Energy Saving Ideas For Your Residence (Homes, Dorms, Apartments)

• Unplug appliances that are not being used.  Most idle appliances -- TVs, VCRs, CD players, cassette decks, cordless phones, microwaves -- continue to consume energy when switched off and account for 5 percent of total domestic energy consumption.
  http://www.ase.org/powersmart/docs/lightup.html

• Turn off computer monitors and hard drives when not in use.  Set your computer monitor to sleep after 10 minutes of inactivity.  http://www.energy-solution.com/off-equip
   
• Close blinds (and windows) after sunset in the winter to keep in heat.  Leave them open during summer days instead of turning on extra lights.

• Turn off lights when no one is in the room.  Ten percent of the average home's electricity costs can be controlled with the flip of a switch. 
  http://www.ase.org/powersmart/docs/lightup.html

• Recycle - It takes lots of energy to make new newspapers, aluminum cans, plastic bottles and other goods.  Recycling these items uses less energy then it takes to make them new.  http://recycling.stanford.edu/

• Replace incandescent light bulbs with Energy StarŪ compact fluorescent light bulbs, especially in high use light fixtures.  Compact fluorescent lights use 75% less energy then incandescent lights.  http://www.ase.org/powersmart/docs/lightup.html

• Don't buy halogen torchieres.  Operating at temperatures up to 1000 degrees F, these lamps burn a lot of electricity and can pose a serious safety threat.  Halogen torchieres are banned at the Stanford Campus! http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/

• Shorten showers.  Showers account for 2/3 of water heating costs.

• Another way to save on electricity and other water heating costs is to only run full loads of laundry.