- Set your home thermostat as low as comfortable (65 to 68 degrees F is suggested) when the house is occupied.
- Set back the thermostat by as much as 10 F at night or when the house is unoccupied during the day.
- Set back the thermostat to 50 to 55 F when the house is unoccupied for over 24 hours.
- Install a programmable thermostat to automatically provide the setbacks mentioned above.
- Close the fireplace damper except during fireplace use.
- Reduce heat to unused rooms in the house close doors and heat registers too.
- Close curtains and shades at night.
- Replace furnace filters once a month during the heating season.
- Remove any obstructions and clean heating registers regularly.
- Have certified maintenance personnel service and check your furnace regularly every three years for gas fired furnaces.
- Seal all joints in sheet metal ducts in a forced air furnace with mastic or appropriate tape; insulate ducts passing through unheated spaces.
- Minimize the use of kitchen, bath, and other ventilating fans or install a timer switch on them.
- Install insulating gaskets behind electrical outlets and switch plates on exterior walls.
- Caulk and weatherstrip doors and windows.
- Caulk and seal leaks where plumbing, ducting or electrical wiring penetrates through exterior walls, floors, and ceilings.
- Install storm windows over single pane windows.
- Replace aging furnace, when needed, with an energy efficient model.
- Replace single pane windows with energy efficient double pane windows mounted in non-conducting window frames.
Hot Water
- Repair leaky faucets.
- Reduce the temperature setting of your water heater to warm (120 F).
- Add an insulating blanket to your water heater.
- Install low-flow showerheads.
- Wash clothes in warm or cold water using the appropriate water level setting for the load.
- Replace water heater, when needed, with an energy efficient model.
Major Appliances and Other Appliances
- Maintain refrigerator at 37 to 40 F and freezer section at 5 F.
- Maintain stand alone freezer at 0 F.
- Choose a refrigerator/freezer with automatic moisture control.
- Use toaster ovens or microwave ovens for cooking small meals.
- Adjust the flame on gas cooking appliances so its blue, not yellow.
- Replace a gas cooking appliance with a unit with an automatic, electric ignition system
- Run the dishwasher only with a full load of dishes.
- Air dry dishes in a dishwasher.
- Regularly clean the lint filter on your dryer and inspect the dryer vent to ensure it is not blocked.
- Shut down home computers when not in use.
Lighting
- Turn off lights when not in use.
- Use task lighting whenever possible instead of brightly lighting an entire room.
- Install compact fluorescent lamps in fixtures which receive high use.
Cooling
- Open windows at night to bring in cool night air; close them during the day.
- Close drapes during the day.
- Shade west facing windows.
- Draw cool night air into the house with a whole house fan.
- Use room air conditioning only where needed and install energy efficient models.
- Install a central system air conditioner only when whole house air conditioning is needed.
- Maintain an air conditioned house at 78 F or higher, use a programmable thermostat to set the temperature higher during the day when no one is home
- Regularly change air conditioning system filters and clean the condenser.
- Plant deciduous shade trees on the west and south sides of your house.