File this one as something you’ve probably heard before, but lighting is a big energy waster in our house.  I have two daughters who seem to know how to turn ON every light in the house, but can’t figure out how to turn OFF any lights.  My wife and I are guilty of it ourself, turning on 2 or 3 lights when one will do.  In our living room, we have recessed can lights that each have a CFL installed that uses 15 watts of power.  The six of them together use 90 watts of electricity when they are on.  We have two lamps in the same room that each have bulbs that use 13 watts.  

We finally realized one day that the light from 1 or 2 of the lamps is sufficient to illuminate the entire room.  Even when entertaining, we prefer the softer glow of two lights rather than the blinding, no-shadows-anywhere light from all six overhead can lights.

By using only the 2 lamps in our living room we save 64 watts of electricity — a 71% savings!  It take a conscious action, but by doing this over your entire house, you’ll trim not just pennies, but a lot of dollars from your electric bill each month.

Cost:  free

Monthly savings:  varies

Payback:  immediate.

Photo credit:  volliem