Woo Hoo.
A little while ago our electricity company sent a letter offering a 'free energy saving audit'. All we had to do was ring them and make an appointment.
Today their representative called around. He arrived five minutes early. Which was a shock in itself. Tradespeople NEVER arrive on time - and rarely will commit themselves to a time of arrival anyway.
Slowly, because they are expensive we have been replacing incandescent light globes with long life energy saving bulbs. Today ACTEW's representative replaced all of the ones we hadn't got to yet. The internal and external lights are now all energy savers. He replaced a dozen of them. Free.
He also fitted draft excluders to all the external doors. No more door snakes for the cats to drag away from the doors and attack. Again, free.
And finally he provided and fitted 'Automatic Power-Down' switches to both PCs and the television, speakers and associated recorders. And, you guessed it, that was also free.
Not only will our power bills be reduced we think we probably saved well over a $100 (and possibly nearer to $200) on the price of the products. As I said - woo hoo. I am happy to bad-mouth companies who don't do the right thing, so it seems more than fair to thank them when they do. And I am very, very pleased with the service offered and provided.
And it is raining gently. Joy and bliss.
A little while ago our electricity company sent a letter offering a 'free energy saving audit'. All we had to do was ring them and make an appointment.
Today their representative called around. He arrived five minutes early. Which was a shock in itself. Tradespeople NEVER arrive on time - and rarely will commit themselves to a time of arrival anyway.
Slowly, because they are expensive we have been replacing incandescent light globes with long life energy saving bulbs. Today ACTEW's representative replaced all of the ones we hadn't got to yet. The internal and external lights are now all energy savers. He replaced a dozen of them. Free.
He also fitted draft excluders to all the external doors. No more door snakes for the cats to drag away from the doors and attack. Again, free.
And finally he provided and fitted 'Automatic Power-Down' switches to both PCs and the television, speakers and associated recorders. And, you guessed it, that was also free.
Not only will our power bills be reduced we think we probably saved well over a $100 (and possibly nearer to $200) on the price of the products. As I said - woo hoo. I am happy to bad-mouth companies who don't do the right thing, so it seems more than fair to thank them when they do. And I am very, very pleased with the service offered and provided.
And it is raining gently. Joy and bliss.
Woo=hoo! indeed.
ReplyDeleteI know cynics will say there's no such thing as free.And it may be that consumers further down the line will pay more, but hey! they offered, you took up the offer and you're quids-in.
Given all the other drama in your household, this must be a cherry on the cup-cake.
dinahmow: Cherry and icing. I suspect we had already paid for this initiative through their high charges, but it is very nice to get something back. And unexpected.
DeleteNice! Glad you wrote about this because there are probably 100 other times when it hasn't gone so well for you, like most of us, right? So kudos to you!
ReplyDeleteRiot Kitty: They done good. There CEO is grossly overpaid (he was being paid more than our Prime Minister) but this is a very positive initiative.
DeleteFantastic results all round and for FREE!! You needed something good to happen and it has. The 'good' globes are a lot cheaper now and they seem to be lasting well. The first lot that were on sale didn't seem to last as long as the old fashioned globes. I think the draft excluders were a real bonus.
ReplyDeleteSo glad for you both to receive such good service from your electricity company. Way to go.
Mimsie: It is lovely to have good news for a change. And I am very pleased.
DeleteWow! Score! And, when it comes out of the blue like that - even better.
ReplyDeleteAll too familiar with our slow, and often incompetent, trades and services, so this was a nice surprise to read about.
I'm sure you're lapping up this weather as much as I am. Joy indeed :)
Vicki: Some more rain would be very useful - but this is more than welcome. And it is the perfect excuse to have a break from gardeing for a day or so. Which I need and am too silly to grant myself a day off.
DeleteSo many blessings in one day. Where did you get these energy saving magicians from?
ReplyDeleteArija: It is our local electricity (and water) company (ACTEW). And it seemed that you didn't even have to be one of their customers (though we are), as that was a box to tick on the completed work form. Since I am not entirely stable on my feet (and nor is the skinny one) it was also very nice to have the bulbs installed. Win/win/win.
DeleteHow wonderful! And the magic word, "free" was used abundantly in your post. Good for the ACTEW for doing all that work for you, and all at no cost! Yayy! Or, in your words, woo hoo!
ReplyDeleteDJan: It was wonderful. The day didn't start very well - but improved dramatically.
DeleteBrilliant! And amazing! I'm glad they sent you a letter so you could decide to make an appointment, rather than the phone call(at dinner time) saying we are in the neighbourhood for one week only... which I seem to be getting a lot of. Light bulbs and draft excluders sound pretty wonderful to me, and the excluders would also, here, keep the brown snakes on the outside of the door. (Had one in the living room recently, and even a nature lover like me has to draw the line somewhere.)
ReplyDeleteCarol: I appreciated that too. And you could make appointments at times which would suit people in employment as well - up to 7 at night and on the weekends. Someone was thinking.
DeleteCarol: PS: I don't do snakes at all well. In one of our homes a red-bellied black snake lived under the front steps. For about nine months of the year I only used the back door. I wouldn't attempt to shift or worse kill a snake, but I don't deal with them well. A snake in the lounge room would do my head in.
DeleteHooray for free stuff and energy saving!
ReplyDeleteDorothy Krajewski: Double hooray - at least.
DeleteA few years back I got a huge box from our local power company. It had everything from light bulbs to low flow shower heads and low flow faucets for the bathroom and kitchen. It also had those thingies for drafts that go under doors as well as clear window sheets for the winter. And...all of it free!
ReplyDeleteBirdie: Isn't it lovely to find a responsible company? We have the low flow shower heads, but I like the sound of the clear window sheets. I will have to investigate that.
DeleteThat is so wonderful they do that and equally wonderful you recognized them for it with this post.
ReplyDeleteLynn: I was super-impressed. And acknowledging good service is at least as powerful as bucketting the bad. Or I think so.
DeleteAmazing! This is so great. I wonder if New Zealand power companies do this kind of thing?
ReplyDelete"It is raining gently" - this sort of moderation would be nice. Here it's either drought or demonic downpours!
Alexia: We certainly didn't get enough rain to break the drought - but it was so very, very welcome.
DeleteWhat a great deal. Here in Ontario a few years ago our Hydro company gave out packages with low flow shower heads and insulated pipe wrap among other things.
ReplyDeletemybabyjohn/Delores: A brilliant initiative isn't it? We pay a little extra for our electricity because we have signed up for 'green choices', that is power made from alternative energy sources.
DeleteThere are people who do that here, but they charge you a fee. How nice that you got a service for free that will help you save energy and money.
ReplyDeleteStarting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe: It was/is a brilliant idea. We have been working towards it for a while, but it is nice to have our feet firmly on the right path. Next stop (when funds permit) solar energy.
Delete"Never look a gift horse in the mouth"
ReplyDeleteIn this case it pays to take advantage of the offer.
It certainly is a good plan for everyone involved.
Sienna Smythe: A most excellent gift horse. And I wouldn't dream of inspecting its teeth.
DeleteA couple of years ago the local electric company decided they would give every customer one energy saving bulb, charge us $40 and spread the cost over several bills. The public outrage was immediate and that program went away. The cause of this was a state regulation to lower energy use. They do come and make energy audits; maybe they're handing out the bulbs one at a time.
ReplyDeleteJoanne Noragon: Your local electricity company behaved in much more the way I 'expect' them to, but it was lovely to be proved wrong.
DeleteThat's really fantastic! What a great and generous service. Not only will you be saving $$$, you'll be saving precious resources. I called our electric company (Montana-Dakota Utilities) a couple of years ago and asked them if they do free energy audits - NOPE. Of course not, they burn coal and WY, MT and ND are all coal country, they love for us to burn as much of it as possible! GAH. So we're on our own to conserve energy, which we do. But a free energy audit, especially one as thorough and generous as the one you were able to take advantage of, would be SO much better! I hope your post inspires others to get one done if it's offered in their location (and to conserve energy in as many ways as possible even if it's not!)
ReplyDeleteLaloofah: It is such a wonderful initiative - and brings our next step of moving towards solar power that little bit closer.
DeleteGood deal, getting all the freebies! Those energy bulbs are pricey. They sure do cut the costs, though, and they're much better light now than they were a few years ago.
ReplyDeleteLaura Eno: An excellent deal. And you are right that the light from the low energy bulbs is improving. They don't take forever to 'warm up' anymore either.
DeleteThat's great, I'm glad you were happy at the finish. That's something we have to get taken care of so this post is a good one to get us going again. We have a few lights. We bought some a while back but the light they put out was so strange I started getting headaches. We'll have to do a bit of investigating first I think.
ReplyDeleteDeniseinVA: As Laura (above) said, the light from those bulbs has improved markedly.
DeleteThey do that here, but you have to own a home for them to come. They won't do it if you rent. Glad you got all this and free is the best price around! Here, in Oregon, today, average gas price has risen to nearly $4 per gallon.
ReplyDeleteStrayer: Our petrol is now over $5 a gallon. And yes, you could get the energy audit whether you owned the home or not. Which is brilliant.
Deletewow what a super service. I have one door jam tape that my cat is always scratching at. Ha. next house I plan to get an audit.
ReplyDeleteLinda Starr: Jewel in particular loves the door snakes and dragged them around - ensuring that they didn't do their intended job. I hope that more and more companies will get on the energy audit trail. Such a good idea.
DeleteFantastic! It's like a fairy tale that is. Over here the energy saving bulbs have gone from incredibly expensive to the supermarkets selling them for 30p each at times in just a matter of a few years. Good news. Always a shocker eh? *laughs. I'm really pleased for you dearie x
ReplyDeleteAll Consuming: I hope we follow suit. The bulbs have come down in price - but are still probably two to three times more expensive than the incandescent ones.
Delete"He arrived five minutes early. Which was a 'shock' in itself." Anyway, what a good deal. You know those energy saving lightbulbs can be quite hazardous. I have one on my porch and half an hour later, I can actually see down my steps....
ReplyDeleteI get my electric through my gas company. Weird eh....
Gary :)
klahanie: We get our electricity, gas and water through branches of the same company.
DeleteThese newer ones don't need to be turned on at lunchtime so you can see at dinner time. Which is a plus.
That's great! He gave you the best possible service!
ReplyDeleteBetty: It was.
DeleteHurray for good service and saving money!
ReplyDeleteladyfi: Isn't it wonderful to actually get good service. And saving money and energy as well? Triple bonus.
DeleteI am holding out for LED lights to come on the market at a decent price - the light from them is supposed to be much brighter and there is no mercury in them ... You received excellent service! Such a rarity these days, it seems.
ReplyDeletejenny_o: It really was a surprise. The latest generation of these lights has much brighter light than early ones and don't take forever to warm up. Still room for improvement though.
DeleteAnd yes, if and when LED lights come down in price we will think about changing again.
How lovely of them to do all those things for you! i had a draught excluder thingy on my back door, but it was a stick on one over plastic paint, so of course each closing of the door pulled on it and the paint peeled away from the door. Now I've got a door snake again. my whole home has only six light bulbs and two of those are in lamps, so changing over wasn't a big deal for me. What does a power-down switch do? Does it turn the appliance off like switching the power off at the wall switch?
ReplyDeleteP.S. I'm hoping that when LED lights become available they're in bayonet fittings for regular light fittings that can't be changed, not screw in ones or some other special type useful only in "designer" lamps.
ReplyDeleteRiver: The power-down switches do turn appliances off. And in the case of the television if the remote hasn't been used for one/two/three hours (you get to pick) it will turn it off.
DeleteWe have screw-in and bayonet fittings in the house. Why they did it I really don't know. It makes it necessary to have spares of both and is something which irritates me.
Heavens, my electricity company never seems to think about helping me to save power. and I don't have a big ladder to enable me to change the light globes. Seems I will have to buy a new ladder and then employ someone to climb up them and change the globes. sigh.
ReplyDeletepersiflage: The company in question received (and deserved) some very bad publicity recently. Perhaps this is their way of trying to make up some lost ground.
DeleteFantastic service, I am satisfied, that everything was OK, at the moment to get the better service it isn't easily:) Greetings
ReplyDeleteZielonaMila: Good service is too rare isn't it?
DeleteMore power to you! Gah, sorry. I struggled mightily to think of something relevant/amusing to say that didn't duplicate all of the other comments, and that was the best I could do. Sorry. I'm embarrassed. Nay, mortified. In my defense, I'm operating on only one cup of coffee. I'll be far more amusing shortly. Unfortunately, I hit your blog early in the morning when I'm marginally clever (at best).
ReplyDeleteMs. CrankyPants: Less power to us. We hope. And I liked your comment - when my own brain properly registered it. Which took a while. Too long really...
DeleteHeeee Haaaaa.
ReplyDeleteIt's always nice to save some money.
How are you, Dearest? Xxx LOVE.
My Inner Chick: Nice to save money, nice to contribute to steps in the right direction. A win. Thank you - I am nearly firing on all my cylinders again.
DeleteHoly moley! That's fabulous.
ReplyDeleteSusan: It is pretty amazing isn't it?
DeleteBlimey! There must be a catch somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe that a company, who is in it for money, whatever IT is, would do all that.
I’d look under the bed for the hidden extra, if I were you. :)
Friko: No catches to be seen - yet. I will be looking out for them though.
DeleteWow that is nice....saving money too
ReplyDeleteKim @ Stuff could...: Completely unexpected. Perhaps I have become too cynical.
DeleteWow! Send that guy to Texas LOL! And maybe he'll bring rain, too :)
ReplyDeleteCarol Kilgore: Rain is always welcome here. Always. We didn't get nearly enough on Monday but this morning (Wednesday) it is drizzling again. I hope you get some too.
DeleteDear EC, wow and wow and double wow!!! Like "Carol Kilgore" I'd like that representative of your power company to head north and stop here in Independence! Our temp here today is 93, but tomorrow the forecasters expect a "dip" down to the 80s with the chance of thunder storms for the next several days. We so need this rain. Peace.
ReplyDeleteDee: So do we. Badly. It is no longer even drizzling, and the ground is parched. Drought is just so destructive, demoralising and distressing. I hope that all of us get the rain that the land craves.
DeleteThis is such a nice, positive post. And as you say, credit must be given when credit is due. How wonderful!
ReplyDeleteLee: It is nice to not always be 'the bad news bear'.
DeleteThat seems like an amazing thing to do...I wish we had similar choices here :(. Congrats lovely.
ReplyDeleteunikorna: I was surprised - but very happy.
DeleteJoy, bliss and a pocket full of savings for you and SP. That company is to commended for their free products and service.
ReplyDeleteOur electric co will do a free audit and tell us what we need to do to save on electric.
be well n be happy ~:)
Pam;): I thought that our company would also have just told us what to do. Nice...
DeleteIt is rare that an big industry is so caring. Enjoy the benefits!
ReplyDeleteSusan Kane: We are.
DeleteWow, that's great. In Texas, we have to go to Wal-Mart and that never saves energy or money. We are hoarding the incandescent bulbs. With 70 year old eye balls, I have to practically sear the words on the page with the heat from the bulbs. Jody, The Medicare Mom. Oh, I write humor. What else could I do when presented a one day old and a three year old when I turned 61.
ReplyDeleteJody Worsham: Welcome. It was a shock here too. And yes, you could write humour, or you could velcro yourself to the carpet under the bed and refuse to come out. I think you made the right(write) choice.
Delete