Improved Efficiency in the Amount of Energy You Use At Home

Increased energy efficiency to help the United States reduce its consumption was the topic of President Bush's address to the 16th Energy Efficiency Forum in Washington on June 15th. As consumers, we can improve the efficiency of our energy use at home, with the added benefit of saving money on energy bills.

Whether or not you are interested in the overall effects that saving energy can have on our nation's economy, better efficiency in the way you use energy at home can make a big difference to the size of your electric and gas bills. It is worth taking some time to think about ways to improve your efficiency, and the small energy-saving home improvements that would help.

Here are a few low-cost things you can do to improve efficiency in the way you consume energy at home, as recommended by the U.S. Department of Energy.

• When using the dishwasher or washing machine, make sure that you have a full load; doing a half-load uses the same amount of water and electricity
• Change your incandescent light bulbs for fluorescent ones
• Instead of using the drying cycle on your dishwasher, or tumble drying your clothes, let fresh air do the work: it's cheaper and is more energy efficient
• When you're not using your radio, TV, VCR or computer, turn them off!
• Set the hot water thermostat to a lower temperature; you should only need around 115 degrees for most uses
• Instead of using your range or oven, try using your microwave as much as possible

If you try to implement just a few of these things, you will improve the energy efficiency of your household, reduce your energy bills and make your home a more environmentally-friendly place.