We recently completed our “Green Week” series where we explored ways to make our homes more energy-efficient. The tips included 53 Ways to Go Green, Going Green with Larger Home Improvements, and Six Simple Things You Can Do Around the House to Save Money and Help the Environment. Following-up on those earlier conversations, Idaho Power is offering its customers a free kit full of items to help make your home more energy-efficient.
The Energy-Savings Kit Includes:
- Nine LED Light Bulbs (6-Watt LED and 9-Watt LED)
- One LED Night Light
- One high-efficiency showerhead*
- Two Faucet Aerators*
- One Digital Thermometer
- One Shower Timer
- One Water Flow-Rate Test Bag
- Mini-Home Energy Assessment
- Energy Use Survey
-
Quick Start Guide
*Sent only to customers with electric water heaters
The kit arrives within a couple of weeks of requesting it and comes with helpful energy-saving guides as well. To start seeing the savings, it’s a matter of installing the energy-efficient products included in the kit and following the tips provided in the quick start guide.
The kit suggests replacing the most used 45-watt bulbs with the 6-watt LED bulbs from the kit. The same is true for your most used 60-watt bulbs, replacing those with the 9-watt LED bulbs that are inside the box. The suggestion is to put the bulbs in fixtures that are one at least two to three hours per day.
The digital thermometer for the refrigerator/freezer is helpful to make sure the machine is operating efficiently. Interestingly, if the freezer or refrigerator is ten degrees colder than necessary, the energy they use goes up by 25%. A refrigerator should be set between 38 degrees and 40 degrees Fahrenheit while a freezer should be set at zero degrees Fahrenheit.
Many of us enjoy taking showers and while it’s tempting to take longer showers, every five minutes of shower use is the equivalent of leaving a 60-watt light bulb on for 14 hours. Using the kit’s shower timer can help us be mindful of our resource consumption. A five-minute shower reduces energy used to pump and heat water, saves freshwater, and reduced wastewater.
Those are just a few of the items included in the kit to help save you save money. To order the kit, simply visit https://www.ipcsave2day.com. If you happened to receive an email or postcard from Idaho Power, input the information requested. Otherwise, you can use your Idaho Power account number to get the free kit. There’s a limit of one kit per customer and are while supplies last.