Energy Diet Anyone?

I wear less and open the blinds to spite my neighbors. Luckily for them, I threw out my 10-year-old pair of boxers last week. It was a sad day, but the wind is a lot more forgiving.

 

If you get better energy bills by maintaining one temperature than by changing it at bedtime, do that. Otherwise, what I would do is turn the heat down in winter when I leave the house and turn it back up at night after I get home when I'm by myself in the house. The way I figure it, the only living creature in the house is Samson, and I doubt she needs the temperature to be at 67 degrees when I'm not there.

But more to the point, if you have an appliance you don't use very often (once a day or less), unplug it when you're not using it. If you have an appliance you use several times a day, unplugging it won't help anything. In fact, it's more harmful to the socket or to the cord itself to unplug and plug back in several times a day. Make sure all closet doors are closed so you don't heat space that doesn't need to be heated. Double- and triple-check your insulation to make sure you aren't wasting energy. Shut down your computer at night or whenever you're not going to be using it for hours at a time. Completely.

If it's not blazingly hot or frigid outside, consider opening windows (I know I hate this as much as anyone can). During daylight hours on a bright, sunny day, open the blinds and let natural light shine through. Unless you have a habit of walking around in boxers to spite people (hi Mikey!)

Turn the temperature of your shower down to a bearable temperature that isn't overly hot or cold.