1. Regulate the temperature in your home to 68 degrees or cooler in the winter and 78 degrees or warmer in the summer.  Make sure the thermostat switch is set to “auto” and not “on”.  To save even more, you can lower the temperature to 65 or lower at bedtime or when you aren’t home.

2. Along the same lines, make sure you install a programmable thermostat to adjust the temperature automatically and maximize your energy savings.  You can set it to automatically drop or raise the temperature based on your schedule.

3. Clean or replace your air conditioner’s filter every month or two to make sure you aren’t making your air handler run more than it has to.

4. Change all of your light bulbs to newer compact fluorescent (CFL) or LED technology.  This can save up to $500-600 a year.

5. Turn off your ceiling fan when you leave the room and your home.  A fan that runs constantly can cost up to $7 a month depending on size and age.  That really adds up over time.

6. Avoid pre-rinsing dishes before putting in dishwasher. It can save up to $70 a year in water bills.

7. Install newer shower heads that limit the water flow per minute, as well as new toilets that flush 1 gallon per flush (GPF) or less.

8. Install power strips that your electronics plug into.  Flip the switches when they aren’t in use.  Any electronic device that has a “standby” light on is draining energy.

9. Turn off your heated dry setting on you dishwasher and let them air dry or dry them with a towel after they are done washing.  If you run your dishwasher at night, it will use off-peak energy and usually by morning, the dishes will be dry.

10. Lower the thermostat on your hot water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.  There is usually a plate on the heater that you can unscrew and turn the knob down.  This can save you a lot of money and energy over the long run.

Tags: energy, how to save, top 10 tips

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.