By ERIN MATHEWS

Salina Journal

Coronado Council Boy Scouts knocked on about 200 doors in north Salina on Saturday to deliver a gift of energy-saving items on a cold day.

"We had one person who said they were really wanting that," said Scout Jonathan Flores, seventh grade. "People were really happy."

Scout Matt Kuffler, a freshman, said he took eight weatherization kits to a flower shop so that each of its employees could have one.

At some other stops, the 16 Boy Scouts from Troops 7, 22 and 214 and Cub Scouts from Pack 22 found nobody home or a less enthusiastic response.

"I had one person who said they didn't want it and slammed the door," Kuffler said.

The free kits, which were assembled earlier in the week by a First Presbyterian Church youth group, contained a tube of removable weather strip caulk, electric outlet seals, a compact fluorescent light bulb and information about ways to save energy. They were contained in a reusable blue shopping bag.

Organizers were planning to distribute about 50 more kits through the Salina Emergency Aid-Food Bank.

Waters True Value Hardware and Westar participated in the grant-funded project that is part of the Climate and Energy Project's yearlong Take Charge Challenge, in which six Kansas communities are competing.

Eileen Horn, coordinator of the Take Charge Challenge, said that six months into the competition, Merriam is in first and Salina is in last place, but there is still time to change that.

"We're in sixth place, but there's a lot of room for improvement," she said. "Each of the towns is so close to each other that it's still anybody's game. This thing is far from over."

Salina is competing with Quinter, Merriam, Mount Hope/Haven, Wellington and Kinsley in the challenge to reduce electricity usage. The winning city -- the one that shows the largest percentage drop in electrical use -- will receive a Wind for Schools turbine, solar panels for a civic building or cash to complete a civic energy efficiency project.

Together, measures taken in the competing communities are expected to save 1 million kilowatt hours of electricity, enough to power 1,100 homes for a month, and reduce pollution equivalent to taking 140 cars off the road, according to a statement from contest organizers.

Salinans can visit a Web site designed by Philips Lighting at www.takecharge kansas.org to record when they replace incandescent light bulbs with more efficient CFL bulbs as part of the effort.

Salina has partnered with Westar Energy to bring energy educators to speak in schools for kindergarten to 12th-grade students, host "energy drops" at Walmart to distribute more efficient light bulbs, and advise the Salina School District and other big energy users on ways to slash their bills, she said.

Also, Downtown Salina replaced 4,550 holiday lights with LED rope lighting, and the city is in the process of replacing traffic lights with LED bulbs, Horn said.

Westar's new programmable thermostat program called WattSaver will become available in Salina early next year, she said. Participants in the program will receive a free, professionally installed programmable thermostat for their home or business.

The thermostats are programmable online and will allow Westar to control energy demand by cycling air conditioners for short periods during peak usage times on weekdays, according to a Westar pamphlet describing the program.

n Reporter Erin Mathews can be reached at 822-1415 or by e-mail at emathews@salina.com.

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