Because they affect your whole home, these tips will offer you some of the greatest savings. And some of them (like looking for air leaks with a flashlight) can even be kind of fun.

Windows

It’s Curtains For You

• Direct sunlight can raise the temperature of a room by 10 to 20 degrees, so plant shade trees, install canopies or awnings outdoors and use insulated drapes indoors.
• Closing blinds and curtains during the day in summer will keep your room cooler so your A/C will work less. During the winter, keep blinds open during the day to help heat the room, and close them at night to help retain the heat.
• Curtains or drapes block the heat and sun more effectively than blinds.

Be Weatherproof

• Did you know that leaky windows can account for 10% to 20% of your air conditioning and heating bill?
• To test for leaks, shine a flashlight at night over all potential gaps in doors and windows while a helper observes the house from outside. Large cracks will show up as rays of light. You can also shut your doors and windows on a piece of paper placed on the window track or doorjamb. If you can pull the paper out without tearing it, you’re losing heated and cooled air, which means you’re losing energy.
• Caulk and weather-strip your windows to stop air leaks.

Keep the Cold Air In

Properly installed storm windows can reduce cooling or heating loss by as much as 50%. Energy-efficient, double-pane windows make your bedroom quieter while doing a great job of insulating your house, and did you know there are tax saving for energy-efficient windows? 

Doors

An exterior door with a one-eighth inch gap around it is equivalent to having a 6-inch hole in an exterior wall!

Be Weatherproof

• It's amazing how much energy is wasted due to leaky doors.
• Use a flashlight or piece of paper to check for gaps on all the exterior doors in your house. If you can see light through the door or feel a draft, you're probably wasting valuable energy in warmer as well as cooler weather.
• Check for old or missing weather-stripping on the sides and top of the door, as well as a door sweep at the bottom of the door.

Out with the Old

Older doors, especially wooden doors or doors with glass panels, are often big energy wasters. Consider replacing your older doors with newer, energy-efficient doors that are ENERGY STAR® qualified.

The Roof

Replacing or modifying your roof is a major project. But every roof needs repair or maintenance eventually, and you definitely want to think about energy-efficient roof products if you're building or remodeling.

Reflect on the Savings

• The latest trend is reflective roof products, which can make quite a dent in your electric bill.
• ENERGY STAR qualified roof products reflect more of the sun's rays. This can lower your roof’s surface temperature by up to 100° F, decreasing the amount of heat transferred into your home.*
• ENERGY STAR qualified roof products can help reduce the amount of air conditioning needed, and can reduce peak cooling demand by 10-15%.*

*Source: ENERGY STAR

Weatherize Everywhere

Air goes in and out of your home through every hole and crack around doors and windows. Reducing air leaks in your home can lower your electric bill by 10%.

Stop the Leaks

• Caulk and seal air leaks around exterior openings, over cabinets and where plumbing, ductwork or electrical wiring penetrates through exterior walls, floors or ceilings.
• Install foam gaskets behind outlet and switch plates on exterior walls.
• Look for dirty spots on your insulation, which often indicate holes where air leaks into and out of your house. Seal them by stapling sheets of plastic over the holes and caulking the edges of the plastic. Never cover openings associated with lighting, such as recessed lighting.
• Install storm windows over single-pane windows or replace with double-pane windows.

Ceiling Fans 

Become a Fan

• Ceiling fans make you feel cooler by moving the air around you and carrying the heat away from your body. They don’t actually cool the air, but a ceiling fan can make the room feel around 10° F cooler. That means you can set the thermostat at a higher temperature and still feel comfortable.
• Ceiling fans use much less energy than your air conditioner. Depending on brand, model, speed and size, a ceiling fan typically uses around 95 watts or less, while your central A/C system can use thousands of watts.
• If you can’t install a ceiling fan in a room for some reason, a floor fan can be helpful and only uses around 100 watts on high speed.
• You can save even more money by turning off the ceiling fan when you leave the room.

Head in the Right Direction

• With most fans, you want them to turn counterclockwise during the summer and clockwise during the winter. Most fans have an up/down or left/right switch between the blades and the light fixture.
• In the wintertime, heat tends to rise and form pockets of warm air near the ceiling. A slow-moving ceiling fan can help a room feel warmer by pushing the warm air near the ceiling back down into the room. Often, a 68° F or lower thermostat setting feels warmer.

Lighting

Get Energy-Saving Light Bulbs

• Replace your incandescent bulbs (the kind we've all used for decades) with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs.
• CFL bulbs use as much as 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs while providing the same amount of light, and they can last up to 10 times longer. For example, a 13-watt CFL replacing a 60-watt incandescent will save about 470 kWh over its lifetime.
• At $0.14 per kWh, you would save $65.80 with a single light bulb—and remove over 600 lbs of carbon from the Texas environment.*

*Based on 1.35 lbs/CO₂ per 1kWh. Source: US EPA 2005 Texas emissions data.