• Turn off the range hood fan as soon as you are done using it.  It can drain the house of heated or cooled air in just one hour.
• When cooking, make sure the size of your pan matches the size of the burner. If the flames are bigger than the pan base, you're wasting heat.
• Keep range-top burners clean so heat reflects properly.

Oven

• Cook foods in glass or ceramic pans. You can set your oven 25 degrees cooler and your food will cook at the same rate.
• Don't open your oven door to check your food. The oven can lose 25 percent of its heat when you open the door.
• When baking, cook several things together to shorten the time the oven is on. Or make double batches and freeze them for later use.
• When re-heating or cooking small foods, use the microwave or toaster oven instead of your oven.
• If you plan to use the self-cleaning oven feature, do it right after you've baked so the oven doesn't need to re-heat.

Refrigerator/Freezer

• Consider replacing your old refrigerator. New units use half as much energy as those made 20 years ago, even if they are the same size.
• Clean refrigerator coils every six months to keep the appliance running efficiently.
• Defrost your freezer. Frost build-up makes the freezer work harder to keep your food frozen.
• Keep your refrigerator full enough to maximize cooling power, but don't stock it so full that the air can't circulate.
• Make sure the seal on your refrigerator door is tight. If you can easily slide a dollar bill through it when it is closed, the gaskets should be replaced.

Dishwasher

• Run only full loads in the dishwasher. To save energy, use the air dry cycle or open the door to let air circulate.

• Fix leaky faucets. One drip can waste up to 250 gallons of water per month, which translates to 3,000 gallons of wasted water annually.