(Radio Iowa) – Making a big family meal for Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be a significant drag on your energy use. One tip from energy savings advisor Allison Trouy is don’t dawdle when you’re preparing to use the oven. “You want to make sure that the green bean casserole is ready for baking by the time the oven finishes pre-heating,” Trouy says. “Heating the oven for longer than needed is just going to waste energy and that’s going to waste your money.” Trouy says once something is in the oven, resist the urge to open the door to peek on its progress

“Don’t do it,” she says. “Opening the door can actually drop the temperature as much as 25 degrees, which will add cooking time and energy use.” Just flip on the oven light to check on baking food instead of letting out that heat. Another thing to keep in mind is that cooking in the kitchen may keep your house warmer than normal. “It is a great opportunity to just lower your thermostat a few degrees and you probably won’t notice a difference,” Trouy says. “And really, any time you can take the opportunity to lower that thermostat, it can really add up to some significant savings.”

Another way to save energy and time is to avoid the temptation of washing the dishes as you go. Instead, she suggests waiting until all your dishes need to be cleaned and you can fill the dishwasher before turning it on. “It is going to use the same amount of energy to heat up, whether it’s full or not,” Trouy says. “You might as well maximize that energy use and get everything in there you can before you run it.”

If you have a programmable thermostat, the U-S Department of Energy says to turn it down by 10 to 15-degrees before leaving the house for an eight-hour span, and you’ll save up to 15-percent a year on your heating bill.

(Pocahontas County, Iowa) – A man from Hartley died early Thursday morning when his pickup crossed the centerline of the road and struck a Mack truck. The accident happened northwest of Havelock, at around 2:28-a.m.  According to the Iowa State Patrol, 75-year-old Richard Leath was driving a 2007 GMC Sierra north on Highway 4 and it collided with the southbound Mack truck driven by 65-year-old Daniel Meyers, of Spencer.

Leath died at the scene. He was wearing a seat belt. Meyers was uninjured. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by the Pocahontas County Sheriff’s Office, Pocahontas Fire and Ambulance, Pocahontas Police, and Havelock Fire.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa State University supply chain expert says retailers face more costs now in handling returns, and many have looked at different ways to change their policies. Robert Overstreet says you can help by knowing the policy before you buy. “Certainly you need to look up the policy and one thing I would convey to consumers is to be more intentional in your purchases, take the time to make sure it’s what you want before buying it,” Overstreet says. He says holiday gift buying does fall into a different category for retailers when it comes to returns.

“Retailers generally treat the holidays a little differently — you know where they are more lenient with the policy. … If there’s a 30-day window they won’t start that 30-day window until say Christmas or the day after Christmas — they understand that you know people getting something as a gift will need more time to return it,” Overstreet says. He is an assistant professor of supply chain management and says the costs for dealing with the returns have increased for retailers with staffing and other issues. Overstreet says there are always some people who want to push the system too far and his research group asked people about that.

“We ask people ‘Do you consider yourself someone who violates a returns policy that goes beyond the intent of a retailer’s returns policy?’,” he says. “And only about one percent maybe two percent of those who responded identified as someone who’s abused a policy.” Overstreet says they figured people might be a little self-serving, so they asked the question in a different way. So we asked, thinking about your friends and family, what percentage of your friends and family do you consider someone who would on occasion violate a retailer’s returns policy. We got an answer closer to 11 or 12 percent,” he says.

Overstreet says retailers have tried all types of return policies and can have issues if they are too lenient, and also if they are too strict.

(Radio Iowa) – Studies show there are more cooking fires on Thanksgiving than any other day of the year. Fire prevention expert Amanda Swenson says all Iowans should know how to use a fire extinguisher before there’s a sudden flare-up on the stove. “That’s a scary situation and that’s not the time to learn how to use an extinguisher,” Swenson says, “so be familiar with how to pull out the pin, how to unhook a nozzle if there’s a hose with the nozzle attached.” Thirty-four lives have been lost in house fires in Iowa so far this year, which tracks closely with last year during which 29 people died in fires statewide. Five children died in Iowa housefires just this month, one in Walcott and four in Mason City.

Whenever you’re cooking on the stove, whether it’s in a pot, saucepan or skillet, Swenson suggests you have a big metal lid nearby that could fit over any of them.  “Plan ahead of having a lid close by to the stovetop,” she says, “because the easiest thing to do is if there is a fire on the stovetop, just slide a lid on, turn off the burner and let it sit.” While Thanksgiving is the worst day of the year for cooking fires, officials with the National Fire Protection Association say Christmas Day and Christmas Eve are a close second and third.