Does your natural gas company do this?

[2cents]

Alliant Energy, a natural gas company servicing Iowa residents is not only offer qualifying customers a free energy audit of their home, they are also offering energy-saving upgrades to homeowners at no additional cost.

http://alliantenergy.com/Newsroom/Re...eleases/025681

Even if your natural gas company isn't this forward-thinking, you can still take advantage of Alliant's advice before the cold weather really sinks in. Do your own audit by

• Installing a programmable thermostat ($40-$65), and then programming it so that the most uncomfortable temperature is when your family is sleeping or out of the home.
• Switch out your incandescent bulbs for Energy Star-rate compact fluorescent bulbs.
• Consider a low-flow showerhead.
• Makes sure your faucets of have aerators
• Check to make sure your pipes are properly insulated and that your water heater has an insulation blanket, particularly if it's housed in a less-than-ideally insulated room.
• If you don't change your filters every 30 days, definitely do it for the change of the season. And then remind yourself to change your filters more often.
• Get your furnace inspected on a yearly basis.
• Windows are a huge source of energy loss, so make sure to guard against drafts and other heat thieves. Heavy curtains, waffle-weave blinds, anything that creates an air-barrier will help lessen the ability for warm, toasty air to escape to the frigid outdoors.

You may also want to contact your gas company directly to see if they offer inspections, audits, and rebates on any of the above upgrades. Here's to saving money for a warm Christmas!

[dimetime]

I don't think that the gas companies around here do this kind of stuff to help people, however there is a company that will come in to your home if you qualify and they will do all kinds of work to a person's home.

A friend of mine's family did qualify for this and they went into the home and worked on the furnance, replaced all of the light bulbs, replaced the windows and added storm windows where needed, added weather stripping where needed, and many other things.

It was surprising what was done to their home to get it prepared for winter. This was done about 2 years ago and I can't even guess how much it would have cost them out of pocket if they had to pay for everything that was done.

It was really amazing. Their home, they said was so much more comfortable throughout the winter that they weren't sure what to do with themselves. Also their energy bills have dropped dramatically as well and that is always a good thing.

I wish I could remember what company did all of this work and what the program was called, but I just can't. I will have to ask them when I see them again.