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Home energy conservation may seem like a daunting taskalmost as daunting as energy bills. Luckily, conserving energy in the home can be done in baby steps that quickly turn into real energy savings and lower utility bills.

Turn the thermostat up in the supper, down in the winter.

Reduce the water heater temperature. Most household applications do not require water to come out of the tap hotter than 120 degrees Fahrenheit, so setting a water heater any higher just eats up energy keeping water hotter than you need it.

Make sure your attic is properly insulated, and add insulation if it is not. Adding insulation is as easy as unrolling a bundle of fiberglass batting.

Check for drafts and seal the gaps. To check for drafts, tape a piece of tissue papera single ply of facial tissue works wellto a pencil and hold the tissue in front of windows and door frames on a breezy day. If the tissue flutters, air is leaking. Seal up the gap with caulk or another appropriate weatherstripping product.

Put insulating foam gaskets behind the faceplates of electrical outlets and switches. Outlet and switch boxes represent gaps in the wall insulation, making these areas surprising sources of drafts. The gaskets cost a few pennies apiece, install easily with a screwdriver, and can reduce the drafts that nibble at energy costs.

Pull the drapes in the summer to keep the heat out, and open them in winter to let the sun take on some of the heating load.

Bubble wrap windows in the winter to cut down on heat loss through the glass. Cut sheets of bubble wrap to fit the panes of glass. Mist the window with water and apply the wrap, bubble-side toward the glass, to give an instant double-paned window insulation effect. The bubble wrap also creates a privacy frosting perfect for bathrooms.

Line dry laundry. In addition to taking advantage of free solar and wind power to replace an energy hog of a tumble dryer, line drying in the summer means you don't run a heat-producing appliance indoors to compete with the air conditioner. In winter, line drying clothes on indoor racks or lines can supplement the humidity, allowing you to be comfortable with the thermostat at a lower setting.

If you do tumble dry, keep the dryer door closed when you are not adding or removing clothes. Open dryer doors are a conduit straight to the outdoors, allowing climate-controlled air to leak out.

Leave the oven door open as the oven cools in the winter so the excess heat goes into the house to supplement the home's heating system.

In the summer, cook with countertop appliances like slow cookers and countertop grills to keep from heating up the house during meal preparation. Plan cold suppers that don't require any cooking, or grill outdoors.

Cut off the electricity vampires. Chargers for electronics and anything that has a "standby" mode suck electricity even when they are off or not charging anything. Unplugging these items when they are not actively in use can save up to $200 per year in electricity costs.

Individually, these suggestions might not save that much energy. Taken together, though, even just a few of them add up to some real energy savings.

Learn more about this author, Janet Harriett.
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