Kendall County Food Pantry Now Has Heat, Thanks to Oswego Contractor

Photo: Kendall County Food Pantry has heat for the first time thanks to HVAC contractor RJ Kuhn.

Submitted by Nicor:

The Kendall County Food Pantry has safe, reliable and energy-efficient heat for the first time, thanks to HVAC and plumbing contractor RJ Kuhn, who donated $9,000 toward a recently completed energy efficiency project. Nicor Gas recognized RJ Kuhn for their partnership with energySMART, a Nicor Gas program, and the food pantry for their energy-saving initiative, on Feb. 16 at the food pantry in Yorkville.

In October 2014, Nicor Gas Energy Advisors performed a free energy assessment of the Food Pantry and provided a natural gas consumption analysis. The report illustrated the inefficiencies of their existing equipment and recommended the pantry take advantage of energySMART, a program available to Nicor Gas customers that has rebates and incentives for energy efficiency projects, and replace their existing system.

Maria Spaeth, executive director of the food pantry, took the project to RJ Kuhn, the pantry’s HVAC contractor, who routinely provides plumbing and HVAC service work to the food pantry. RJ Kuhn finalized the project in early January.

“We do everything with RJ Kuhn, from plumbing to heating. We chose them as our contractor for this project with no hesitation,” Spaeth said. “After last year’s polar vortex, we lost quite a lot of food and volunteers. I told my volunteers that we might not have heat again this winter. RJ Kuhn brought us heat and brought it to us faster than we expected. The Kendall County Food Pantry board and our volunteers thank RJ Kuhn for their generous donation and services.”

The total value of the project, which includes four infra-red tube heaters, five unit heaters and one air curtain is $50,455, of which RJ Kuhn billed the food pantry for $41,455. The food pantry also received a rebate from energySMART for $5,516.88.

RJ Kuhn is a member of energySMART’s Contractor Circle, a partnership with many benefits, including offering energy efficiency rebates as instant discounts off the customer’s bill for energy-saving projects, including air sealing and insulation for homeowners and custom projects for businesses. Both residential and commercial contractors servicing the Nicor Gas territory can apply at tradeally.nicorgasrebates.com

“The food pantry provides many very important service to the community. The heating system for the building was not in good shape, and we wanted to make sure the volunteers were be comfortable while donating their time,” RJ Kuhn president Rick Kuhn said.