In general, even if you do not have high bills because you live in a new home with Energy Star appliances or in a small home, duplex, or apartment, you can still lower your energy usage. For those customers with high bills, these quick fixes can be implemented along with your Energy Action Plan to achieve even more savings.

Without Changing Your Lifestyle
Here are nine improvements that all can be implemented within a couple of hours and generally cost less than $100

1. Install a programmable thermostat. Click here to learn more about programmable thermostats
2. Change the air filter on your furnace
3. Add weather-stripping around windows and doors and caulk air leaks. Click here to learn more about weatherizing your house
4. Replace your standard light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) – a single bulb can lower your costs by $60 over the course of its lifetime. Click here to find local retailers for CFL bulbs
5. Automate your lighting by adding motion sensors to shut off lights when not in rooms and for outside lights
6. Lower your hot water temperature from 140 to 120 degrees – generally can save you $50 a year. Insulating your hot water heater can lead to even lower bills. Click here to learn more about lowering your energy usage for water heating
7. Install power strips that turn off all your electronics and eliminate phantom loads – can easily save you $50 a year
8. Increase the temperature of your refrigerator and freezer to the highest recommended level. Click here to learn ways to reduce the energy used by your refrigerator and freezer

Each of these improvements has a very short payback period and you do not have to change your behavior at all. If you are not able to install these, any handyman service will gladly assist you.

With Minor Changes to Your Lifestyle
And with a couple of behavioral changes, you can lower your bills even further –

1. Turn off any appliance you are not using (e.g. televisions, computers, DVRs, radios) - Click here to learn more about how to manage your computers in a more energy efficient way
2. Set your temperature to 78 degrees in the summer and 68 in the winter
3. Wash dishes only when your dishwasher is full
4. Wash and dry clothes only when you have full loads of laundry