I read about a contest in the local paper today. The winner of the contest will win an energy audit and a $25,000 energy-efficiency make-over for their house.

Needless to say, I entered the contest.

Entry involved visiting a link on the sci-fi channel's website. (Which prompted me to wonder why it was there, but I didn't find an explanation - only more mystery)

The contest entails writing an essay of 250 words or less explaining why you think you should get the audit and energy make-over. I won't go into detail about my essay, but like Ralphie's essay about the Red Rider, my work was surely an A+++++++ effort!

There is a short quiz along with the essay writing, questions about your home and the things you may or may not be doing already to improve energy efficiency at home (buying Energy Star appliances, installing a programmable thermostat, etc.)

After entering your essay, you will be given the chance to take a quiz to test your energy IQ at the Six Degree Energy Efficiency Challenge website. While there, you can also sign a pledge of sorts, agreeing to take certain measures to reduce your personal carbon footprint. And, if you choose, you can forward the information to six friends.

For your efforts, you receive a .pdf file with four coupons for clean air filters and 3M insulator kits. The insulator kit makes sense, but you may not be aware that changing your furnace filter is actually a good thing for energy efficiency.