older windows with up to date, energy efficient models is a fast way to reduce your heating and cooling costs. Now is the best time to look into window replacement. <br /><br />Contact a reputable dealer who has many options to offer. Sheldorado offers many beautiful window options and a comprehensive guide to choosing the right one for your application. They also have financing available, which will allow you to replace your windows now and use the energy savings toward the price over time! Visit them at http://www.sheldorado.com.<br /><br />Features to look for include quality vinyl that will hold its color and appearance over time, a fusion welded construction system, and double weather stripping. The locking system should be secure and smooth in operation, as you are less likely to lock the windows if it is difficult to do so. The balance and operation of a double hung window is also important, eliminating the struggle to raise and lower the window. Sheldorado has styles and options that allow easy cleaning from the inside, a very popular feature.<br /><br />Thermal efficiency is the most important new feature, and the reason you will be replacing your windows. Saving 30% or more on your heating and cooling bills, along with the beauty and convenience of your new windows, makes this an easy decision. The science of thermal efficiency is complex (see sheldorado.com for more information) and includes a multi chamber system and optional low E glass. <a href=”http://www.sheldorado.com/index.html”>Brooklyn replacement windows</a><br /><br />Windows are available in all shapes including bays and bow windows, rolling patio doors, crescent or dome top windows, and even custom shapes as needed for your project. Replacing your windows is an easy step you can take today to reduce your energy bills and even your carbon footprint. http://www.sheldorado.com/index.html<div class=”blogger-post-footer”><img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/246190233331714789-5207763455805201432?l=windowsroofingsiding.blogspot.com’/></div>

Improve Your Home with NYC Windows and NYC Siding<br /><br />Do you come trudging home from a long days work only to come home to a run down looking house? Are you embarrassed by the appearance of your home’s exterior? Do you feel a draft every time a nor’easter blows through? Are you spending too much money heating and cooling your home, yet still never achieving a comfortable temperature? Are you concerned about how to pay for these essential repairs? If so, it’s time to let Shelderado be your provider of <a href=”http://www.sheldorado.com/index.html”>NYC Windows</a> and NYC Siding today.<br /><br />The quickest way to add curb appeal, reduce energy costs and to produce a higher return on your investment is to install new siding and windows. Vinyl siding by Shelderado is durable, very easy to maintain and beautiful. Vinyl siding doesn’t split, peel, rot or fade. Vinyl offers the warm, grained appearance of wood, but doesn’t require all the maintenance and cost of upkeep. The only maintenance you will need to do is spraying it down with your garden hose as needed.<br /><br />All windows Shelderado work with have an Energy Star rating and conform to NFRC standards. According to Energy Star, high utility bills in summer and winter can often be traced to air leaks in your home’s inefficient windows. Replacing single pane windows Energy Star rated windows will save the average household $126 to $465 per year and 980 to 4,545 pounds of CO2 give huge energy savings per year. Not only will you be saving on energy bills and the environment, but you will be receiving a tax break too. <br /><br />According to Shelderado, all windows are Virtually Maintenance Free. Their windows and doors are made with Lineals, making them a superior product which will virtually never pit, chip, corrode, rot or blister and will never need painting. Fusion-welded construction virtually eliminates air and water infiltration. Vinyl is easy to clean with soap and water and many designs feature tilt-in sashes for easy cleaning from inside the home.<br /><br />Shelderado is the premier provider for Queens windows and <a href=”http://www.sheldorado.com/index.html”>Queens siding</a>, Brooklyn Siding and Brooklyn windows, Manhattan Siding and Manhattan windows. With 50 years of experience in their field, Shelderado is a name you can trust and depend on. <br /><br />Shelderado is willing to finance you with no money down, no interest and no payments for up to 12 months. For a free consultation, please visit http://www.sheldorado.com/index.html and fill out a contact form or you can call one of their three NYC offices in Brooklyn, Queens or New Jersey at 718-451-0500. It’s every American’s dream to come home from a long days work to a beautiful, comfortable home. It’s Shelderado’s dream to help you make that happen.<div class=”blogger-post-footer”><img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/246190233331714789-8232025490795654596?l=windowsroofingsiding.blogspot.com’/></div>

Home Improvement Has Many Benefits in Today’s Market<br /><br />Many of you who are choosing to do home improvement projects today are doing so in order to maintain the value of your property. Others are thinking about remodeling in an effort to help sell their homes more quickly and at better prices so they can move for work. Still other homeowners are in dire need of improved energy efficiency. Whatever the cause, according to recent data, Americas are heating up the home improvement market once again. <br /><br />Are you one of the many who are now ready to complete that home improvement project you’ve been putting off? Have you weighed the pros and cons and decided there are too many good reasons not to improve your home? If so, let Shelderado fill your home improvement needs. They are now financing customers with nothing down, no interest and no payments for up to 12 months. With 50 years experience, Shelderado is a trusted provider of your <a href=”http://www.sheldorado.com/index.html”>NYC siding</a>, NYC windows, doors, roofing, and awning needs. Shelderado, with three offices, are well qualified and conveniently located in order to fill your Manhattan window, Manhattan siding, Queens window, Queens siding, Brooklyn window, and Brooklyn siding needs.<br /><br />Common household problems can be solved by simply replacing inefficient, outdated and worn out windows, siding, roofing or doors. When blustery weather comes do you feel cold drafts, cold floors, hot or cold rooms or suffer from dry indoor air? When it snows do can you see patches of snow free roof? Do icicles hang from the side of your roof or does the ice dam up? If yes, then you have air leaks and it is time to make an improvement. By repairing inefficient windows, roofing, doors and siding, you will reduce your energy bills and lessen your carbon footprint. <br /><br />At Shelderado, they do everything in their power to keep customers satisfied and confident in their company’s abilities to fill their home improvement needs. To make sure you are confident about the project being done, the materials going into your home are Energy Star rated and meet NFRC standards of quality. <br /><br />Improving the efficiency of the dwelling you call home helps you save energy, money and fights global warming. An added benefit of using Energy Star rated materials is the tax break you will be receiving. With benefits like these combined with full financing, it would be crazy to pass up Shelderado’s generous offer. <br /><br />For more information on high quality <a href=”http://www.sheldorado.com/index.html”>home improvement</a> projects, supplies and financing, please call 718-451-0500 or visit Shelderado’s website at http://www.sheldorado.com/index.html.<div class=”blogger-post-footer”><img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/246190233331714789-6788129257425189980?l=windowsroofingsiding.blogspot.com’/></div>

By Gas 2.0 – Gas 2.0

By Joanna Shcroeder

They say that nothing is free, but I may have come across the exception. In West Texas and Illinois, electric customers are being paid to use electricity. With the growth of wind energy in areas like Texas, Iowa and Minnesota, electric companies are occasionally producing more energy-especially during off-peak hours-than they can use. Why not store it you ask? Because there are not yet any good ways to store energy; a quest since electricity was created.

According to expert Terry Boston, who is the CEO of PJM, a company that manages the electricity grid in 13 mid-Atlantic states and Washington, the oversupply of electricity has forced prices into the negative range. The result: some customers are paid to use electricity.

Why should readers at Gas 2.0 even care about this problem, or rather this opportunity? Well my friends, it’s because plug-in electric vehicles (PHEVs, BEVs, EREVs, etc.) can take advantage of the extra electricity during off hours. The first upside is that you may get paid to charge your plug-in. Nice! The second advantage is that much of the electricity generated at night is from wind. Say bye-bye to coal, a thorn in the side of the electric vehicle industry.

So how exactly does this work? Let’s turn to GreenBiz.com for some help: Wind turbine owners collect a production tax credit of 2.1 cents per kilowatt hour when they are producing electricity. Needless to say, they don’t want to shut down the turbines so they’d rather pay customers a “fee” that is less than the subsidy to consumer power. In other words, even if they are paying customers to use the wind power, they are still making money. This is an example of passing along a subsidy to help lower energy costs for consumers.

But for all of you subsidy haters, you’ll get a little vindication as Boston explains that this program is not sustainable over long-periods of time. However, until our government decides to rid itself of ALL subsidies (including coal, oil, renewable energy, agriculture, etc.) our other option is to finally create an economically feasible way to store energy.

Towards these ends, Boston has been cultivating a technology called Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES). Along with the energy start-up company Energy Storage & Power, the city has their eye on developing a next-generation compressed air storage plant for the price tag of $250 million. Expensive but less costly than traditional gas plants. The technology works in that primarily using wind energy, compressed air is pumped into an underground reservoir during off-peak hours and then released during peak hours providing electricity. The proposed plant would provide an output capacity of 300 mega-watts, similar to a mid-sized power plant producing electricity for 10 hours. Company sources estimate that it will take five years to complete the project.

The CAES technology is being designed to serve two functions: help match supply and demand on the electricity grid and serve as a go-between for producers and users. Ultimately, though, it enables the storage of alternative energy such as solar or wind, until it is needed during peak times.

Energy Storage & Power also says that compressed air energy storage costs far less and lasts far longer than the alternatives, including batteries, pumped hydro, flywheels, magnetic storage or supercapacitors. In addition, there is the possibility that the batteries in the PHEVs could also become a source of storage. In essence, making the car owners day traders of electricity. The trader would store the electricity in his PHEV battery at night and then sell it back during daytime peak hours. Of course, this sort of thing would require a smart grid, but we’re well on our way towards that at this point.

Speaking of day trading, here is another option: wind generation forecasting. Weather Services International (WSI) in conjunction with Genescape have launched WindCast IQ, the first wind generation forecasting service designed for energy traders. The increase in wind power in some areas has caused congestion and price volatility.

According to WSI, the solution is WindCastIQ, which gives clients highly accurate hourly forecasts for up to 7 days of wind generation at the ISO-level, regional and wind farm level. The first two products will cover the Midwest (MISO) and Texas (ERCOT) the regions with the highest wind power generation and impact on power markets. To my knowledge there is no solar forecasting system but it may be a good idea.

“Wind power is an important source of clean energy and getting accurate wind generation forecasts is a growing challenge for all market participants,” said Ira Scharf, General Manager of WSI’s Energy and Risk Division. “The combination of WSI’s highly skilled wind power forecasting teamed with Enva’s expert understanding of the power grid creates an ideal pairing of forces to give energy traders and wind farm operators a true market edge.”

Although I’m not sure about what the best technologies are to create a smart grid and incorporate alternative energy into the mix, it’s good to know that companies are well down the path to providing some solid solutions.

Reprinted with permission from Gas 2.0

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