With colder weather here, Energy Trust of Oregon is offering several free methods to reduce utility costs.

Customers of certain power companies can visit http://energy trust.org/free to learn about and order the goods and services the nonprofit organization is offering.

Megan Clark, a market development and support coordinator with Energy Trust, met with local media outlets Friday to bring attention to the offerings, which are:

• An energy-saver kit, which contains four compact fluorescent light bulbs, a faucet aerator, and a water- and energy-saving shower head.

• A water- and energy-saving shower head by itself.

•Recycling any refrigerator or freezer in working condition and built before 1993 — an act the organization will pay customers $50 in cash for doing.

• A home energy review, which entails a trained adviser spending an hour at a home and pointing out any air leaks to seal and other opportunities for energy conservation. The adviser can suggest a comprehensive home performance assessment, which a local contractor can perform over the course of a few hours on a separate occasion, for a fee.

Customers of Pacific Power, Cascade Natural Gas, Portland General Electric and NW Natural can take advantage of these money- and resource-saving goods and services.

Clark said she has found people to be resistant at first to the idea of changing out their shower heads. But, she said, “I’ve never had anyone say, ‘Actually, take that out. Leave my old one in.’ ”

She said she has such a shower head installed in her own home. “I use it at home,” she said. “I really do. I really like it.”

Swapping in the free shower head can save $24 a year on an energy bill and $20 a year on a water bill, compared with other shower heads, according to Energy Trust.

Meanwhile, some Energy Star-qualified refrigerators can save customers $53 a year in energy costs and $35 a year in water costs, compared with older refrigerators, according to the organization.

According to the Energy Trust website, customers of the two largest investor-owned utility companies in Oregon pay the companies a 3 percent public-purpose charge — implemented by a 1999 state energy restructuring law — which in turn funds the organization.

On the Web

For more information, visit http://energytrust.org