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You know how most people, when they visit someone else's home, take a furtive look to see what kinds of stuff they have, fearful that may be they have better stuff? Well, those who have different kinds of interests – say, those who are really interested in finding ways to save money on electricity or anything else – these kinds of people, when they visit another person's house, are likely to find an excuse to look at their utility meters and then at their large screen TV or anything. They try to see how fast their electricity meter seems to be running. If they can, they like to take a look at their meter readings as well.

If they find that a friend is using less energy than them, they feel shown up. And they do everything in their power to become even stingier to save money on electricity like never before. If you're already quite careful, you might wonder how you could possibly save money on electricity any more than you do already. Well, just looking at average savings for every appliance in your house or every function that you need electricity for in your house should help.

For instance, if you want cool your house, using only fans instead of air-conditioning can save you $500 a year. Turning off your central heating and using space heaters instead can save you $1000 a year. Turn the hot water function off on your washing machine and that's off $200 a year. Line-dry your clothes instead of using a dryer, and that's another $200 a year saved. And most surprisingly, merely to turn your computer off or to put it to sleep when you're not using it will save you exactly the same – $200 a year.

Perhaps we don't really think much about how to save water because, well, water is nearly free. Our water bills, while they can be something of an inconvenience, are never as serious as our power bills (unless you’re the Peculiar, Mo., woman who got a $942 water bill). Well, cheap is just the way it's priced. Think of it this way – what is more fundamental to life – that latest iPhone or water? And yet, an iPhone is priced to be far more expensive than water. You can't depend on our primitive pricing systems to show you what's really important or what’s really in short supply.

The thing is, there isn't an endless supply of water. Electricity, perhaps, we do have an endless supply of. This year's drought of the southern states should have made this amply clear. And Americans have quite an addiction to water. While the average European uses perhaps 50 gallons of water a day, Americans use nearly 100 gallons a day each.

When you're a renter, you don't have the kind of freedom the home owner does to make changes to the house that will help you save on your utility bills. Which is kind of an unfair situation. If the house you are renting isn't well-insulated or anything, you're the one who has to pay the resulting high utility bills. These home energy saving tips for renters should help you, should you find yourself in a situation where you can't make the kind of changes that are needed because you don't own the house.

So are there home energy saving tips that you can use when you can't install insulation or when you can't install a programmable thermostat? Well, there certainly are some things you can do. Of course, with many renters, they just don't care – because the rent they pay includes the utility bills, too. But if you happen to be kind of environmentally conscious, try these.

A simple thing to do would be to look at places where there are regular light bulbs and replace them with halogen bulbs or compact fluorescent bulbs. Most people don't realize this, but a computer that's running all the time for no reason can be such a power sink. You have no idea how serious a power sink it can be. A computer that runs all the time can suck down as much power as a clothes dryer does. You can spend half as much on powering your computer as you would air-conditioning two rooms all summer.

Owing to the fast depleting energy resources in the world it has become very important that members of each household try as much as possible to conserve all forms of energy. Among the different forms of energy available today is electrical energy. There are very many ways through which energy can be conserved in the home and the best thing is that they are also very simple. One way of going about electrical energy conservation is by unplugging all energy consuming items that are not being used at the moment. While not many appliances use energy when idle, some do consume energy. Some of the items that should be unplugged when not in use include stereo systems, DVD’s, VCR, alarm clocks, night lights and microwaves.

Water heaters are among some of the things most people cannot do without but then they tend to misuse the heaters and this translates into huge electrical bills. Households with heaters should have timers for their heaters. This will ensure that one will only heat water when it is necessary. A timer works by enabling a person to choose certain off and on times for operating their water heater. Unknown to most people, regular maintenance of home appliances can help to conserve energy as well. The maintenance should be done on items such as air conditioning and heating units whose filters need replacement or cleaning from time to time.

It is no secret that the energy resources of our planets are fast depleting. While there is a significant part of the population that has been working tirelessly to ensure that the resources are not misused, there are some people who have yet to join the bandwagon. There are several options for a person whom is keen on having an alternative source of energy to use in their home and they include solar power, synthetic fuels, thermal power, hydropower and wind power.

Wind energy is an alternative source of energy that has been with us for a very long time and you can harness it though building a wind turbine. The best thing about wind is that it is renewable and can be used for powering the home. Wind turbines are usually installed outside the home and you might need to create some space for one. In most households, turbines will be found in a corner in the garden. This helps them to make use of the wind to help their propellers rotate. The rotating propellers then generate the electricity that people use in their houses.

There are different kinds of turbines that can be used for the home and the best thing about them is that they come in various sizes and heights. This means that you can choose the one that suits you best. In some instances, it can be quite costly to install a turbine but when you thing about the many benefits that can come with it you will realize it is worth it in the long run.

With the fast depleting resources in the world today among them sources of energy it is becoming quite important for people to save as much of it as possible. For the world to be effective in saving energy, the practice has to be started in the home and with the simple things. One of the ways through which one can save energy is by switching of any lights in the house when they are not needed.

Another way of saving energy at home is by fixing any leaks of water and air in home whenever possible. This will not only help one save useful energy but it will help them save money as well. This will however require the person to do some budgeting. Any appliances that are not in use should also be turned off as this will save much energy as well.