Tips for conserving electricity

DES MOINES — October is National Energy Awareness month. A spokeswoman for a company that supplies natural gas to more than 130 Iowa communities says it’s a good time to examine where energy might be escaping from your home.

Nicole Breitbach of Black Hills Energy says besides sealing up gaps around windows and doors, checking outside electrical outlets is a good idea.  “That’s a big area, too. They do make styrofoam plugs that can help seal up some of the energy loss,” she says. “Other things include, though, regularly maintaining your furnace, so making sure that every month you are changing your furnace filter and that you are having a professional check-up each year.”

Breitbach says one way to use Mother Nature for a bit of inside heat during the winter is to make sure window curtains and shades are raised during the day if it’s sunny outside. She says setting the thermostat to 68 degrees during the day is also an energy saver.  “Having a programmable thermostat will allow you to do that as well,” she says.

About a quarter of Iowa homes rely on electricity for heat and more than 60 percent are heated with natural gas. Black Hills Energy, which is based in South Dakota, has about 160-thousand natural gas customers in Iowa.