A donation of more than 48,000 LED light bulbs has been made to food pantries in southwest Michigan by Indiana Michigan Power.
I&M spokesperson Kara Stevenson tells us the company also donated 30,000 window insulation kits, and more than 10,000 packages of door and window weather stripping to help people save energy this winter.
“Anything that we can do to help keep that cold air out of the house and make your furnace not work as hard, and anything with an air leak in house, you can see up to 25% of energy escape through those,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson says LED bulbs use 90% less energy than traditional light bulbs and last up to 25 times longer. If customers use all of those donated items, it will mean big savings.
“Something as simple as changing out the type of light bulb you use or using these weather insulation kits and weather stripping, something as simple as making those changes can make such a difference with saving energy and also saving a little bit of money.”
Stevenson says 48,384 total bulbs donated means an overall savings of more than $677,000 in a year for the customers who receive them.
The items were given to two large regional food banks who will then distribute them to smaller food banks throughout southwest Michigan.
