INUVIK - Barb Kiely and Rick Campbell said they didn't have to do anything ingenious to win a community-wide home energy conservation contest.

"We developed some good basic habits that resulted in a really big drop in our power bills," said Kiely. "It was that simple. It was a change in attitude."

Although his home is becoming increasingly energy efficient, Rick Campbell often relies on his blanket to help keep his energy bills down. - Andrew Rankin/NNSL photo

Their prize, which was awarded last November, was a year's worth of free utilities.

Over a year the Union Street couple battled it out with 10 other community homeowners in a town-organized contest called Inuvik's Biggest Loser. The challenge was to see who could cut back the most on electricity, heat and water consumption over the previous year. The program was sponsored by the NWT Power Corp. and the Town of Inuvik.

They said the contest forced them to make a conscious effort to do simple things to conserve energy. Instead of reaching for the light switch they made use of natural window light when they could. They stopped their habit of leaving the TV on when no one was watching. During the winter the house's thermostat was set no higher than 18 C. They'd wear an extra layer of clothing or grab a blanket if they wanted to be comfortable. They couldn't believe how much money they were saving - which ended up a 22 per cent savings or about $1,000 on their utilities bill.

They also did some significant upgrades to their home and were able to get some territorial government grant money to help them.

They got rid of their old electric range in favour of a gas one, and replaced the diesel furnace with a high-efficiency natural gas furnace. They also replaced their old hot water heater that kept a tank of 35 gallons of water constantly heated with a tankless hot water heater that heats water instantly on demand.

They're now thinking about doing a few more renovations such as insulating under the house and installing thermal triple pane windows.

But they say even the small changes resulted in savings.

"We just want people to know that you can save a lot of money if you think about what you're doing and make simple changes. The beauty of such a program like this is that it helped change our attitude," said Campbell.

Sara Brown, Inuvik's senior administrator officer, said the town is still considering whether to run the program again, adding there's a lot of work involved.

But she said she takes satisfaction from knowing at least one household benefited from the program.

"It's about getting people to sometimes think differently. So it's nice to know you're making a difference."