A couple weeks ago, I opened our DTE Energy bill and my jaw dropped to the basement. Almost 250 bucks! This early in the heating season! We hadn't even turned on the heat until Nov. 1. Granted, it was a near record-cold month, but still! We'd kept the heat just above shiver, to no avail.

So I marched straight to the DTE website to investigate. Nope, there was no past due balance. It really was our total for those 30 days. No extra charges. No rate increase. No mistake. But there was a note on the top of the page that said something like this: "The recent cold weather added an average of $40-$70 to your bill."

For us, it was about $60 more than usual. I checked DTE's graphs on our online bill that show the usage differences from the year before. Sure enough, way more.

I was a bit frantic: how could we lower this bill? I poked around and clicked on "MyEnergy Analyzer." The custom version pulls our actual usage history so all the questions about appliances, lights, temperatures were all relevant. It went through the energy use in our entire home. At the end of each section, it offered advice on how to save. Some advice was simple: use weather stripping, switch to fluorescent bulbs, wrap our pipes. Some was expensive: get a new Energy Star fridge and furnace. It showed how much we'd save annually on each measure we took.

To my partner Sandi's and my credit, it had no advice on some sections since we were already doing what it recommended. Cold comfort, in a way.

DTE's Energy Efficiency Kit includes fluorescent bulbs, aerators, weatherstripping and the brightest nightlight I've ever seen.

A few days later, on our doorstep — on Christmas Eve, no less — was a big DTE box. What? I ripped it open to find five fluorescent bulbs, a really bright LED nightlight, aerators for the kitchen and bathroom faucets, a water-saving massaging showerhead, packages of water pipe wrap and weatherstripping and socket plugs! For free! It had to be worth at least the extra $60 we were billed.

Sandi's take on it was that "it's cheaper for DTE to send us free stuff than to listen to customers calling to complain, 'Why is my bill so high?'" Could be. But it definitely softened me. And what a gift! It kicked our butts to do the little things we know we should have done but hadn't yet. And it gave us the tools to do so.

I returned to the DTE site and this time noticed that the MyEnergy Analyzer page mentions getting a Free Energy Efficiency Kit by mail, worth $25. So, it's not an even trade, but when we actually use the gift, it'll be worth a lot more.

Linda Lombardini is living warmer, happier and greener after exploring ways to save energy costs during Michigan winters. You can contact her at Linda@TrilliumRealtors.com.