Rauw Energy News

Brookhaven Labs & Retrofits

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +0000

In an article titled "Fuel Oil and the Green Future" in Fuel Oil News, June 2010, Brookhaven National Laboratory's Tom Butcher commented that, "Simply controlling system losses offers great potential for energy savings in the short term, Butcher said, and the industry has already made aggressive moves to push efficiency levels over 90 percent, he noted. In that vein, retrofitting advanced controls to existing heating systems could yield low-cost reductions in fuel use".

Brookhaven Labs conducted extensive tests on the Fuel Economizer and concluded savings were in excess of 10%.

NYC Fuel Price Update

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The most recent NYC fuel prices, as posted by the US EIA (Energy Information Administration) are available. Number 2 oil and number 6 oil have been steady over the past three months, but are all up markedly when compared to this time last year.

NYC Community Air Survey

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Number 6 fuel oil, and the lesser used number 4, have been in the news of late. The New York City Community Air Survey was released in December 2009 and revealed some powerful facts. Among them, they helped debunk the myth that trucks, buses and cars are the main source of New York's air pollution; the bulk of the pollution comes from buildings. The dirtiest buildings are those that burn number 6 and number 4 oil. The Environmental Defense Fund prepared a fantastic interactive map that shows which buildings burn these residual fuels. Does yours?

The Fuel Economizer, along with saving dollars and reducing CO2, also reduces air pollutants by over 40% for oil fired burners. Specifically, filterable particulates, hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide are reduced greater than 40% as the cycling of a boiler is reduced.

#6 Fuel Oil Facts

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Number 6 fuel oil is used primarily for heating large buildings like commercial buildings and apartment buildings, so unless you are familiar with large-scale heating, chances are you have not heard of it. Home heating oil is known as number 2 oil which is the same thing as diesel used in cars and trucks, except a little dirtier. So what is number 6? Literally, it is the bottom of the barrel. If you remember fractional distillation from high school science you can visualize what happens with crude oil when it is refined. The cleaner fuels rise to the top, and the heavy ones fall to the bottom. The only product heavier than number 6 in the distillation process is asphalt.

Number 6 is known as residual fuel oil. It is dirty, heavy, difficult to handle, and cheap. It is high in sulfur and has the highest proportion of carbon, which becomes CO2 when combusted, of any fuel type available. Number 6 is also heavy, or viscous. Handling it is like handling tar, in fact it needs to be heated to make it move. The trucks that deliver it are heated, the tanks that store it in the basements of buildings are heated, etc.

This of course begs the question of why it is used. The answer is simple...it is cheap, and it has a high BTU per gallon content. New York City has many older buildings that are trapped in the number 6 heating infrastructure. It is unfortunate. It is also literally a "dirty secret." Few tenants who are judicously recycling, watching energy consumption, and reducing their carbon footprint realize they are living in a building with technology only slightly better than a coal plant.

What to do? Seems to us if you could reduce your consumption by 15% to 20% that would be a great start.

Heating Oil Price Update

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

As crude oil prices rise, so do home heating oil prices, but not necessarily by the same percent. Lots of factors play in this strange relationship. Last week the average U.S. price per gallon for home heating oil was $2.72 per gallon which is an 8.8¢ increase from the week before.

The US Energy Information Administration publishes a weekly update called This Week in Petroleum. If you are interested in more information on the petroleum markets, this is a good source for it. http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip.asp

Ask a question - save a lot

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

There's a simple setting hidden inside many of the grey boxes attached to your boiler; it's called the Low Limit. Your oil guy is totally familiar with it. We've seen many of these controls when we install the Fuel Economizer and often scratch our heads and wonder why some are set as high as they are. It would not hurt at all to ask him why your limit is set where it is. The upside is you may be able to set it lower and save a lot.

We would love to see these set where appropriate for you. Then with the Fuel Economizer installed you'll save yet another load. The Fuel Economizer will give you savings whether you are set efficiently or not since it simply adds brains to your system.

The only one who loses out in this scenario is the oil company... the people who sell you the oil AND set up and maintain your system. Hmm.

A little more info on what we're saying. Would you accept your car idling at 4000 RPM instead of the normal 1000 or lower? Probably not, yet your boiler may be doing just this, but you just don't know it.

Energy Cost Comparison

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

We decided to take a look at the cost per BTU for different fuels. We do this periodically since costs don't always move in the same direction. Following are typical retail prices today in the Northeast. We also took a look at electricity since the conversion from Kilowatt hours to BTU's is a straight forward calculation and makes the energy content comparable.

The bottom line? Natural gas is cheap... if you can get it, and electricity is at a premium. We'll be sure to take another look at this as energy prices move.

Price comparison
Fuel	Retail Price	Price Per BTU
Oil	2.65 per gallon	$18.94
Gas	1.35 per therm	$13.50
Propane	2.25 per gallon	$23.45
Electricity	0.15 per Kilowatt Hour	$46.89

RauwLetter - The Newsletter of the Rauw Energy Community

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The July 2009 issue of RauwLetter is ready and has been emailed to the Rauw Energy community. Go to our RauwLetter section where you can subscribe to quick news and updates on subjects such as fuel prices, conservation tips, what's new at Rauw Energy and any specials we are offering.

We hope you enjoy RauwLetter. If you have any suggestions as to what you would like to see in the newsletter, simply send us your comments via our contact link.

Invitation from Vermont Yankee

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Rauw Energy was invited by Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant to participate in their annual on-site employee safety day.

Vermont Yankee is actively promoting energy conservation. As well as educating the public about energy-saving tools such as compact fluorescent lightbulbs and reusable water bottles, Vermont Yankee is interested in bringing energy saving technologies to their employees. The smart technology embedded in the Fuel Economizer fits perfectly into this goal. The Fuel Economizer will be offered for sale to Vermont Yankee's 652 employees for installation in their homes so they too can begin to save money, save energy and reduce their carbon footprints.

Rauw at Strolling of the Heifers

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0000

On Saturday, June 6, 2009, just as the sun peaked over the mountains, the Rauw Energy team traveled to Brattleboro, VT to participate in the Green Expo section of the annual Strolling of the Heifers event. Along with other notables such as GroSolar and Efficiency Vermont, Rauw Energy participated in the event to bring education and energy conservation technologies directly to the public.

Rauw Energy's Fuel Economizer stirred up a lot of interest. Although not a new technology since the Fuel Economizer has been in the market for about ten years, not many people had heard of this conservation device. The Rauw Energy team answered thousands of questions, directed consumers to the rauwenergy.com website and handed out free, recycled-plastic yo-yos…just for fun.

Strolling of the Heifers was a marked success. At the end of the day, the tired, hungry, “rauw” throated but happy team packed up the tent and headed home to plan for the next event.