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CLEARWATER — Here's something you won't get with most library cards: a lower power bill.
Starting next week, the city's five libraries will lend out gadgets that can check a home's insulation and energy use.
The two-week checkouts, library director Barbara Pickell said, will save environmentally conscious homeowners from having to buy the tools themselves. Buying one of each would cost about $90.
"We provide reading materials that tell people how to do this," Pickell said. "This is just one item that went a step beyond the books. It seemed like a natural fit."
The devices — 10 Black & Decker thermal leak detectors, 10 Kill A Watt EZ electricity monitors and three CellSensor electromagnetic field detectors — will be distributed among the Beach, Countryside, East, Main and North Greenwood libraries.
The thermal leak detector can find places where air-conditioning is escaping through windows, ducts and walls.
The electricity monitors feature a plug that measures kilowatt-hour consumption.
The third device is advertised as a meter to detect electromagnetic fields and cell-phone radiation.
Clearwater's campaign, Pickell said, is the first of its kind in Tampa Bay. The units cost the library system about $600.
The idea came from Vice Mayor George Cretekos, who learned of a similar program in Miami-Dade, Pickell said. Within the last year, librarians there began handing out 150 Kill A Watt monitors across 48 branches.
Clearwater's units will be held in cases behind the checkout counters. The units, and their 9-volt batteries, will be loaned to library users without charge. Late fees will run 15 cents a day.
"We try to provide the things that enhance and enrich the lives of our public," Pickell said. "We just wanted to help."
Contact Drew Harwell at (727) 445-4170 or dharwell@sptimes.com.
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