I wanted to remind everyone about energy audits conducted free of charge by your utility company.  We have gotten one every time we have purchased a new home.  The auditor comes out to your house, gives you free information (and sometimes goodies like light bulbs or water flow restrictors), and evaluates your home's energy usage.  If they find you have areas that need improvement, there are often no/low-interest loans or grants to help with the work.

We just had one done in our new house.  I got some great information and they are sending a contractor out next week (at no charge) to evaluate our duct system.  I was also able to ask about solar or wind accomodations for the house.  Neither are appropriate right now, but we might benefit from a solar water heater.

Check it out!  You might be able to save money on your utilities and save the planet too!

Thanks for the info.  I've seen that our power company offers them, but didn't know how useful it would be since our home is pretty new construction and relatively energy efficient.  I bet they could suggest some things that would surprise me, though.  I may have to give them a call about it.

Heh. I could probably teach the auditor a thing or two about energy. Like why flourescent bulbs waste energy (and cost more) if they are not left on for at least 15 minutes.