Cook More Than One Meal at a Time
You can dramatically reduce your energy costs in the kitchen by cooking three or four days worth of dinners at one time.  Keeping the oven door closed during the entire cooking process will also help save energy.  Opening the door just lets the heat out and makes the oven work harder. 

Use Small Appliances
You will consume much less energy by using a portable skillet or toaster oven than you would if you were to turn on your oven or stove.  This tip will come in handy on those mornings when you feel like a batch of hot, fresh pancakes right of the griddle.

Don’t Overuse the Burner
Those people with electric ranges can turn off the burner before you are actually finished cooking.  The burner continues to radiate residual heat that will be more than enough to finish the cooking process.  You will have saved an entire hour of energy if you just turn off the burner two minutes early each day for an entire month.

Clean the Filters
Both your washer and your dryer have filters.  While most people will clean the dryer lint filter after each load, they often neglect the washer filter.  Clogged washer filters mean that your washer will need to work harder and use more energy.  You can reduce your energy costs simply by cleaning these filters on a regular basis.

Less Drying Time
Most people pick a time on the dryer timer and just let it run.  The truth is that most loads are dry long before the time is up.  Do some experimenting to figure out the exact amount of time you need to dry an average load and don’t turn the timer past that.  This way you won’t waste energy on clothes that are already dry.

Hang Your Clothes
You can save lots of money on your utility costs by placing your clothes on a line to dry.  Drying your clothes on a line outside in the summer also helps to keep your home cool as you don’t have the heat from the dryer.  An added advantage is that fresh smell that only line drying can provide.

Think Cold
This is a simple tip that many people fail to follow.  While you will probably want to wash your dishes, clothes, and hands with warm water, cold water will work perfectly fine for rinsing.  You don’t always need to use hot water for many of your everyday tasks.

Reduce Your Water Heater Temperature
Did you know that you can save between three to five percent on your energy costs for each 10 degrees you lower your water heater temperature?  Many people have their water heaters set much higher than is really necessary.  Those with a dishwasher should set their water temperature no higher than 140° and those without a dishwasher can lower the temperature even further to 130°.  Lower water heater temperatures are an easy way to save money on your utility bills.

Repair Leaky Faucets
Even small leaks in your faucets can waste water and cost you plenty of money.  One utility company estimated that you will loose as much as 1,008 gallons of water a year with a leak that only drips 30 drops/minute.

Give Your Attic Insulation an Upgrade
You can save as much as twenty percent on your heating bills just by adding insulation to your attic.  The higher the “R” value of the insulation the greater the savings you can expect to receive.  You should use insulation with at least an R value of 40 when insulating your attic.  You can also reduce you energy costs by applying a good sealant to your attic door.

Seal Your Air Ducts
Around 40% of the cooling of your home is lost as the result of leaky air ducts.  The air ducts in any home tend to be very warm, making your energy costs rise during warm weather.  Do not use duct tape to seal your duct system.  It is better to use mastic and mesh combined with insulation with an R value of at least 8.

Clean Air Filters
Air conditioning and furnace filters should be replaced monthly to operate at maximum energy efficiency.  These appliances work harder, and therefore use more energy, when they have a dirty filter.

Compact Fluorescent Lights
There are many benefits to using compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) in your home.  While they have a higher initial price tag than regular incandescent bulbs they will use approximately 75% less energy and have a useful life of around 10 times what you can expect from an incandescent.  You can save over $100 in around three years just by replacing four frequently used 100 incandescent bulbs with 23-watt CFLs

Switch Them Off
While this is regular common sense, it is a reminder than many of use need every once in a while.  This is a sure fire way to reduce your energy bill that costs you nothing.  Lights that are not in use should be turned off immediately.  For those that have a hard time remembering to turn off lights it may be a good idea to install timers. 

Energy Efficient Appliances
Each of the appliances that you use in your home adds to your energy bills.  The appliances you choose can really help to reduce those costs.  You can get a great idea of the most energy efficient appliances on the market these days by visiting energyguide.com.   The yellow Energy Star® label on appliances can also give you a good idea of the appliance’s energy consumption while you are shopping around.