Slash Gas and Electric Bills

Following are five ways to slash your heating bill: 1) Insulate! If you have any unheated spaces in your home, insulate above them (i.e., the ceiling of your basement, or the rafters of your attic). 2) Adjust the thermostat. Even lowering the temperature by a single degree can save 10% on your energy use. 3) Harness the sun. Unless your windows are really drafty, leave blinds open during the day. The sun’s natural heat will make a noticeable difference in the room. 4) Reverse your blades. Reverse the blades on your ceiling fan when the temperature drops. It will push the warm air down into the room. 5) Bundle up. Put on an extra sweater (or two). Fill a hot water bottle and you’ll stay cozy without spending more cash.

Five Ways to Reduce Your Energy Bill: 1) Turn off lights when you leave the room. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that 11% of an average household’s energy use is spent on lighting. 2) Unplug your gadgets. Unused products like toasters and cell phone chargers gobble 25% of the energy in an average home—even when the power’s off. 3) Buy compact fluorescent light bulbs, which use 75% less energy and last up to 10 times longer than regular bulbs. That can mean a savings of $30 per bulb. 4) Take shorter showers and install low-flow showerheads, which can cut up to 280 gallons a month for a family of four. 5) Wash your clothes in cold water to cut 90% of the energy used when doing laundry—a savings of over $100 a year.

Unless clothes are heavily soiled, there is not much benefit to wasting energy dollars heating the water to wash them. Wash your clothes in cold (60 degrees or more) or warm water and you'll never know the difference. And remember not to waste your money rinsing in anything other than cold water. Cold water will also keep your clothes from fading, which means you'll be buying new clothes less often.

During cold, winter months, 35% of your energy bill comes from keeping your house heated. Just remember - your heating bill will increase by three percent every time you raise your heat by just one degree when you set the thermostat at 71 degrees or higher. That's a lot of money for just a little more heat.

Don't set your thermostat to a colder setting than normal when you turn on your air conditioner. A lower setting does not make the air conditioner work to cool your home any faster; it just makes the air conditioner run until the lower temperature is achieved. The result: excessive cooling and excessive cost.

Check to see if your utility company has a different billing rate for different times of day. This means that if you run your dishwasher, dryer, or washing machine after a certain hour, say 9:00 p.m., you actually pay less than if you were running it during the daytime when energy demands are much higher.

Remember to turn off lights in rooms that are unoccupied. And, you can keep rooms bright for free in the daytime with loosely woven drapes that let light in (during the summer months, be sure to close curtains on the south and west facing windows during the day to keep out heat).

If you're buying a new central air conditioner, be sure that it is properly sized. Get assistance from an energy auditor or air conditioning contractor. Buying a unit that is oversized will mean you are consuming more energy than necessary to cool your house. A unit that is too small will run almost constantly and never seem to get the climate comfortable, also resulting in wasted energy. Also, look for a seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) rating above 12 to ensure your unit isn't an energy hog.

Many homes, especially older ones, can benefit from having additional insulation added to the attic. This is a relatively inexpensive project and one that most homeowners can do themselves. Under insulated attics let in the summer heat and winter cold, which can raise your energy bill by 15% or more.

At night and on cooler days, you can help get rid of unwanted heat with window fans as long as the temperature of the incoming air is 77 degrees or lower. Window fans should be located on the downwind side of the house facing out. For maximum cooling effect, a window should be open in each room and interior doors should remain open to allow air to flow.

If there are no trees or roof overhang to provide shade on south-facing windows, consider installing awnings. The awnings will protect the window from hot afternoon sun and reduce the workload for your cooling system resulting in lower energy bills.

Installing and using a whole house fan is one way to reduce your energy bill. These fans work by exhausting the hot air from inside the house and pulling in cooler air from outside. If you've been gone all day, you can come home and turn on the fan for 20 minutes to bring the house back to a comfortable temperature and avoid turning on the air conditioner.

Consider putting a timer on your water heater that turns it off at bedtime and back on a half hour before your normal waking time. Unless you regularly take hot showers in the middle of the night, there's not much need for having hot water readily available at 3AM.

By wrapping your water heater in an insulated "blanket", you'll help it work more efficiently. The water will stay hot longer, so the burner will cycle on less often. You'll help it work more efficiently (an increase of 25% - 45%) according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

You don't have to have expensive solar panels made by NASA to harness the power of the sun. To keep away the winter chill for less, simply keep the draperies and shades on your south-facing windows open during the day to allow sunlight to enter your home.

Your ceiling fans aren't just for cooling. If you reverse their direction during the winter months, instead of pulling up cold air from the floor, your fans will push hot air down from the ceiling. Because heat rises, reversing the fans pushes the heat down and helps to keep the room warm without adding to your heating bill.

When cooking meals, don't always turn to the stove or oven. Especially when preparing smaller portions, don't overlook the microwave, toaster oven, or even crock pot. All of these use less energy, and in the summertime won't heat up the kitchen which requires more energy from the air conditioning to maintain a cool temperature.

During hot, summer months, it is recommended that you keep your central air conditioner at 78 degrees. For every degree you raise your thermostat setting above 72 degrees, you will save about 7% on cooling costs.

To check if you have any drafts, shut your exit doors and cut off the lights in the room. If you are able to see light coming in from underneath the doors, there is a draft. If you shut the doors to your home and the windows rattle or shake, this also means there is a draft. A draft means that your heater or air conditioner will have to work twice as hard (or harder) and will cost more to operate.

When replacing a roof, select a roof based more on energy efficiency than on how it looks. Light-colored roofs, such as white, galvanized metal or cement tile, do the best job of reflecting the sun, and cool quickly at night.

This isn't the quickest solution for lowering your energy bills, but it is one of the most practical for the long haul. Plant deciduous trees in your yard that will shade your house in the summer, and since they lose their leaves, will allow warming sunlight through in the Winter. Even shrubs planted close to your house will provide some insulation. Check with your local nursery to see which plants are most practical and best suited for your climate.

Hanging tightly woven screens or bamboo shades outside the windows during the summer can stop 60 to 80% of the sun's heat from getting to the windows. This will dramatically reduce the amount of energy required to cool your home.

Installing white roll down window shades or mini-blinds can reduce solar heat gain by 40-50 percent. The less heat that enters the house, the less energy your cooling system utilizes.

Microwave cooking can save you time and energy all year long. However, in Summer, it is an especially efficient way to cook because it enables you to cook hot meals without heating up your home. Microwaves cook the food from within, so the microwave oven stays cool and your house does too, so you won't be running the air conditioner just to re-cool the kitchen and surrounding rooms. Best of all, a microwave oven only uses about one fourth the energy used by a conventional oven.

Don't place lamps or TV sets near your air-conditioning thermostat. The thermostat senses heat from these appliances, which can cause the air conditioner to run longer than necessary. Make sure your thermostat is accurately sensing your home's climate and you will pay less for your energy bill.

If replacing your washing machine, consider a front-loader. They use 50 percent less energy and one-third less water. Plus, they remove far more water in the rinse cycle, and that translates into big savings in dryer time.

Saving energy is good for the environment and good for your utility bill. Whenever you're buying an appliance, be sure to look for the ENERGY STAR and EnergyGuide labels. The information on these labels shows how much you can save on your utility bill using a more efficient appliance. Get more information on line at energystar.com.

Some utility companies offer special energy-saving programs that offer incentives in return for allowing air conditioners to be shut down for short bursts of time during peak hours. There is a remote control device on participating customers' units that allow this to be done when energy is in high demand. The duration of the shut downs are designed so that you hardly notice the difference -- except in your bill.

When purchasing a single room air conditioner, the energy efficiency ratio (EER) rating should be above 10. Ones with a lower EER are generally less expensive to purchase, but will cost more to operate in the long run.

Don't run the clothes dryer longer than necessary. You are only wasting energy and wearing out your clothes. Drying too long will shrink clothes and cause them to become thinner. Don't believe it, check the lint trap!

Using a dehumidifier at the same time your air conditioner is running will increase the cooling load and force the air conditioner to work harder. This will result in a higher energy bill, so use the dehumidifier at a time when you are not running the air conditioner.

In the summertime, use an outdoor grill to cook dinner whenever you get the chance. You won't be paying for the energy to run your stove, and you'll use less air-conditioning because the kitchen won't get heated up.

If you have rooms that aren't being used, like a spare bedroom or guest bathroom, shut off the vents and keep the door closed. There's no sense paying extra money to your utility company to heat or cool a room you rarely use.

In just one hour, your kitchen and/or bathroom fans can pull out a houseful of the air that you're paying for -- cooled by your air conditioner or warmed by your heating system. To avoid paying more than you need to, be sure to turn fans off as soon as they have done their job.

Cut back on the use of your clothes dryer. Instead of relying on electricity, air-dry your clothing. Not only is Mother Nature's natural drying power free, drying in fresh air and sunshine makes your clothes smell great. Not only is your dryer an expensive energy-consuming appliance, it will also heat up your house in the summertime. This means your air conditioner works harder and you pay more for your electrical bill.