1. Let dishes air-dry in your dishwasher. If the machine doesn't have such a feature, just turn the control knob to "off" after the final rinse and prop the door open a little.
2. Run the dishwasher only when it is full.
3. Don't keep the refrigerator too cold. Most units work best at around 37 to 40 degrees in the fresh food compartment and 5 degrees in the freezer section. Separate freezers used for long-term storage ought to be set at 0 degrees.
4. Try the dollar-bill test to be sure the refrigerator doors seal tightly. Close the door over a piece of paper or dollar bill so that half of it sticks out of the door. Try pulling the paper out while the door is closed. If you can get it out, then the door needs adjustment or the seal needs to be replaced.
5. Try to minimize the "refrigerator-grazing" time. Standing in front of an open refrigerator while you analyze it's contents in detail uses energy.
6. Locate the refrigerator away from bright sunlight or the kitchen stove. Otherwise, heat can cause the compressor to run.
7. If you have an electric stove, turn the burners off a few minutes before the cooking time is done. The element will stay hot enough to finish the cooking without using more electricity. Use this technique for the oven also.
8. When using small pots and pans, use the small burner elements- save the large ones for the larger pans.
9. Using a microwave or toaster oven for smaller items uses less energy than heating an entire oven.
10. If you have an old freezer in the garage that you've used for food storage for the past 40 years, get rid of it. It's an energy guzzler, and it's running up your monthly power bill. New units sold today are so much more energy efficient that they will pay for themselves in a relatively short time in the energy savings.
11. Replace incandescent lighting with fluorescent lighting. It uses much less energy.
By Ken Sheinkopf, for The Orlando Sentinel
Ken Sheinkopf is director of development for the Florida Solar Energy Center, 1679 Clearlake Rd, Cocoa, Fla. 32922
