Vectren customers get energy-efficiency kits by completing online energy audits

To encourage customers to utilize the more detailed levels of the company's online energy audit tool, Vectren is offering free energy efficiency kits while supplies last.

The online energy audit uses a combination of a customer's yearly energy usage history and answers to specific questions regarding the home's construction and appliances to make detailed recommendations on ways to save energy and cut costs.

To obtain the free energy efficiency kit, customers need to complete the following:

Visit and login to Vectren.com. Customers who do not have a registered Vectren.com account, will need to create one using a Vectren account number and an e-mail address.

Click on Home Energy Audit from the left navigation menu.

Click on the Find Ways to Save tab and select one of the topics such as Weatherization, Heating, etc. The initial Home Profile must be completed to access Find Ways to Save.

Customers without internet access can receive a kit by contacting Vectren's Conservation Connection at 1-866-240-8476 and completing the online audit by phone.

The energy efficiency kit consists of two faucet aerators, a kitchen swivel aerator and a low-flow showerhead, all of which function to reduce water heating costs as well as water consumption.

Vectren has 5,000 of these kits for its Indiana natural gas customers. Supplies are limited and only one kit per household will be issued since the program inception of April 2009.

"The energy audit tool is just one of the many helpful resources Vectren offers through its Conservation Connection," Doug Petitt, Vectren vice president of marketing and conservation, said. "The energy audit tool is easy to use, full of valuable information and it can ultimately save you money."

Not only does the online energy audit show areas to save, it also analyzes the cost to make the suggested home improvement and reveals the yearly savings in both dollars and energy usage.

Appliance improvement calculators, billed as energy calculators on the site, are available to compare current models to newer energy efficient models in helping to determine whether or not the new investment is justifiable. For a glimpse at the highlights of monthly energy usage, simply use the bill analyzer tool to see how energy consumption is calculated and make comparisons to previous months or years.

"Once customers participate in Vectren's online resources, they see the value and tend to revisit multiple times," Petitt added. "Nearly 200,000 customers accessed our online audit and/or bill analysis tools during the last 12 months."

For more details, visit www.vectren.com.

Vectren Corp. is an energy holding company headquartered in Evansville. Vectren's energy delivery subsidiaries provide gas and/or electricity to more than one million customers in service territories covering nearly two-thirds of Indiana and west-central Ohio.