Although electricity use varies widely depending on the season and the climate in your part of the country, a typical U.S. household uses about 938 kWh of electricity a month. Given that the average U.S. household owns 25 consumer electronics products, it’s no wonder that electricity use has increased 21% since 1978.

Reduce your energy use at home

1. Conduct an energy audit of your home. Contact your utility for more information or use an online tool.
2. Search for air leaks and seal them using weather stripping and other weatherization tools.
3. Check to be sure that you have adequate insulation in your attic and under the flooring of your ground floor.
4. When buying new home appliances, insulation, windows, doors, lighting, fans, and other products, invest in energy efficiency by purchasing ENERGY STAR qualified products.
5. If your electricity provider allows you to do so, buy electricity generated from renewable sources.

Heating/Cold Weather

1. Install a programmable thermostat to regulate your indoor temperatures for maximum energy efficiency and savings on your electric bill.
2. During cold weather months, set your thermostat at 68 degrees, and lower while you are away from home.
3. Tune up your heating system in the fall to ensure that it will operate most efficiently during winter.
4. If you have a fireplace, make sure it has tightly fitting dampers that can be closed when the fireplace is not in use.

Air Conditioning/Hot Weather

1. Set your indoor temperature at 78 degrees or warmer during the summer, and 85 degrees when you are not at home.
2. When the weather is mild, turn off the AC and open the windows or use a fan instead.
3. Close your blinds and curtains during the hottest part of the day.
4. Close cooling vents in unused rooms and keep doors to unused rooms closed.
5. Check and clean or replace air filters every month.
6. Clean the outside condenser coil once a year.
7. Have your cooling equipment serviced by a licensed service representative. A spring tune up will help air conditioner run most efficiently during the summer.
8. Relieve heat build-up in your attic by ensuring that it is properly ventilated. If necessary, improve attic airflow by adding or enlarging vents.

Water Heating

1. Turn down the thermostat on your water heater to 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Insulate the pipes that carry hot water throughout your home.
3. If your water heater is more than five years old, wrap it in an insulating jacket.

Lighting

1. Replace incandescent light bulbs with energy- and money-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs.
2. Turn off lights when not in use.

In the Kitchen

1. Use a microwave oven or a toaster oven instead of a full-size oven whenever possible.
2. Only run your dishwasher when it has a full load.

Laundry

1. When washing clothes, only do full loads.
2. When washing clothes, use cold or warm, but not hot, water.
3. Use specially-formulated cold water laundry detergent to wash in cold water.
4. Line dry your laundry when weather permits.
5. Clean your clothes dryer’s lint filter thoroughly after each use.
6. Dry towels and heavy cottons in a separate load from lighter-weight fabrics.

Other Energy Wasters and Opportunities for Savings

1. Turn off electronic equipment like TV’s, DVD players, stereos, speakers, and computers when not in use.
2. To save even more money and energy, unplug electronic equipment when not in use, especially equipment that use remote controls or that have a block-like transformer plug.
3. When going on vacation, put some indoor lights on timers to make your house appear like someone is home but to avoid leaving lights on all day and night.
4. Watch less TV.
5. Stop buying and using disposable plates, cups, and utensils.
6. Unplug the second refrigerator in your garage or basement.
7. Unplug your mobile phone and chargers for other electronic gadgets when not in use.
8. Recycle paper and cardboard.
9. Recycle glass and plastic containers and bottles.
10. Recycle plastic bags.
11. Use climate-appropriate landscaping and trees to cool your house during warm months and warm it during cold weather months.
12. Plant weather-tolerant plants and flowers to reduce watering.