• Set your thermostat at 85°F or more when you leave your home for more than four hours. Savings: 5-12% of cooling costs.
  
  
• Use an outdoor electric grill to avoid heating up your home.
  
  
• Use air conditioning wisely. Keep all your doors and windows shut and avoid using a humidifier.
  
  
• Don't overcool. Don't turn your thermostat lower than normal to cool your home faster. It doesn't work.
  
  
• Keep heat-producing appliances away from your thermostat. Heat emitted by television sets, lamps, and other appliances will make your cooling system work harder.
  
  
• Unless you have furniture, art or equipment that could be damaged by excessive heat, turn your cooling unit off when you leave your home for more than 24 hours.
  
  
• Turn off your furnace pilot light during the non-heating season. Savings: 3-9% of cooling costs.
  
  
• Cool naturally. Take advantage of breezy days and nights by opening doors and windows and turning off your cooling system.
  
  
• When going on vacation, set your air conditioner at 85 degrees, or turn it off completely in moderate climates.

Lawn/Garden

• A well-placed tree, shrub, or vine can deliver effective shade, act as a windbreak, and reduce overall energy bills.
  
  
• Carefully positioned trees can save up to 25% of a typical household's energy for heating and cooling.
  
  
• Provide shading for your air conditioning condenser. Savings: 2-3% of cooling costs.
  
  
• Use exterior shading devices like awnings, bamboo screens and shade screens (instead of bug screens), or deciduous plants to shade your home and windows (especially south, west and east facing) from the sun.
  
  
• In the summer, leafy trees provide cool shade. In the winter, bare branches allow the sun to warm your home. Small shrubs can block heat reflected from patios and pavement. And planting vines over southern windows can reduce the effect of the sun's heat. Savings: Up to 8% of cooling costs.
  
  
• Water lawns between 10 p.m. and 10 a.m.

Pool/Spa

• Consider a solar water heating system for your swimming pool.
  
  
• Keep your spa or pool covered when not in use. Well-fitted pool and spa covers help prevent heat loss. They also reduce water evaporation.
  
  
• Consider a solar cover; it lies on the water's surface and heats the water from the sun. Pool and spa combos save energy because they share the same filtration and heating systems. Use a time clock to pre-set the exact hours you want your pool heated. Savings: 50 to 70% of water heating costs.
  
  
• Switch pool filter and sweeper operations to off-peak hours. Peak hours are between noon and 6 p.m. Consider replacing pool pumps and motors with updated, more efficient equipment. Savings depend on your use.
  
  
• Shorten the operating time for your swimming pool filter and automatic cleaning sweep (if your pool has one). In the winter, two hours a day of filtering will keep your pool clean. Savings: 40 to 50%.
  
  
• When closing a pool for the winter, drain all water from the heater, filter, pump, and piping system. Remove the pump motor and store in a dry place. Inspect the spa heater annually for scale, mineral deposits, or corrosion.