Appliances

Appliances use an estimated 20 percent of your home's energy, with refrigerators, clothes washers and clothes dryers topping the list. An investment in ENERGY STARŪ qualified appliances and electronics will save energy and help reduce your utility bills. ENERGY STAR appliances are an important part of an energy efficient home because they employ advanced technologies that use 10-50 percent less energy and water than standard models. A complete list of ENERGY STAR appliances can be found at www.energystar.gov.

Lighting

Using new lighting technologies can reduce lighting energy use in your home by 50 to 75 percent. Many of the improvements are simple to make. For example, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) are four times more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs, and they last up to 10 times as long. By replacing five incandescent light bulbs with CFLs, you can save at least $60 a year. Light emitting diodes use 80 to 90 percent less energy than conventional incandescent bulbs.

Water Heating

Most of the energy used by a dishwasher is for water heating. Be sure your dishwasher is full when you run it, but don't overload it. The "rinse hold" setting uses three to seven extra gallons of hot water, so avoid using this setting for small loads or a few soiled dishes. Many appliances have timers and can be run during nights or weekends (off peak periods) to reduce the demand on our nation's electric grid. This feature helps electric utilities to prevent or delay the building of costly transmission lines.