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"Cutting Energy Costs  Q: I replaced all of the light bulbs in the lights that stay on the most with the expensive energy-efficient ones. I shut the hot water off to my washer. We have new windows. I checked the gaskets on the fridge and freezer. Everyone is under strict orders to shut lights off when they leave the room. Yet, my bill keeps going up. I even shut the furnace off during the day when no one is home. What else can we do? We just can&amp;#039;t afford the bills. \u2014chipper92   A: There are so many different things that affect the heating/cooling of an entire house, which makes it difficult to name one thing that will affect your bills, but it sounds like you&amp;#039;re doing as much as you can. Do you have many computers that are running throughout the day? I would suggest a programmable thermostat (instead of shutting off the furnace) and looking into if your home is insulated properly. You can also install low-flow showerheads in your bathrooms to conserve on water and make your hot water last longer. Also make sure that the light bulbs you&amp;#039;re using are Energy Star rated as well as all of your appliances.  Water Heater Temp  Q: My husband takes very long showers and is afraid he&amp;#039;ll run out of hot water. His solution was to turn the water heater up a few degrees. I don&amp;#039;t think I&amp;#039;ll ever get him to take shorter showers. I can&amp;#039;t imagine that turning the thermostat up a few degrees doesn&amp;#039;t affect the gas bill, so I was wondering if it really makes the hot water last longer? \u2014cmkathi   A: Try installing a low-flow showerhead to help with your utility bills. This will limit the amount of water used during his showers, and the less water you use, the less the hot water heater will have to turn on to keep the water heated.  Electric Clothes Dryer  Q: How can I use my 20-year-old electric clothes dryer most efficiently? I have been trying to launder at least two loads at a time, thinking that once the dryer is heated, it is best to use it again while it is still hot. \u2014the_duffers   A: I would consider buying a new machine! The latest dryers have moisture sensors that sense how wet your clothes are and stop the cycle when the clothes are dry rather than after a certain amount of time. This not only saves energy but also can reduce the damage to your clothes because you&amp;#039;re not overdrying them.  If you don&amp;#039;t want to buy a new machine, I would set the drying time to the shortest amount of time and check the clothes often so that you can stop the cycle as soon as the clothes are dry. I don&amp;#039;t know if you&amp;#039;re saving energy by doing two loads at once \u2014 if it&amp;#039;s taking twice as long to get the clothes dry, then you&amp;#039;re not saving any electricity, but if you&amp;#039;re getting two loads dry in that one cycle, then you are saving electricity. Microwave vs. Oven  Q: Which uses less electricity: the microwave or the oven? \u2014my_country_home A: In general, microwaves use less electricity than ovens, but look at the underside of each of the appliances (or in the owner&amp;#039;s manual) to find out its wattage. Take the number of watts and multiply it by the amount of time the appliance is on. The appliance with the larger number is using more electricity.  Greedy Appliances  Q: Someone told me that some appliances continue to use electricity, even when they&amp;#039;re turned off. Is this true? \u2014muumuu_lou   A: Yes, electronics use electricity even when they are turned off. Think about anything in your house that has a clock or responds to a remote control. In order for the clock to keep time, it needs electricity and in order for the TV to respond to the &amp;#039;On&amp;#039; command from the remote, it needs electricity. The only way to have something not use any electricity is to unplug it.  Programmable Thermostat  Q: I&amp;#039;ve been asking my husband to consider getting a programmable thermostat, but we keep putting it off because of the expense. I was wondering if it might actually save us money on heating and cooling expenses \u2014 maybe we shouldn&amp;#039;t wait to make this purchase? \u2014mommagoose1   A: A programmable thermostat is an easy way to save on heating/cooling costs. You can buy one for under $50 at any home improvement store. This is one purchase that you shouldn&amp;#039;t put off. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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