Whether you are worried about your electricity bills because of your family's budget or environmental impact, you can do a lot to improve your situation. The houses are the second place where the energy is wasted - only our cars are "better" when it comes to wasting energy. Fortunately unlike in case of cars, we can do a lot to make our houses more energy-efficient.



Here's the first step: make sure that all your doors and windows can be really closed tight. If not, order to repair them or seal the leaks yourself. Your objective is to eliminate all drafts you can. If a cold air can't get in, you will not lose energy heating it. Another important thing is either insulating your cellar too, or at least making the cellar doors well-insulated to prevent cold from entering your house from the ground.

The energy use can be also limited by keeping your heating and cooling systems in good condition. If you fail to install new filters every few months and schedule your furnace maintenance every ten years instead of ever second year, you can expect that those systems' efficiency will be cut by half. Also, remember about checking the cooling system for coolant leaks regularly. If any of the systems you have is older than sixteen-twenty years, it is recommended to replace it - old technologies are usually much less efficient than modern solutions.

Keep your thermostat in the area of your house which is far away from any really hot or cold places. Otherwise you risk your thermostat to excessively heat or cool your house basing on false readings. You may reduce the risk by installing a programmable Energy Star rater thermostat, but it is much better to get it installed in another place.

If you make sure that your house is well-insulated, eliminate most of the drafts and keep your cooling and heating systems in prime condition, it's usually enough to reduce your bills by a half. If you want to do more than that, you may want to consider some additional means, like installing a heat pump or using a fireplace insert instead of real fireplace.

Another simple, yet effective tip is to use shades to either keep the sun out or keep the heat in depending on what season it is. Keeping out direct afternoon sunlight during the summer, keeps your house cooler. For those in northern climates, you want the afternoon sun to come in during the winter to heat the house up a bit.