LIVING LIGHTLY A Column Promoting a More Earth-friendly Lifestyle

BY JOHN L. TURNER

If your house is like most, the walls are insulated to keep the heat in. But I bet you'd be surprised to learn there are as many as a dozen or more places in your exterior walls where there is little to no insulation — the electric wall outlets! If you put your hand near one on a winter day you may feel the cold air seeping in (or hot air in the summer).

Fortunately, there's an easy way to eliminate this drafty situation and to make your house a little more energy efficient (and saving you a little bit of money over time) — insulate the outlet by installing a foam rubber gasket under the plate cover. Installation is a snap — just remove the cover with a screwdriver, place the gasket on the outlet, reinstall the cover and you're done. It takes about 30 seconds!

The insulating gaskets are available online and at home improvement stores. They cost about 10 cents each.

You can help protect the planet one outlet at a time!

Clues Across

Directions: Fill in the blank squares in the grid, making sure that every row, column and 3-by-3 box includes all digits 1 through 9.

Answers to last week's SUDOKU