Warmest Wishes for a Happy Holiday!

• December 12, 2016
• Heat Smart

It’s hard to believe, but the holiday season is upon us once again! It’s a time of year where we relax with family and friends, bake cookies, and watch a holiday TV special while curled up on the couch. Maybe you have a fire going in the fireplace or maybe you’re snuggled under your favorite wool blanket.

The point is, we can relax and enjoy A Charlie Brown Christmas because we’re warm. But far too many people aren’t, and they can’t afford to turn the heat up. Every year, the need for LIHEAP assistance increases, but funding remains Grinch-like. Heat Smart helps by partnering with community organizations to reach low-income families.

Our Heat Smart Kits give low-income families the tools they need to stay warm while encouraging lower thermostat settings. The kit includes: warmth (a high quality, wool-blend blanket), conservation (weather-stripping), and education (energy saving tips). It’s a simple idea with a HUGE impact: families stay warm and save money on heating bills.

Our program benefits our partners too. Heat Smart helps them stretch their heat assistance dollars, increase cost-efficiency, and reach their goals and mandates.

We have already made a difference to over 500,000 households in 39 states across the country partnering with non-profits, community action programs, government agencies and utilities. We have the logistics to turn orders around quickly and the flexibility to tailor a program to specific needs. We work with our partners every step of the way to make them successful.  Call or email us to see how we can help you help families in your area.

Until next year, all of us here at Heat Smart send you warmest wishes for a happy holiday season and a healthy new year!

We’ve joined the MOOvement to end heat poverty!

• December 1, 2016
• Heat Smart

Heat Smart recently became a Moolala sponsor for Holy Cow, a initiative of North Carolina Community Action Association. It’s a fundraising tool for Community Action Agencies that’s also a branding initiative to increase the public conversation about poverty.  Their goal is to create opportunities that strengthen families, communities and economies, while raising voices against poverty.

The branding part of the program includes fun t-shirts, hats and gear with poverty-ending messages such as “Don’t Milk Me, Poverty Sucks.” Community Action Agencies can sell these to     raise unrestricted funds that will help them reach their maximum potential of helping people to help themselves and each other. As more and more of these messages get out, the public conversation starts and raises awareness that in 2016 America, poverty is far too prevalent.

As the nation’s largest anti-poverty network, Community Action Agencies are uniquely positioned to create some buzz across the country and share their work with the world.

We agree, and that’s why we partner with Community Action Agencies to help end heat poverty with our Heat Smart kits. We believe no one should have to choose whether to shiver through a cold winter night or buy food. What Holy Cow is doing by raising the volume on the public conversation about poverty will go a long way toward helping all of us fulfill our missions.

So visit Holy Cow, and add your voice to the moovement. We know an udder-ly fantastic idea when we see one!

Gaining a seat at the table, and a booth in the hall!

• September 8, 2016
• Heat Smart

We have arrived! For the first time, Heat Smart is exhibiting at the E Source Forum, the utility industry’s premier technology, concept and networking event.  Exhibiting here adds further credibility to the Heat Smart kit as a proven, effective energy-saving solution. In addition to Heat Smart, the exhibit area will showcase E Source’s hand-picked selection of energy-related technologies and products.

Like Heat Smart, E Source’s mission is to advance the efficient use of energy. They are the only research firm focusing on how consumers use energy and how utilities can best serve them, and their members deliver two-thirds of all the electricity sold in the U.S. For more than 25 years, they have delivered research and advisory services to electric and gas utilities and their partners with a unique perspective that provides an insider’s view of the utility industry.

In the competitive demand-side management arena, we know utilities and assistance agencies have many partners and programs to choose from. Being a part of the exclusive E Source forum shows we understand the challenges they face, and shows we offer a program that helps meet their goals. The Heat Smart kit helps utilities, CAPs and government programs meet federal mandates, fulfill heat assistance programs, and reach more low-income families, cost-effectively.

To us, gaining a seat at the table, and a booth in the hall, means we can add strategic value to the effort to help low-income families reduce energy use and stay warm. We’re excited to add the Heat Smart voice to the E Source Forum conversation, and to join the energy elite in offering innovative energy-saving ideas that are accessible to all.

If you’re an E Source utility member or invited utility non-member, energy service provider, or government representative, we look forward to seeing you in Denver September 13-16. We’d love to discuss how we can help you, specifically.  Stop by Booth 16, or email us to set up a time to meet.

The leaves are about to change. Are your customers?

• August 10, 2016
• Heat Smart

As fall approaches, Energy Services Professionals are setting budgets and making plans for the upcoming heating season. Every year, part of the conversation is how to motivate energy behavior change. But even for the most motivated, psychologists say behavior change is a five stage process, and then to expect relapse. That’s why at Heat Smart we believe a whole range of innovative, long-term ideas are required, especially for those who cannot afford new technology solutions.

Heat Smart offers a proven, low-cost solution that customers love, which helps the industry meet their EE goals more effectively. If you don’t already know about the Heat Smart kit, you can learn more here. Our pilot programs have shown that active participation through the use of our kit, reinforced by the real results in their energy bill, leads to lasting behavior change. Here’s just a few of the participant responses.

“With the blankets we were able to turn the heat down to 65 at night and saved a good $20 on the monthly electric bill. I absolutely think I know more about energy savings now than I did before.”

“I turned my thermostat down by 10 degrees and was able to really stay warm. And every month my utility company electricity comparisons showed my use was always way below my neighbors…I had above average savings. I will continue to use the blankets, and keep the heat down at night.”

“I enjoyed everything about the Heat Smart program. I loved the blankets, they kept me warm and helped me sleep better.”

Working in partnership with organizations like yours, we can reach more low-income families and effect real change this winter. Wouldn’t you like to be part of a winning solution?

Heat Smart will be at the AESP Summer Conference in Chicago August 16-18, and we’d love to discuss how we can help you and your organization. If you’re going, stop by Booth 19, or email us to set up a time to meet. If you can’t make it to Chicago but would still like more detail, please email and we will send you more information.

Hope to see you in Chicago!