LOUISVILLE, KY – U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman visited Lowe’s Home Improvement Store today to highlight easy and inexpensive ways consumers can reduce their energy bills this winter.  With higher home heating costs expected over the next several months, all citizens and businesses are encouraged to take simple steps to reduce their energy consumption.  This visit to Louisville is Energy Secretary Bodman’s second stop on the national “Easy Ways to Save Energy” campaign. 

 

“Our Administration is very concerned about the impact of winter energy costs on American families,” said Secretary Bodman.  “Taking a few simple steps to prepare for the cold winter months, and conserving as much as possible, could have a tremendous positive impact.”

 

On Monday, October 3, 2005, Energy Secretary Bodman launched the Department of Energy’s national “Easy Ways to Save Energy” campaign, a comprehensive approach to improving energy efficiency for consumers, businesses and the government.  The campaign features:

 

• An informative “Energy $avers” guide outlining easy ways to improve home energy efficiency available through the Department of Energy or online at http://www.energysavers.gov/;
• An aggressive public education effort including online, print, radio and television ads featuring the “Energy Hog” - a character similar to McGruff the Crime Dog and Smokey the Bear;
• An “Energy Hog” curriculum to be used by teachers in grades 3-8 featuring web-based games and take-home activities;
• A series of radio public service announcements in English and Spanish featuring energy saving tips that have been distributed to 4,500 stations across the United States;

• Industrial Energy Saving Teams that will be dispatched to help improve the efficiency of 200 of America’s most energy-intensive factories;
• Department of Energy is making the Energy $avers guide available to be reprinted and distributed by manufacturers, retailers and local utilities;

• Secretary Bodman has directed teams of qualified energy experts to deploy to federal facilities to identify quick and easy ways to save energy this winter.  The federal government is the largest consumer of energy in the United States.   

• Making sure your home is properly insulated.  Proper insulation in attics, ceilings, floors, crawlspaces and exterior and basement walls can save 30 percent on home heating bills;
• Installing a programmable thermostat.  Turning down a thermostat from 72 to 65 degrees for eight hours a day will save up to 10 percent on your heating bill;
• Replacing existing light bulbs with Energy Star qualified fluorescent lights in the lamps and fixtures in your home; this can save up to 50 percent on lighting costs.  

For more on the Department of Energy’s “Easy Ways to Save Energy” campaign, visit http://www.energysavers.gov/  or call DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy toll-free hotline at 1-877-EERE-INF (1-877-337-3463).