Ways to Save on Energy Consumption

If you think your energy bill is too high, you're not alone. There are lots of ways to reduce your costs, and if everyone pitches in, you may find your bill dropping to shocking new lows-and wouldn't that be a nice start to the summer holidays!

Change the bulbs. If you're still not using energy-efficient bulbs, what's stopping you? Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are about one-quarter the cost to run as the old 60-watt variety. That means you can save about 75% for every light you switch over. Today's CFLs cost only a bit more than regular bulbs and last much longer. Another light saving habit is to turn lights off in rooms you're not using.

Turn down the temperature in the refrigerator, and keep the door closed. The more you open and close your fridge, especially if you have it at a high setting and especially during the summer months, the more energy pours out when you open that door. One way to keep the door closed is to list what's in the fridge on the outside. That way, your family can know what's in the fridge without opening the door. The same is true for the freezer compartment. Another freezer tip is to make sure you keep the freezer full, even if it's just with ice. That's because a freezer full of frozen goods stays cold much longer than an empty one.

Turn the air conditioning up, generally, and way up when you're not at home. The reverse is true for heat. Turn that down, and way down when you're not at home. Multi-setting thermometers are cheap and can make hundreds of dollars difference to your heating bill. Many allow 5 or more settings to save you money.

Wrap the water heater in an energy blanket. Prices vary, but water heater blankets hover around $50-60. Experts say they pay for themselves in the first year, and then start to save you money in the next. Another cost-saving measure if you have an older water heater is to put it on a timer. These are specialty timers just for water heaters and cost, again, about $60. Although the initial cost may seem high, it means you can turn your hot water off except when you need it-and that can add up to really big savings.

Turn electronics off, really off. Do you think your computer, television, stereo, DVD player, and other electronics are off just because you've turned them off? Unh-huh. They're "at the ready"-and that costs you. Most electronic devices draw energy even when they're not specifically in use, or turned on. To really turn them off, plug all your electronics into a power cord that you can turn off to save really big bucks. Oh-and turn off the microwave, too, just by unplugging it.

Energy bills only seem to go up and up. By using some of these cost saving strategies, yours don't have to.