Success Stories
Campus Conservation
"Thanks for coming to the Governor's School in Greenville, SC, there was a GREAT turnout and I enjoyed Kilowatt Ours a lot.
When I got back to the room that night, I noticed that all the lights were out along the hallway and girls kept yelling at each other to turn the lights off!
I think the campus could definitely do more with energy efficiency and I think they will, everyone seemed really moved by the film -- and by the savings they could have if they improved the efficiency of the school."
Abigail Wach in Greenville, SC
"...saved the world some coal."
"I watched your film at a showing at Hume-Fogg this past February. My wife and I decided to act by changing our light bulbs, changing out usage habits, and replacing our thermostat.
These changes have saved us money and saved the world some coal. "
Sam in Nashville, TN
Conservation Competition
"I live in a co-housing community, and we are probably more environmentally attuned than many neighborhoods.
I showed my copy of Kilowatt Ours to my neighbors, and one of them suggested that we have a contest to see who could save the most on their energy bill the next month
Every participating neighbor kicked in $10, and the winner will get half of the proceeds. The other half will go towards the upkeep of our Commons House, which he hope to eventually outfit with a solar water heater."
Suzanne
Beautiful Backyard Party
"I bought your DVD last Spring after seeing it at the Rivernetwork Rally in New Hampshire.
We just held a screening party last weekend in our back yard after the alley block party. As darkness fell, fifteen neighbors arrived with lawn chairs and bug dope. The film looked beautiful in the alfresco setting.
Now two other neighbors who missed that screening have requested a loan of the DVD. We have also shown and loaned it to four of our grown kids."
Dorcas in Washington, DC
Single Mom Saves Big by Conserving
"After seeing your film in Charlotte a few weeks back I started changing out light bulbs, and nearly all have been replaced. I turned down my water heater, and put it on "vacation" mode when I leave town...I also started unplugging the microwave, computer, TV, etc. when not in use.
I have already earned a $100 credit with my electric company and my electric use has gone down over 30% from this time last year.
As a single mom with a tight budget, that is AWESOME!"
Susan in Charlotte, NC
Successful Screenings a Cinch!
"We had a nice turnout for the August 10th screening of Kilowatt Ours at Taylor Books. 30 people came to see it, and Judy Bonds (who is featured in the movie!) came to speak to folks afterward. My friend came to see it and now plans to have a screening in Fayetteville, WV.
I just spoke to the CEO of the Charleston Chamber of Commerce and he said I could arragnge to have screenings here at the office in the near future! I plan to invite public officials like the mayor and city council members.
Thanks so much! I love this movie and hope to spread the word about it as much as possible."
Eleanor in Charleston, WV
Kilowatt Ours is "most requested film"
"I work for a national film library, specializing in documentaries and other engaging films available on DVD. I was very excited to add Kilowatt Ours to our collection as the subject is very timely. It immediately became the most-requested film we have, requiring us to get more copies!
This film may focus on the Southeastern states, but it speaks to all of us and we've proudly lent it to members everywhere from Missouri to Minnesota and California to Washington, and requests for it just keep coming."
Heather Merrill, Acting Director, The Film Connection
MTSU Saves 8 Million Pounds of Coal Per Year
"The Students for Environmental Action at Middle Tennessee State University have a new victory to be proud of, and we have you to thank for it.
In October 2005, we held a vote asking the MTSU student body if they would be willing to raise their own tuition to fund energy conservation projects and to purchase renewable energy credits. In preparing for this vote, we showed your film a total of six times, including two discussions with you. In the course of the vote, we found Kilowatt Ours to be the most eloquent and succinct tool to explain both the need and ease of energy conservation and renewable energy purchasing.
Convinced by the Kilowatt Ours message, MTSU students voted with an 89% majority in favor of initiating an $8 per student per semester fee for energy conservation and renewable energy purchases!
Following the Kilowatt Ours model, we will be investing $125,000 per year into on-campus energy efficiency programs and offsetting 10% of our annual energy usage with clean, green, renewable energy from TVA's Green Power Switch Program by Fall 2006.
That calculates to a savings of over 8 million pounds of coal per year, not including all the conservation benefits!
In short, we cannot express to you how much Kilowatt Ours influenced and aided our campaign. We thank you for your dedication and assistance-MTSU is now a better institution because of it!
Brandon Armstrong,
MTSU Students for Environmental Action
Electric Bill Cut in Half!
"After watching Kilowatt Ours, we...
- finished replacing all of our lightbulbs with compact fluorescents
- got an energy-efficient refrigerator for under $300 at a scratch and dent sale
- hooked all of the electronics into an outlet controlled by a switch to avoid the phantom load
- turn our computer completely off when not in use
Our electric bill last month was $33! Over 50% lower than the previous month. We offset this by purchasing 300 kw of green power through our electric company, so we can say that we're running on green power now.
Thank you Jeff Barrie for helping to open everyone's eyes to what is possible."
Cherie in Black Mountain, NC
Teaching The Children Well
"My name is Terri and I coach a LEGO League robotics team. As part of the research portion of this year's challenge the kids investigated the impact of poor air quality on the ocean and our community.
The kids loved Kilowatt Ours....and decided to survey people in our community about what they are willing to do to improve air quality. The kids got many ideas for survey items from your movie.
In your movie you discuss the Green Power program. Suzanne Fisher from TVA told us that about 1% of customers choose to buy Green Power.
In our survey we found that 64% were willing to buy blocks of Green Power. Many didn't know about it until they talked to the kids.
These results will be given to our local Air Quality team, TVA, and Calloway Oil Company, the supplier of biodiesel in our area."
Terri in Maryville, TN
Practicing What They Preach
"Everyone is very excited and Father Pete, our pastor, saw your DVD and immediately went out and replaced all the light bulbs in his rectory and in other lights on the church property! He drives a Prius so he walks the walk! We recently had an energy audit as well and are working toward more energy efficient heat and air, etc. "
Betty in Chattanooga, TN
"..cut our bills drastically"
"We have saved a lot of money and energy by doing a few simple things in our home. We changed out all our light bulbs in our house to compact fluorescent light bulbs, we changed out the old thermostat to a programmable one that cost about $60 and the savings on having the heating (we don't use the a/c) programmed automatically during the night and day while we were away cut our bills drastically.
Also, I watch for phantom loads and keep everything unplugged when not in use and have given up using the dryer for our clothes. The savings on that one is two-fold as the clothes last longer and we use less energy. "
Kristine in Troy, Illinois
The Best Defense Against Rising Electric Rates
"Here in Maryland our electric rates have risen 78% in July but our bill has stayed the same because we changed our bulbs to CFLs and have lowered our phantom loads.
We are currently in the process of empting out an 20 year old freezer and refrigerator to eliminate them. We expect to see a really big cut in our electric bill once we have this taken care of."
Mike in Annapolis, Maryland
Share Your Energy Conservation Success Story
Read more Kilowatt Ours success stories just like this (and share your own) at the Kilowatt Ours Community.