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Here are 10 energy saving tips that are easy to do and don’t cost you an arm and a leg, but rather they will save you some cash:

1) Get cozy with your water heater. Wrap it up in a blanket so that it doesn’t require so much energy to keep the water that’s hot, hot.

2) Insulate inside your wall sockets. Just remove the socket plate with a screwdriver and stick some insulation around the metal box. It’s surprising just how much cold air enters a room through these holes.

3) Be diligent about replacing furnace and air conditioner filters. You need to this every 3 months on the average. If air cannot pass freely through your filter, it will work harder and harder to do its job and cost you far more than the price of a filter.

4) Keep your curtains drawn or your blinds shut on hot summer days to ward off the heat of direct sunlight into a room. In the winter, open the curtains/blinds to allow the sun in to warm your room, and close them at night to help keep the warm air in.

5) One of my favorite energy saving tips is to ensure your…

weather stripping around windows and doors are in good condition A good test is to insert a dollar bill and see if you can move it without resistance around your door. If you can, it’s time to replace the weather stripping.

6) Have your air conditioner and your furnace maintained annually. It’s like having a tune-up performed on your car. Make sure the technician leaves you a checklist of the tests performed. This will aid you in selling your home when the time arises.

7) In the summer, close the basement vents to help push the cold air up. If you live in a two-story, close the basement vents and also close 1/2 of the main floor vents to help further force the cool air up.

8) Use CFLs - Compact Fluorescent Bulbs - just start replacing your old incandescent ones with CFL’s. A whopping 70% savings.

9) Buy an automatic thermostat that you can program to turn down your heat at night while you sleep in the winter. It’s alarming the amount of money you will save.

10) Instead of using a full sized oven, purchase a toaster oven. Foods can be cooked in them with the same results but with huge savings.

I’m always interested in hearing about energy saving tips. Feel free to add any of your own.