Heating

Because the majority of the energy used in the home goes to heating, we will start with this. What can you do to conserve energy here? The following are some suggestions: Start by setting your home thermostat as low as comfortable (65 to 68 degrees F is suggested) when the house is occupied. Then, set back the thermostat by as much as 10 F at night or when the house is unoccupied during the day. Most thermostats have programmable features, so you do not have to manually do this each day, rather think of your basic schedule, and set your thermostat around that.

Next, set back the thermostat to 50 to 55 F when the house is unoccupied for over 24 hours. Also, take other precautions to keep you from losing energy, for example, close the fireplace damper - except during fireplace use. Reduce heat to unused rooms in the house by closing doors and heat registers. Close curtains and shades at night. Replace furnace filters once a month during the heating season. Remove any obstructions and clean heating registers regularly, in fact, while few people do this, it is recommended that you have certified maintenance personnel service and check your furnace regularly - every three years for gas fired furnaces.
What else can you change in your home, or minor repairs you can do to help with home energy conservation? You could take a little time to seal all joints in sheet metal ducts in a forced air furnace with mastic or appropriate tape; insulate ducts passing through unheated spaces. You could also install insulating gaskets behind electrical outlets and switch plates on exterior walls. Caulk and weatherstrip doors and windows. Caulk and seal leaks where plumbing, ducting or electrical wiring penetrates through exterior walls, floors, and ceilings. If you are feeling ambitious, you could upgrade ceiling insulation to R-38 (higher R values mean greater insulation levels and thus more energy savings), and you could insulate basements and floors.

Hot Water

When it comes to conserving energy with water, this does not mean you should stop showering, it means doing simple things like repair any leaky faucets; reduce the temperature setting of your water heater to warm (120 F); add an insulating blanket to your water heater; change your shower-heads to low-flow so that you can still take 20 minute showers, but use less water doing so; wash clothes in warm or cold water using the appropriate water level setting for the load. Other things you can do are simple things like only wash full loads of clothes and dishes, and don't add extra rinse cycles etc. unless you feel it is necessary.

Major Appliances and Other Appliances

Home energy conservation does not just apply to things like heating, cooling, and water, you can conserve energy with your appliances as well. The following is a list of things to do to conserve energy with appliances.Maintain refrigerator at 37 to 40 F and freezer section at 5 F. Maintain stand alone freezer at 0 F. Choose a refrigerator/freezer with automatic moisture control. Use toaster ovens or microwave ovens for cooking small meals. Adjust the flame on gas cooking appliances so it's blue, not yellow. Replace a gas cooking appliance with a unit with an automatic, electric ignition system. Air dry dishes in a dishwasher. Shut down home computers when not in use. If replacing anything, replace it with an energy efficient model.

Lighting

With lighting, conserving energy is simple; turn off lights when not in use.

Cooling

Simple things you can do to conserve energy when it comes to cooling are.open windows at night to bring in cool night air; close them during the day; close drapes during the day; use room air conditioning only where needed and install energy efficient models; maintain an air conditioned house at 78 F or higher; change the filter regularly, and keep your blinds down during the hotter parts of the day.