Home energy checklist

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy offers this checklist of ways you can save energy at home:

• Turn down the temperature of your water heater to the warm setting (120 degrees F.). You'll not only save energy, you'll avoid scalding your hands.

• Check if your water heater has an insulating blanket. An insulating blanket will pay for itself in one year or less.

• If you have a water bed, one of those silent guzzlers, be sure to make it. The covers will insulate it and save up to one-third of the energy it uses.

• Start using energy-saving settings on refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines and clothes dryers.

• Survey your incandescent lights for opportunities to replace them with compact fluorescents. These lamps can save three-quarters of the electricity used by incandescents. The best targets are 60-100-watt bulbs used several hours a day. New compact fluorescents come in many sizes and styles to fit in most standard fixtures.

• Check the age and condition of your major appliances, especially the refrigerator. You may want to replace it with a more energy-efficient model before it dies.

• Clean or replace furnace, air-conditioner and heat-pump filters.

THIS WEEK

• Visit the hardware store. Buy a water-heater blanket, low-flow shower heads, faucet aerators and compact fluorescents, as needed.

• Rope caulk very leaky windows.

• Assess your heating and cooling systems. Determine if replacements are justified, or whether you should retrofit them to make them work more efficiently to provide the same comfort (or better) for less energy.

THIS MONTH

• Collect your utility bills. Separate electricity and fuel bills. Target the biggest bill for energy conservation remedies.

• Crawl into your attic or crawl space and inspect for insulation. Is there any? How much?

• Insulate hot water pipes and ducts wherever they run through unheated areas.