A company that supplies natural gas to more than 130 Iowa communities says it’s a good time to examine where energy might be escaping from your home. Nicole Breitbach of Black Hills Energy notes October is National Energy Awareness month. She says one way to use Mother Nature for a bit of inside heat during the winter is to make sure window curtains and shades are raised during the day if it’s sunny outside. She says setting the thermostat to 68 degrees during the day is also an energy saver.

Black Hills Energy, which is based in South Dakota, has about 160-thousand natural gas customers in Iowa.