Questions to Consider Before Getting a Landline Subscription

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The cost of home phone services usually depends on 2 factors – the rental of the line and the calls you make.

For the most part, the fees for line rental are fixed while the fees for phone calls are flexilble, depending on the company and offer you avail of. Some only charge you for every call you make while there are packages that give you access to certain call types (such as free unlimited calls during weekends).

Contracts may vary from one provider to another but generally speaking, they usually last between a year or two. You may be required to pay for penalties in case you opt to end the contract before that. Bundles are usually offered too, giving you the chance to own a landline phone, as well as internet, cable, or both.

In this day and age of smartphones and social media, the big question for many people nowadays is this: Is it still a good idea to subscribe services from home phone providers? The answer, of course, depends on a case to case basis.

For example, those who are always on the go for business purposes may find it unnecessary to sign up for a landline service. These individuals mostly rely on smartphones and mobile devices to stay in touch with important contacts.

On the other hand, it is likewise an advantage for a business establishment if they have a telephone connection. Aside from having a reliable mode of communication (it doesn’t rely on cellphone signal plus it doesn’t need charging), a landline subscription makes it possible for a company to be enlisted on the local phone directory – which allows them added exposure to more potential clients.   

Many families also maintain a home phone in order to have a common number where their friends, relatives, and other associates may contact them at any given time.

As you look for viable phone options in your area, you need to consider the following questions:

How much do they charge for installation and connection?

What type of services do they provide?

Do they offer discounts for elderly or disabled subscribers?

What are their policies on disconnection and debt?

Will you be required to give a deposit fee?

How long should you maintain your contract?

Are they reliable in terms of providing excellent customer support?

What kind of feedback do they usually get from clients? Is it mostly positive or negative?

These basic questions can serve as great guidelines for you as you make comparisons among different providers. Choosing the right package will be so much easier. In the end, you can be rest assured that you will truly get your money’s worth. 

Making A Wise Choice in Household Gas Providers

Hey there! I didn't notice it's been months since I last posted in this blog. Well, I'm back to post new articles and what-nots. So the article I'll be posting today is related to one of the posts I shared in my other blogs. Since this blog is mostly about home and moving house, the post below will be about switching utility providers. Read on:

Switching utility providers is very common when you're moving house. Even if you're not moving, though, you can still look for new utility providers in case you're not satisfied any longer with the quality of service you are currently getting. Here are some pointers to remember when looking for household gas providers.

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Look for available plans.

Before you go hunting for available plans, make it a point to determine your current energy consumption at home. It's also practical to take into consideration how much energy you think you'll be using in your new home, in case you are moving. Determine the specific time or periods when you consume the most energy (on-peak and off-peak hours) as you look for available plans that are flexible or suit your requirements.

Know about service prices.

Energy companies nowadays offer competitive pricing to their services, so the challenge here is to find the most suitable plan that suits your needs and your budget. Look for websites where you can compare competitor rates, as well as suppliers that don't add extra fees on top of current market prices.

Read the contract.

Always read and understand the contract and the indicated terms and stipulations before settling for any utility provider. Open contracts tend to be more expensive, but you have the freedom to change your plan or connection according to your needs. Fixed contracts, on the other hand, can be cheaper, but signing up for one means you'll be locked in for that service for a particular period.

Compare payment options.

Apart from competitive pricing and contract conditions, many energy suppliers also offer different payment options. Your usual payment choices may include quarterly bills, monthly direct debit, and prepayment meters. Inquire about the pros and cons of each option so you can take advantage of payment schemes that will work best for your needs and budget.

Know about debt and disconnection policies.

Say you're moving home and want to discontinue your utility service, do you need to pay certain fees for the disconnection? Or if you're lagging behind payments, will this incur any interest or cost you additional charges in the future? These are just some of the things that you need to be clear about when applying for utility connections.

Be on the lookout for added consumer benefits.

Does your energy provider offer rewards, bonuses, or other discounts? These are usually available if you pay on time or in advance, depending on your gas providers. Consider taking advantage of these practical package and service deals so you can make the most of your utility connection service.

For your reading:

Choosing electricity and gas providers

How to Save On Your Monthly Gas Expenses

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Is it possible to decrease your expenses on gas and still feel comfortable at the same time? Of course, it is!

For the most part, taking key factors into consideration will help you make adjustments as you gear towards the objective of reducing your bill. The amount of energy you use, the weather, and your home’s insulation needs are some of the aspects that will affect the overall amount you will need to pay by the month’s end.

It simply follows that the more gas you use means the higher the cost you’ll be required to pay. While the weather is totally out of your control, there are some things you can do within your home to avoid spending a fortune on gas each month.

For instance, installing a programmable thermostat is highly recommended. This makes it possible to instantly decrease heating and cooling within your home whenever appropriate.

Another effective idea is to check for air leaks in your place. Look for them in different places such as the attic or even the basement. Seal them with spray foam, caulk or other suitable material. Your goal here is to prevent uncomfortable air from getting in so that comfortable air is preserved. As much as possible, keep the doors and windows closed, too.

On the other hand, air filters should be changed on a regular basis - at least every three months. Dirty filters potentially consume more energy because continuous airflow is blocked. Check once a month to see if the filters are still clean or if replacement is already needed.  

When doing laundry, make the most of the capacity of your washers. A full-load wash often requires smaller amount of energy when compared with two small or medium-sized loads. It is also advisable to use cold water when washing your clothes. If small loads are unavoidable, adjust the level of water to the right setting. For drying tasks, lightweight clothes should be done separately with heavier items.

As for cooking, defrost frozen meat ahead of time to reduce needed time to cook it. Doing this will reduce the gas you will likely consume. Make sure that lids are placed properly on your pan to have a faster cooking experience.

These are but a few basic things you can do to ensure that your gas consumption never goes out of your control. To find more gas-saving ideas, you may check out gas companies on the web.

Related articles:

13 Ways to Save Money on Gas (financialplan.about.com)

Worried about rising energy costs? Here are 10 crafty tricks to cut your bill (thisismoney.co.uk)

Effective Ways to Reduce Your Electric Bill

If you are worried that you are spending too much money on electricity, evaluating your usage is definitely the key towards resolving the problem.

There are literally hundreds of ways to reduce your energy consumption. As long as you are willing to take a closer look at your habits and do necessary changes, it’s really not an impossible goal to save big bucks along the way.

So before trying to compare and find electricity providers online, I will share a few ideas in this article to give you some good starting points:

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Fridge and Freezer

The kitchen is often the place that takes up a huge percentage in your consumption. Just consider the fact that your fridge and freezer running the entire day.

Fortunately, there’s something you can do about it. For instance, avoid leaving the door open for a long time. Keeping the door closed makes it easier for the appliance to retain its cold temperature. Also, it is a big mistake to put warm food because that will be harder for your freezer to cool down.

Another thing you should keep in mind is to consistently keep the appliance at least ¾ full for most of the time. Do not fill it to capacity because that will require higher amounts of cooling power. Regular defrosting can be a big help, too.

Home Entertainment

Taking a closer look, you will likely find out that about half of your consumption is from home entertainment systems such as computers, televisions, and other electronic devices.


If you are planning to purchase a TV soon, you might be interested to know that LED TVs are far more energy-efficient than LCDs and plasmas. Of course, the rule still applies that bigger TVs consume more energy so take note of that as well. Check ahead if the TV comes with ambient light sensor feature. This technology makes it possible for the TV to automatically make setting adjustments based on how light or dark the room is. Take advantage of the eco mode and turn it on, too, if your TV has this feature.
 

Image credit: Aaron Peterson (flickr.com)

When it comes to computers, it makes sense to go for laptops because they consume lesser electricity than desktops. You will be surprised with how big you can save if you will consistently use your laptop instead of your PC. If using a desktop is unavoidable, ditch the old-fashioned CRT monitor and get a slimmer display. This can help you save more money in the end.  


Related Resources:
100 Ways to Save Energy at Home (progress-energy.com)
Saving Electricity (energy.gov)

Moderation in Usage: Years in Retrospect

Photo Courtesy of: Blind Wiehle (flickr.com)

It’s been several years since the Carbon Tax was implemented, and the long-term benefits of the restriction are definitely being felt down the road. It’s still a long-way from the goal of reduced emissions in twenty-five years’ time, though. How’s the rollout going so far? Here’s a lookback and forecast of what to expect.

Curbing Consumption: Taxation

In essence, a carbon tax levies manufacturing and mining firms for every tonne of hazardous gases their factories and equipment release into the air. In Australia, the government charges $23 Australian bucks or around fifteen pounds per tonne, and this rises by 2.5% in yearly payments. Because of this additional expense, the legislators expect that the top firms will eventually curb their use of fossil fuel to run their power generators and vehicles. Thus, the amount of carbon emission will hopefully drop to 5% all over the country in eight to ten years under this policy.

Demand, Upgrades Dictate Cost

Naturally, the power rates would increase because of changes in the way the firms run their business. Old equipment must be replaced with newer and more energy-efficient ones. Suppliers of electricity must stop using coal or oil to fire up the turbines and shift to a cleaner energy source, such as water, wind or sunlight. And so, energy companies that invest in cutting-edge technology, like hydroelectric power generators, modern wind turbines, and large solar panels, will survive through the transition.

Forward-Facing and Optimistic

On the whole, the carbon tax aimed (and still aims) to clear up Australia's air quality at the expense of the energy and mining companies that lack economic resources to improve their facilities. This concern is evident in the 2012 Australia and New Zealand report from the Carbon Disclosure Project, which revealed that seventy-five percent of the energy firms affected by the legislation viewed the required changes to their business operations as risky investments. In particular, three big corporations in the energy and mining industry have shared strong warnings that the carbon levy presented high risks for all sectors. This means increased consumer prices for gas and electricity and more expensive wholesale rates for energy bundles.

On the flip side, the rise in power costs eventually drives investment into "green" energy generation. businesses will seek cost-efficient means to get the resources they need by developing newer technologies. This led legislators to believe that electricity retailer and producers, as well as major players in the energy, mining and manufacturing industries will thrive despite the initial drawbacks of this tax policy. In fact, the 2012 Australian Energy Technology Assessment from the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics predicted that electricity generated through wind turbines may turn out to be cheaper than coal within ten years or so under the carbon policy.

Related Resources:

The End of the Electric Utilities? The Industry Thinks So Too (huffingtonpost.com)

Power and Water Utilities: An Unlikely Alliance (huffingtonpost.com)

How To Secure Your Internet Connection

Your home’s internet connection can serve as a gateway for thieves to get into your personal data and information. Attackers are always looking for susceptible home networks where they could potentially get valuable information. Although you might believe that there’s nothing ‘valuable’ stored in your computer, it is a risk you don’t want to take. 

An unsecured wireless network allows everyone within the range to access and use your internet connection. Their internet activities using your connection might slow down the speed for you and could possibly use up your data limits leaving you not being able to get online for the remainder of the month.

These are just the common threats posed by an unsecured network and I’m sure there are more harm that people with ill intentions could do to your network and use it against you. So here are tips on how you can protect your network from unwanted users:

• If you haven’t already, set up a firewall. Your internet service provider will be able to help you with this. A firewall is important to monitor all the information and data that is being sent and received by your computer. You will be able to check for suspicious activities that you didn’t initiate.
• Back up your firewall software with a physical firewall. A firewall software can be breached by people with the right resources so double your protection and install another firewall.
• When using a router, make sure it also has a firewall of its own.
• Secure your wireless network with a strong and secure password is made up of a lot of characters with uppercase, lowercase, numbers and special characters. The more random, the better.
• You can also setup your wireless network to grant access only to devices it recognizes.
• Encrypt all sensitive data and always back up important files. You will never know what will happen tomorrow. A hacker could have gained access to your network and deleted all your files or your internet got infected with a virus or your hard drive broke down. All these scenarios could happen to you at any given time so always remember to back up. Data recovery is expensive and takes up to a few months.
• Make sure all the accounts in your computer have secure passwords. Turn off other accounts in your computer when not in use.
• Turn wireless broadcast off when no one else is using the network besides you.
• Turn computer off when not in use. Sometimes we just leave the computer on when we’re not using it to save time from booting up or if we want to be always notified of incoming emails and news. However, this will leave your computer vulnerable. The best way to protect it is by turning it off.

Related Articles:
Choosing An Internet Service Provider

Electrical Safety In The Home For Your Kids

As a kid who was naturally inquisitive, I've been zapped once or twice by faulty electrical cables. Lucky for me, I grew up in a time where there weren’t a lot of appliances in the house. But nowadays, as technology becomes a huge part of our lives, kids are also introduced at very young ages how to use gadgets and mobile devices and they get so used to having electricity near them. It is important that we not only teach them how to use these technologies, but also how to be safe, especially with gadgets that have to be plugged in.

Here are some safety instructions that you can pass on to your kids to ensure electrical safety in the home:

1. Advice very small children to stay away from electrical outlets and cords, especially the ones that are on the floor. Tell them the reasons why. Proper communication with very young kids will promote better compliance. Make them understand that electricity can be dangerous and aren't meant for small children to handle.
2. Teach older kids the proper way to plug electrical cords and how to unplug it. It can be very tempting for kids to just yank on the cord when unplugging. Explain to them that this can damage the plug or the socket.
3. Always turn off an electronic item before unplugging. Prematurely cutting the power can damage the machine.
4. Do not overload extension cord since this can result to overheating and might cause a fire in the house.
5. Highlight the importance of never sticking anything into the holes of sockets, be it their fingers or a pin. If you can, put outlet caps on unused outlets to remove this temptation.
6. Inform them that water and electricity when mixed together is highly dangerous and will result in an accident. They should not handle appliances and electronics when wet or when near a tub of water or in the shower. Drinks should be placed at a safe distance from electronics. Also when there’s a thunderstorm, do not get in the pool or swim in the beach because you might get electrocuted by lightning since lightning is attracted to water.
7. When playing outside like climbing a tree or flying kites or remote controlled toy plane, watch out for power lines and stay away. Explain to children that power lines carry electricity into the houses.
8. Keep lit candles away from electronics.
9. Keep the wires of appliances away from the stove to prevent causing a fire in the home.
10. Regularly have electricity companies check your wirings inside or around the house or underground to make sure that your family is safe. Tell kids to immediately report if they see cables from power lines that are broken or not in its place.

Related articles:

4 Smart Caveats When Signing A Contract With Electricity Retailers

Switch On, Use Up, And Save Money When Using Electricity At Home