1. Don't try to speed-cool at a very low temperature when you get home. Standard single-speed air conditioners cool as fast as they can when on; they can't cool any faster. Choose your normal setting, preferably 78° F.
   
   
2. Use fans in mild weather. A ceiling fan at medium speed uses 50 to 100 times less energy than your central AC.
   
   
3. Set your thermostat a few degrees higher when running a ceiling fan. You will feel as cool at 80° F as you would at 78° F - but costs are reduced by about 15 - 25 percent.
   
   
4. Use a microwave instead of the range or oven. The microwave cooks fast and doesn't heat the kitchen.
   
   
5. Keep windows and doors closed while air conditioning.
   
   
6. Close all shades, drapes and blinds during the day.
   
   
7. Wear lightweight clothing, preferably cotton.
8. Vent the clothes dryer to the outdoors. This prevents heat and moisture from getting into the house.
   
   
9. Limit the use of the oven and cook outdoors.
   
   
10. Visit a neighbor and use their air conditioner.
11. Use as few lights as needed. Lights put off heat. About 99 percent of a lamp's energy is converted to heat while the remaining 1 percent is converted to light.
    
    
12. Switch to compact fluorescent lights (CFLs). They provide the same amount of light for 1/4 the cost and 1/4 the heat output, while lasting 10 times longer than incandescent light bulbs.

Bonus:  Hit the pool!

Saving money is an easy-to-accomplish task in most areas of life. For instance, you can cut your food budget by cooking at home and clipping coupons, or reduce your entertainment budget by renting movies on DVD instead of seeing them in the theatre.

But one area that is decidedly less easy to address is reducing home energy bills—especially if you want to slash your expenses by 20 percent! How do you reduce home energy bills when you need heat in the winter, air conditioning in the summer and, of course, lighting year-round? Don’t fret though—home energy bill reduction doesn’t have to be excruciating and doesn’t have to leave you freezing or sweating buckets as you work in the dark! Here are some tips to keep in mind as you try for a home energy bill reduction of up to 20 percent:

—Make sure your home is properly insulated and free of drafts that will let in cold air and let out hot. We can’t stress this one enough. There’s nothing more frustrating than paying for heat that is slipping through the cracks (literally). If you think you have addressed the issues with insulation or stripping - yet your bill is still higher than you’d like - and you want to keep reducing home energy bills, look into…

—…a home energy audit. This will cost you a little bit of money in the short run but will reduce home energy bills and save you a lot of cash in the long run. Home energy auditors use blower doors and infrared cameras to detect leaks that can’t be found by the naked eye yet result in costly increases to your home energy bill. These leaks can be fixed in economical fashion and will result in reducing home energy bills almost immediately.

—In addition to turning out the lights when you leave a room, don’t turn on the lights during the day when it’s sunny outside. Of course there’s no avoiding using lights in the house, but if sunlight is shining through the windows and providing you plenty of light by which to work, then why bother wasting energy by turning on the lights? This is a common mistake for people, who are conditioned to turning on the lights as they walk in a room. But limiting the amount of time the lights are on during the day—as well as making sure the lights are off in a room that nobody is occupying—will go a long way towards reducing home energy bills.

—Wait as long as possible before cranking up the heat in the winter and the air conditioning in the summer. Are you enduring a cold spell in October or a heat wave in April? It won’t last long—can you survive the early winter weather by wearing an extra layer of clothing or withstand the atypically warm spring temperatures by getting around in a T-shirt and shorts and giving the ceiling fans a workout? The problem with using the heat in October or the air conditioner in April is that you’ll get used to it and keep the heat or air running months longer than necessary.

Reducing home energy bills isn’t easy, but it doesn’t have to hurt, either, as you find a way to make your wallet feel fuller! Look into these tips today and reduce home energy bills starting today!