WhiteFence Home Services Blog

The Upgraded WhiteFence Index

Compare Utilities with the WhiteFence Index

Want to find out what the people in your city are paying for their utilities? WhiteFence is proud to introduce the new-and-improved WhiteFence Index. If you aren't familiar with the WhiteFence Index, it's a tool to help you compare your monthly utility bills to the average that your neighbors pay. Whether you're switching, transferring home services or moving into a new home, the WhiteFence Index is a great resource to help budget your move and monthly utility bills.

The WhiteFence Index is currently available for 21 of the nation's top cities. The averages for telecommunications services are based on the orders that we see from our many websites, while the averages for electricity and natural gas are obtained differently. Due to our widespread relationships with service providers and our knowledge of the energy industry, WhiteFence has been able to get the actual price for each city published. If you'd like to read more about how these averages are compiled, feel free to read more at the WhiteFence Index methodology

A couple of features and improvements have been added to the newest version. One of the more notable upgrades is that each city now has its own city-specific page, so that you can compare between two different locations. This is especially useful for movers who are relocating and can really help you plan out a secure budget for your first few months in a new home or apartment. The other important addition to the WhiteFence Index is the ability to compare the average costs on individual home services. This means that you can compare what people in Houston paid for Internet service to what people in Atlanta paid for Internet service.

To discover more about what you could be saving on home utilities, head on over to the WhiteFence Index.

Tags: electricity, internet, natural gas, phone, television, utilities, utilities average

Posted by Eddy on May 7, 2008 7:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Texas Electricity Providers Give Help

With oil and natural gas prices climbing, it looks like we're all in for one hot Summer. Naturally, there are some consumers growing concerned with the way that costs are continuing to rise, especially as the price of cooling a house during the summer looms. Fortunately for Texas electricity users, companies like Reliant™ and TXU are stepping in to help seniors and low-income households during the Summer months.

Apparently, TXU said recently that for the months of July, August and September, it won't be turning off anyone's electricity. Rather, customers will work out a payment plan of some kind in order to continue receiving their power. Likewise, Reliant™ "says it's calling a moratorium on disconnecting power from July 1st through September for critical care, low income and senior citizens or low-income customers".

While offering deferred payment options can be common for some electricity providers, it's not every day that you'll see companies offer a moratorium for several months, along with some heavy discounts for low-income households. If you want to read more about the Reliant™ and TXU summer savings, you can do so at KTEN. To find out if you or someone you know is eligible for these kinds of savings, be sure to call your provider directly.

Tags: electricity, electricity in texas, texas electric providers, texas electricity, texas electricity companies

Posted by Eddy on May 5, 2008 8:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Big and Green

With many countries from around the world quickly turning their attention to green energy, several governments are working on plans to create long term energy efficiency strategies, where the end goal is to have a country running on a certain percentage of green energy within a few years. The products of these strategies are new and ambitious projects that look to change the landscape of green energy all around the world. In a recent article, Forbes takes a gander at some of these astounding green undertakings.

While the projects are worldwide, a few are located here in the United States — namely California's Mojave Desert, home to many new solar-thermal power plants. Texas is also mentioned for its 2,700 turbine wind farm which "will be able to power 1 million homes when construction ends." It is being built by Texas oil man T. Boone Pickens.

Other projects that Forbes takes note of are interesting as well, including "the world's first building-integrated wind turbine skyscraper" as well as an offshore London wind-farm. Visit Forbes to read more about the other green endeavors that made the list. Also, check up on GreenEnergyChoice to find out how you can contribute by offsetting your energy and make great use of all of that excellent Texas wind energy.

Tags: clean energy, conservation, energy conservation, green energy, wind power

Posted by Eddy on May 1, 2008 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wake Up With Wi-Fi

Cream, sugar and high-speed Internet? Last week, AT&T announced that starting in May, AT&T customers and caffeine addicts alike will get to experience Wi-Fi service in 7,000 Starbucks stores nationwide. The first market to get access to this exciting new addition will be San Antonio, Texas, whose residents should be seeing Wi-Fi access in many locations starting May 1st.

The benefit of using AT&T Wi-Fi will be included with several of the broadband Internet packages that the provider offers, including the AT&T U-verse package. To use the complimentary wireless access, "AT&T customers can connect to the Internet from Wi-Fi enabled company-operated Starbucks locations nationwide by simply selecting 'ATTWiFi' after powering up their computers." For those who are not AT&T customers, there will be options in the coming months to purchase time on the Wi-Fi service.

To find out more about the Wi-Fi service, head over to the AT&T News Room to get the full details. Expect to see access at locations all around the country soon.

Tags: at&t, at&t internet, att, att internet, broadband, high-speed internet, wi-fi

Posted by Eddy on April 29, 2008 11:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Teaching Kids on Earth Day

As you may already know, Earth Day is just around the corner. On April 22^nd, 2008, hundreds of millions of people from around the world will be celebrating Earth Day in order to raise the general awareness about energy conservation and environmental protection and care.

While there are several great ways to participate, TampaBay has posted some helpful tips to help parents educate children about energy conservation. The tips are both practical and effective, ranging from teaching your children good habits like turning the lights off when they leave a room or unplugging non-used appliances to taking them out in nature and showing them what a treasure it is. Another tip mentioned is demonstrating that children are a part of this world and have a role to play in affecting the environment, for good or ill.

Since Earth Day falls on a weekday, many cities are holding related events this upcoming weekend. The guide also has a few tips on some fun Earth Day activities if you happen to live in the Tampa or St. Petersburg, Florida area. For more information, read up on the full article at TampaBay. To get more education about April 22^nd, EarthDay has plenty of online resources as well. But most importantly, check out your local city guide and find out how to participate in the celebration locally.

Tags: clean energy, earth day, energy conservation, environment, green, green energy, renewable energy

Posted by Eddy on April 17, 2008 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spike TV Uses The Force

Starting this weekend, Spike TV is launching the basic-cable premiere of all six films from the epic science fiction saga, Star Wars. The network is kicking off a two-weekend event tonight at 8/7C with Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Episodes II and III will play on Saturday and Sunday (April 5-6), and Episodes IV, V and VI will run next weekend, April 11-13. This is the first time that all of the Star Wars movies will be played together in this chronological fashion on basic-cable.

In addition to the classic films, Spike will be running small featurettes about the films that were created by LucasFilm that inform viewers about the making of the movies, etc. One of the big selling points is that there will be a special preview of a new Star Wars video game coming in September, The Force Unleashed.

For those with HDTV, the first three films will be appearing in pristine high-definition. If you don't want to miss out on the Star Wars action, make sure that Spike TV is a part of your home cable or satellite service. To read more about the two-weekend event with all six movies, head over to Spike TV.

Tags: cable, cable company, cable provider, cable service, cable tv, home cable, television

Posted by Eddy on April 4, 2008 8:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Turning off the Lights in Phoenix

On Saturday, March 29th, 2008 at 8 pm local time, many businesses and individuals from around the world are going to participate in Earth Hour. If you're wondering what Earth Hour is, it's an energy conservation awareness event that began in Australia in 2007. For one hour, people turn off their lights and non-essential electronics in order to raise awareness about saving energy and lowering carbon emissions. The event is sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund.

One particular city that has received attention for its upcoming participation in Earth Hour is Phoenix, Arizona, which will reportedly turn off all the lights for the city-run buildings downtown. Shutting the downtown lights off for a large city seems to be quite the ordeal. "It sounds easy, but its kind of sticky, when you're talking about big, tall buildings, ball parks and convention centers," commented Leslie Aun, a World Wildlife Fund representative. "There's a whole electrical system that really isn't designed to be turned on or off. So to actually pick a specific time in the day and have all of these buildings go off at the same time is quite a logistical challenge."

Millions of people around the world will be participating in Earth Hour on Saturday, March 29th. To find out how you can help be a part of history, read more at Earth Hour. Likewise, AZCentral has more details about Phoenix and its participation.

Tags: clean energy, earth hour, energy conservation, green energy, renewable energy

Posted by Eddy on March 28, 2008 4:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

High-Speed Internet on the Rise

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently released its data concerning the overall penetration of high-speed internet connections in America. To gather this information, the FCC asks providers to give some basic information a couple of times a year.

As of June 30, 2007, it seems that high-speed connections increased by 22 percent "from 82.8 million to 100.9 million lines in service, following a 27 percent increase, from 65.3 million to 82.8 million lines, during the second half of 2006." What's interesting is that many of the "advanced" high-speed connections are to homes and domestic residences. And while there are over 100 million broadband connections, it seems that America is still ranked 15th in terms of the scope of its broadband use.

If you want to find out more about the FCC's data for broadband internet, you can read about it at Government Technology. Are you one of the millions that has yet to enter the broadband world? Moving and need to find the best service in your area? Find the high-speed internet service that works for your situation.

Tags: broadband internet, cable, dsl, high speed, high speed internet, internet, provider

Posted by Eddy on March 20, 2008 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UCF Students Save Energy for Scholarships

Last month, students at the University of Central Florida held a competition. And no, the NCAA was not involved. This particular competition had students squaring off to see who could save the most energy. The record-setting results have come in, and it seems that the students gave UCF a good show for green energy.

Nearly "6,000 students reduced their energy use by a competition-record 8.9 percent --enough to power 150 homes for a month or the equivalent of nearly $17,700 in energy bills". The three winning buildings now have a chance to win prizes including scholarships, gift cards and pizza parties. Residents from each building have a short window to send in essays about their efforts to save energy.

All of this is part of UCF's long term plan to transform into a greener campus. By 2011, "the Center for Energy and Sustainability wants to reduce UCF’s energy consumption up to 20 percent in all education and general buildings". To read more about the green contest, you can head over to the University of Central Florida.

Tags: clean energy, energy conservation, green energy, renewable energy, save energy, university of central florida

Posted by Eddy on March 18, 2008 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Comcast Testing Higher-Speed Internet

Think your high-speed internet is fast now? Wait until 2009, when Comcast plans to roll out its new 100 Gbps optical networking. The provider is currently "conducting what it claims is the first test of 100-gigabit-per-second optical networking equipment carrying live Internet traffic over a production fiber infrastructure". The test is happening at the same time as the gathering of the Internet Engineering Task Force, which occurs this week in Philadelphia.

“This is a significant milestone in readying for the deployment of 100-gigabit optics,” said John Scanz, executive vice president of national engineering and technical operations for Comcast. “It’s an enabling building block for going to wideband.” The term "wideband" refers to one of the latest technology hurdles in the high-speed industry that puts several channels together to give users download speeds that are unheard of (100 Mbps or more).

To give an idea of how fast this wideband test is, current broadband speeds operate at around 10 Mbps on the high end for the average home. If you want to learn more about the test of this blazing fast internet, feel free to read up on it at Multichannel News.

Tags: broadband, comcast, comcast high speed, high speed internet, internet, internet provider

Posted by Eddy on March 13, 2008 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Mythbusting Hybrids

Thinking about purchasing a hybrid automobile as your next vehicle?

In a recent article, the Star-Telegram out of Ft. Worth analyzes some key things to know about the energy-efficient autos including charging, how the car works and its fuel economy. It's an extremely helpful and informative piece, and should tell you all you need when considering your options for your next vehicle.

To read up on hybrids, visit the Star-Telegram.

Tags: clean energy, green, green energy, renewable energy

Posted by Eddy on March 10, 2008 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Manure Gives Gas to California Homes

It seems that renewable energy stinks.

This week, Pacific Gas & Electric and BioEnergy Solutions opened a pipeline to transfer manure-generated gas. The gas is produced through the use of "digesters", machines that convert manure into gas. This gas, after being refined and separated, is then sent to PG&E, where they plan to use it to run their electrical plant as well as help give natural gas to homes. The process all starts at Vintage Dairy, a 5,000-cow farm.

Apparently the "Vintage Dairy facility is expected to provide enough gas for 1,200 homes." Additionally, BioEnergy expects to "deliver 3 billion cubic feet of gas to PG&E a year, enough gas for 50,000 homes." While being a great renewable energy resource, the process has the added benefit of protecting the environment, since "manure storage facilities are a source of groundwater pollution as well as greenhouse gases".

For more about the "cow power" process, read up on it at CNET.

Tags: natural gas, natural gas company, natural gas energy

Posted by Eddy on March 7, 2008 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A New HD Deal

Been looking to jump into the HD pool? Right now might be the perfect time to dive into the high-definition world. Best Buy and DIRECTV are teaming up to bring an enticing deal to consumers: buy an HDTV and receive $30 credits per month towards your DIRECTV bill, in order to "upgrade to a high-def service plan."

According to Chris Homeister, Best Buy's vice president of merchandising for home entertainment services, Best Buy wants to help people experience at home the same quality they witness in stores, and that the company is "making a dramatic statement about the importance of connecting a television to the right source for HD programming."

As with any deal, there are certain terms depending on the nature of your purchase. Head on over to Best Buy to check out the rules of the DIRECTV deal, which is only available in-store.

Tags: digital cable, direct tv, hd, hd cable, hdtv, satellite tv

Posted by Eddy on March 5, 2008 4:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Teaching for the Digital Transition

On February 17, 2009, the big switch happens in television— analog to digital. In order to adjust for this change, people will have to make sure that they have a television capable of receiving a digital signal, or a set-top box that converts a digital signal to analog. As you can imagine, this is causing quite the stir for consumers and corporations alike.

To help ease into the transition, the Federal Communications Commission has stepped up, releasing a "digital TV transition education order requiring broadcasters, pay-TV services, retailers and consumer electronics manufacturers to promote awareness of the nation's switch to digital television".

This information will be given to the public through notices on bills, on-air commercials, and more. All are trying to ensure that nobody misses the boat that leaves the analog landscape, sailing off for clearer, high quality shores in the land of digital. To learn more about the education order, visit SkyReport. For more information about the switch to digital, get caught up at Digital Television.

Tags: analog, cable, digital, digital cable, digital transition

Posted by Eddy on March 4, 2008 5:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Does Saving Daylight Save Energy?

If you are a person that loves sleep, then you probably have March 9^th already circled in an angry red color on your calendar. The time to move our clocks forward an hour happens in just a few weeks— but what happens to our energy bills?

While daylight-savings time has traditionally been thought to reduce energy use, there is a new study out of California suggesting otherwise. Professor of economics Matthew Kotchen and Ph.D. student Laura Grant have conducted a study using data from the state of Indiana, whose counties didn't fully participate in daylight-savings until 2006. Using data from the counties that already did move their clocks as a constant, they were able to look at the new participants' data and find the difference in their energy bills. By the study's calculations, the change of time at daylight-savings "costs Indiana households an additional $8.6 million in electricity bills".

Though the study is not conclusive, the information put together is worth a read. For a full break down of the study (and even the history of daylight-savings), be sure to visit the Wall Street Journal.

Tags: electricity, energy, energy conservation, renewable energy

Posted by Eddy on February 29, 2008 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Earn Green at Work By Going Green at Home

Ever gotten a bonus from the boss for recycling? How about carpooling or putting less miles on your car? A recent post by Kelly Spors at Independent Street looks at a growing trend in companies— rewarding employees who participate in green energy programs.

For carpooling, taking public transportation or biking to work, Clif Bar & Co. give out "gift certificates and massages and forgivable loans of up to $5,000 for buying fuel-efficient cars, such as hybrids". Green Mountain Energy Co. in Austin, Texas is also getting in on the fun, providing incentives for employees who find better ways to commute.

It is definitely an interesting read, and begs the question of whether or not it is beneficial to renewable energy awareness for employers to offer bonuses in these kinds of programs. For more info, you can read the full Independent Street article.

Tags: green, green company, green energy, green mountain energy, renewable energy

Posted by Eddy on February 27, 2008 6:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CBS and Comcast Feeling Mad About March

It's that time of year again. The time of basketball upsets, rooting for the underdog, last-minute heroics and "bracketology". March Madness is upon us and it's bearing down fast.

It's lucky then that CBS and Comcast are teaming up to bring video-on-demand content to satiate the appetite of rabid college hoops fans. That's right, CBS and other providers are hosting HD content straight out of the Division I Men's Basketball Championship tournament, complete with highlights from dozens of games. There will also be a way to view "highlights from 25 of the greatest games from previous tournaments".

“Video-on-demand and high-definition content are top priorities for MSOs,” commented Tony Petitti, executive vp and executive producer, CBS Sports. “CBS College Sports Network and CBS Sports are delivering exclusive, compelling programming that has never been available before, as well as leading the way in serving fans with more options, access and control.”

For the full story, read more at MediaWeek.

Tags: cable, cable company, cable tv, comcast, hd, high definition

Posted by Eddy on February 26, 2008 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Japan's High-Speed Satellite

Blast off! Japan sent a satellite into orbit over the weekend, full of high-speed aspirations— the idea is that this satellite can provide all of Asia with blazing high-speed internet. A successful launch took place on Saturday evening, with the rocket taking off from the Space Center located at Tanagashima island.

Supposedly, the satellite will be of value to Japan for the next 5 years, supplying a signal that will allow for up to 1.2 GB per second download speeds. While the service won't be available until July, Japan is hoping to provide high-speed internet to rural areas that are hard to access given the current infrastructure.

Find out more at ECanadaNow.

Tags: broadband, high speed, internet

Posted by Eddy on February 26, 2008 7:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WhiteFence Recently Featured in "Save with Dave"

CBS 13 of Sacramento recently featured WhiteFence in their "Save with Dave" segment, calling WhiteFence a site that alleviates a lot of the hassle of moving. You should check out the video on WhiteFence here.

Tags: whitefence, whitefence demonstration, whitefence reviews

Posted by Stephanie on February 25, 2008 8:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Comparison Shopping Just Got a Lot Easier, according to the San Antonio Express-News

The Consumer's Edge section of the San Antonio Express-News recently included a story on WhiteFence's value to you, the consumer. According to the article, "instead of spending hours searching the Web or talking to customer service representatives, point your Internet browser to WhiteFence.com of Houston. When you visit the free site, you'll enter your address and get instant home-service pricing information. If you like, you can pick a service and sign up right away."

To read the whole article, you can go to the San Antonio Express-News Web site.

Tags: whitefence, whitefence reviews

Posted by Stephanie on February 20, 2008 8:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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