There’s no free give-aways!

No free lunch!

There’s always a catch!

These are the common-sense arguments that pop into your head whenever you hear about a free give-away. But this appears to really be a free give-away that may lower your water usage, cut your electricity costs, and cut your cost of new lightbulbs for quite a while.

I’m talking about the package of free goodies that came in the mail the other day from Central Lincoln, the community-owned electric utility that provides electricity for the Central Coast. It’s part of an Energy Efficiency Program, where Central Lincoln has partnered with the Bonneville Power Administration.

In the package are 14 LED lightbulbs of various sizes, including a couple of large flood lights. LEDs should last 15 to 25 times as long as standard incandescent lightbulbs. So, I’m really pleased about getting these. There’s a showerhead and two faucet aerators that are designed to reduce water flow but not reduce performance. So, less water usage and less water heating costs, should save a little money. And there’s a power strip. What’s special about the power strip is that it’s load-sensing. Using this where you plug in your computer or TV helps save energy by powering down other connected devices when they’re not being used. I plan to use it to replace the strip I have in the kitchen, where several plugs share one strip. Not sure if my other strips are this type. I doubt it, since I’ve had them for a long time.

I found out about this “give-away” by noticing the insert in the bill in March. I think it was March. I put it aside to read later and almost waited too long. I finally did and realized that that very day was the deadline. As it turned out, I filled out the form and sent it in on the last day possible. I think, it was all done online. Since the insert suggested getting requests in early because there were limited give-away packages, I really didn’t expect to receive anything. I figured they would run out long before getting to me.

In spite of getting my request in last-minute, I received my package with everything included. And the lightbulbs were even more of a variety that I expected. The insert said the Energy Efficiency package would arrive about May 1, and it came mid-April. Because it surpassed my expectations and arrived earlier than I thought, I’m a happy camper.

Let’s hear it for Central Lincoln!! Way to go!!