Sandra says this Saturday was chosen as it is Wellington anniversary weekend and the Trust hopes holiday home owners in the area can take advantage of the offer. Tuwharetoa Health Charitable Trust staff have volunteered to help at the giveaway, which runs from 9am to 5pm.
If people are not going to be around on Saturday, they can give their voucher to a neighbour or friend to collect the ecobulbs on their behalf so they don't miss out. Sandra says if people need help collecting or installing their ecobulbs, they should not be shy to ask.
"Tūrangi is a really caring community where people help each other out. If your neighbour is elderly, go and get their voucher for them and go down and collect their bulbs," says Sandra.
"The idea is that people will put them in the most highly-used area of their house - the lounge, dining room, kitchen and bathroom. And the most important thing is that they go home and do it immediately. Throw away your old bulbs. Don't keep them - it's false economy. When a bulb blows, go to the shop and try and replace each one from now on with an LED bulb. We know they are expensive but once you've got your whole house on LEDs your electricity and your lines bill will plummet."
Sandra says people are put off buying ecobulbs because of the upfront cost but don't realise that incandescent bulbs will wind up costing much more over their lifetime.
"They [incandescent bulbs] are cheap to buy, they are 80 cents a bulb - and you put them in and they draw down so much power. If you have them switched on and you go out to your meter you can see your meter just flicking over."
Sandra says if people don't need the free ecobulbs, they should keep their voucher and give it to their neighbour or somebody else they know, or bring it to the hall to be passed on to somebody who needs it. If you want ecobulbs but can't redeem your voucher on Saturday or find someone to do it for you, hold onto it. If there are ecobulbs left over, another giveaway may be arranged.
Ecobulb managing director Chris Mardon said says the company's goal is to save enough electricity to power New Zealand for one year, and it is half way there.
"Ultimately we want to replace every single one of the 31 million inefficient light bulbs in New Zealand homes with Ecobulb LEDs. This would save New Zealanders $570 million per year on their power bills."
The King Country Electric Power Trust Ecobulb LED Project is expected to save King Country power consumers a collective $6 million on their power bills over the next 10 years and trust chairman Adie Doyle says the average home could save up to $930 on their power bills over the next decade by swapping five of its most frequently used, inefficient light bulbs to Ecobulb LEDs.
Take your Ecobulb voucher to the Tūrangi Senior Citizens Hall this Saturday between 9am to 5pm to claim your five free Ecobulbs. Sandra advises getting there early to avoid the rush. TrustPower will be running a sausage sizzle.
