Check your water heater manual for instructions and drain sediment from the water heater tank at least annually. Removing sediment promotes proper heat exchange and extends the life of the water heater. Check the website of your water heater's manufacturer if you've misplaced your manual. Many are available on-line.

Repair leaky hot water faucets promptly. A leaky faucet wastes gallons of hot water in a short period of time.

Be sure that dishwashers, washing machines and clothes dryers are fully loaded before running.

If you never use your fireplace, plug and seal the chimney flue.

 You may not realize that your fireplace is one of the most inefficient heat sources you can possibly use. It literally sends your energy dollars right up the chimney - along with volumes of warm air. A roaring fire can exhaust as much as 24,000 cubic feet of air per hour to the outside. The warm air is replaced by cold air coming into the house from the outside. Your heating system then works overtime to warm up this air - which is then exhausted through your chimney. Keep your fireplace damper closed unless a fire is going. Keeping the damper open is like keeping a 48-inch window wide open during the winter since it allows warm air to go right up the chimney. 

Don't use your gas fireplace or gas logs to try and heat your home. Use them for decorative purposes only and only sparingly in very cold weather. Don't use your gas or electric range to heat your home either. That's a potentially dangerous and expensive thing to do. Just use it for its intended purpose - cooking.

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*Energy-savings are based on information from the Department of Energy's web site at energy.gov.

**These actions can save you money with a gas furnace but may drive your energy bills higher with some electric heat pumps.

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