Doing these things will not only reduce your energy consumption, and reduce your carbon footprint, but can also save you money in the long run. The average American produces about 40,000 pounds of CO2 emissions per. Using some of the following tips, you can reduce your annual emissions by thousands of pounds and your energy bills by a significant amount!

Use energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs. Although they may cost more initially, they use only ¼ the energy of an ordinary incandescent bulb and they last 8-12 times longer. The payback can be as little as a few months. For financial incentives offered by Focus On Energy, use this Focus On Energy link:

Financial Incentives

If you have an electric hot-water heater consider switching to natural gas hot-water heater. If you chose to continue using your electric hot-water heater, wrap your water heater in an insulating jacket and insulate the hot-water pipe. If you have an electric hot-water and are looking to replace it, use this Focus On Energy link for financial incentives:

Financial Incentives

Turn your hot-water heater thermostat down. Thermostats are often set to 140 degrees F when 120 is usually fine.

Use less hot-water by installing low-flow shower heads. Their cost is minimal, and they deliver an invigorating shower.

Insulate your attic to an R value of R-60 using cellulose insulation. See our link “Green Insulation” for the list of benefits this product provides.

Weatherize your home or apartment using caulk and weather stripping to plug air leaks around doors and windows.

Clean or replace air filters as recommended in air conditioners and hot-air furnaces. Energy is lost when these items have to work harder to draw air through dirty filters.

Use an ENERGY STAR® qualified programmable thermostat. Inexpensive and easy to install, programmable thermostats automatically turn down the heat while you are asleep or away, saving you as much as $100 per year. You can reduce your heating bill by one percent for each degree up to five degrees the temperature is set back over an eight hour period.

When replacing any outdated appliance, replace with an ENERGY STAR® product. The initial cost will be higher, but the payback and long-term benefits in energy savings make this the smart choice.

Turn your refrigerator down if necessary. Refrigerators account for about 20% of a typical household electricity use. Using a thermometer, set your refrigerator to as close to 37 degrees and your freezer as close to 3 degrees as possible. Make sure that its energy saver switch is turned on and the gaskets around your refrigerator/freezer doors are clean and sealed tightly. Set your clothes washer to cold or warm water, not hot.

Make sure your dishwasher is full when you run it and use the energy saving setting, if available to allow the dishes to air dry. You can also turn off the drying cycle manually. Not using heat in the drying cycle can save 20 percent of your dishwasher’s total electricity use.

Use power strips for you home entertainment center and your home pc. And turn off the power strip when not using these electronic devices. A recent study showed that in America, people leaving their pc’s on at night cost 2.8 billion dollars in wasted energy.

Unplug any charging device, such as a cell phone charger, laptop pc charger, or even and electric shaver when not in use. These chargers, even though they are not charging, consume unused electricity when plugged in.