My aim here is to share some ideas or tips on how you can save money on electricity in the home as part of an overall energy conservation effort. I encourage you to review the tips on how to save electricity outlined below and apply them as appropriate for your house.

Once you have applied a few quick wins, you will see that usually the smaller steps, once combined, will allow you to save on electricity and reduce energy costs as well.

You may be asking yourself just why should I spend time with these small steps. For starters, when you save electricity you reduce energy costs. No aonly will you contribute to perhaps greenhouse gas admisssions but you will also keep more money in your pocket.

Photo Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

I invite you to take a glance at the NASA photo of the earth at night, focusing on the US. The illumination coming from various lights is quite startling when you think the photo was taken from several miles above the earth. I would presume the same type of situation would be present if we were to look to Europe or Asia.

The take-away in my opinion is the earth (or US in this case) is looking pretty bright at night. Would you not agree that there is probably some room or opportunity to save electricity, just on lighting alone?

If we look at the US home, previous statistics from the Department of Energy stated the average household spends approximately $1,900 annually on utilities. That is a large amount of money for the average family to spend over one year.

In the current economic context, where energy prices have been volatile as they are and people are out of work due the current economic challenges in the world. That amount has a fairly large impact on the typical family's budget so it is not surprising for people to look to save money on electricity (and anything else for that matter).

There is another point to consider as well and it relates the electricity and how it is generated. This is a secondary motivator for why we all should save on electricity. First off, electricity is known as a secondary energy source which means it is produced by other primary energy sources. Those primary energy sources can be out into two categories, those that are renewable and others that are non-renewable.

In terms of generation of electricity (US as example), the Department of Energy reported that the vast majority of the electricity produced in the US during the year 2006 was from a few energy sources. In this case we are talking about coal, nuclear, petroleum and natural gas. To put this into perspective, renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and biomass for example made up only a very small portion of the overall electricity produced (about 5%). These numbers have probably changed somewhat since then, however I would imagine the bulk of electricity is still produced or generated from the same energy sources.

Therefore, another benefit when we save electricity in the current context is reducing the pressure of non-renewable energy sources in addressing the electricity needs of consumers. Now obviously demand for electricity continues to climb each year, so when we save on electricity we are mainly offsetting the increase.

The primary goal moving forward would be that the allocation of energy sources used to produce electricity moves more to the renewable category, however this will take some time.

In the meantime, it makes sense that consumers implement wherever possible ways to save electricity in the home, which should not necessarily mean negative changes to lifestyle or comfort level.

Saving electricity requires a bit of planning, but not much...

Setting up your own roadmap or action plan for saving electricity is quite simple. In my opinion, the first place to start looking for areas to save money on electricity is to see where in general energy is being used in your home. As a starting point, here are some figures about percentages for an average US family. These may not reflect your situation (they are averages), but it is a good place to start thinking where you may want to invest your time to save electricity.

Heating : 31%, Cooling : 12%
Water Heating : 12%
Lighting : 12%
Computers and Electronics : 9%
Appliances : 9%, Refrigeration : 8%
Other : 8%

There is a consensus that each home or household has a more than reasonable opportunity to reduce energy costs and save themselves some money along the way. Since each of our situations is somewhat different, we all have to evaluate our individual context and behaviors of those in the house. Once we have an idea on what and where we are spending our energy related costs, you can look more closely at actions to help you save electricity in your home.

I invite you to read this article if you would like more information of defining a roadmap to saving electricity.

Take advantage of existing features to save electricity...

Each household has at least one computer these days, if not four or five. In most if not all cases, these computers and monitors have power management features installed in order for them to go into sleep mode after a predefined period of time.

Therefore the first and easy step is to ensure the power management is properly setup or activated all computers and related monitors. This will help you to save electricity quite quickly when those devices are momentarily left alone but still on.

When it comes time to replace or purchase a new computer, you should consider if a laptop is not more appropriate for your needs. They will consume less energy than normal desktop and monitor combinations and therefore help you to save money on electricity.

Unplugging and using a Smart Power Strip saves money on electricity...

A large majority of electronic appliances found in the home (TV, stereo, computers, game consoles, chargers, ...) will continue to consume small amounts of electricity even when they are in an off or standby state. You do not have to look very far to determine what I am referring to. A simple although not perfect test is looking for electronic appliances that either have a remote control or are waiting for someone to come and press a button.

It is estimated that on average 75% of electricity used for these electronic appliances in the home is when they are supposed to be turned off. Now if you consider about 10% of home energy costs are linked to electronic appliances, well, there is a significant gain to save money on electricity here.

One of the more easy ways to save electricity is to unplug those appliances when you can, however this is not always possible depending on where the electronic appliance is located for example.

The alternative solution is to purchase a smart power strip. These are useful for many appliances, and ideal for computers and related equipment. So when you can't unplug, think about using one or more smart power strips. These devices have auto switching features which makes it very easy to control turning on and off multiple appliances.

You can save electricity by adapting to the sun...

During the winter, make sure your curtains, drapes, blinds on the south facing windows are left open in order to naturally let the sun warm your house.

During the evening hours, do not forget to close them in order to retain the maximum heat within your house. By doing so, you will reduce the cool or cold chill effect that can appear near windows.

You should also ensure that you curtains or other window coverings are not blocking air vents or radiators used for heating.

During the summer months the opposite of the above actions should be taken. Therefore you should be closing your curtains to ensure that your house does not become overheated during the day.

Save electricity linked to hot water...

In the average home, hot water production makes amounts to about 12% of the energy use. Managing this better is one of the easiest ways to save electricity or energy in your home. Most of understand to some degree the amount of hot water being used, some of it unavoidable, but it is still a lot.

Get everyone in the household to take showers instead of baths. You will all save time as a result of this as well.

Try to lower the thermostat of your hot water heater to 120F or some other temperature that everyone still feels comfortable with.

Evaluate if your hot water heater is properly insulated. There exists special water heater blankets that will do this for you correctly.

In order to reduce the hot water consumption you should consider installing aerating, low-flow faucets and shower heads throughout your house. These will also allow you to save water.

Maintenance is also important with respect to hot water, or water in general. If you notice any faucets/taps that drip or leak, repair them.

Save electricity linked to heating and cooling...

Heating and cooling represents about 46% of the average utility or energy costs in a house. This area is one of the more significant places that families should be looking at in order to save money on electricity or energy as a whole.

There are a few actions you can take here that are either no cost or low cost. It starts with asking everyone to wear warmer clothes during the winter rather than running around the house in t-shirts and shorts when it is below freezing outside.

From there you should consider adjust your thermostat to a temperature which everyone still feels comfortable with. For some this will be lower than others, the important thing is that you find a right balance.

Like most homes these days, they can be empty for long periods of time such as during the day or during vacations, etc. During these periods you should lower the thermostat by a few degrees. You can also do the same in the evening when you are sleeping.

If you have ceiling fans installed in your home, you should check and change the rotation in order to be sure it forces the heat to stay down for example during winter.

Should you have vacant rooms that you are not using, close them and decide not to heat or cool them.

The last and probably most significant ways to save electricity would be installing a digital programmable thermostat to manage more effectively the heating and cooling in your home. The that will allow you to regulate the temperature in your home more efficiently (at night, when away).

As you have seen, it is not very difficult to learn how to save electricity in the home. The most challenging aspect is changing peoples behaviors in order for them to not necessarily waste electricity.

The are loads of tips or ways to save electricity for your house or apartment. One you have applied a few of them, you are well off on your journey to saving electricity and driving your energy costs lower.