The poor, neglected furnace filter—popped into place and then generally forgotten. But homeowners who keep tabs on their filters and change them regularly, see an energy savings of as much as 15 percent. (Incidentally, those homeowners also save lots of cash on furnace and air conditioner repair bills: leaving dirty filters in your system causes a lot of unnecessary wear and tear.)

There’s help for all of us—the forgetters of filters, the deniers of dirt and dust, and those who just don’t want to drive to the store. Contact your local co-op to arrange delivery of the right filter for your system—discounted and without a shipping charge. You’ll also be able to set up an email reminder schedule so that you know when to put those discounted filters to use.