Make Your Home Energy Efficient and Enjoy the Great Savings

Right now, there are probably numerous things around your home that are costing you money. Some of the more common money pit areas in the home are lights, appliances and faucets. By switching these items and others to more economical, energy efficient alternatives, you could easily save between $250 and $500 a year on your home bills. Here's a quick calculation to determine if you need more energy efficient measures to reduce your utility bills: Total up the amount of your fuel and electric bills for the past 12 months. Divide the total by the square footage of your home, excluding your garage and any unheated basements. The answer should be between 60 cents and 90 cents per square foot. If it's higher, you need to take energy-efficient steps to lower your bills.

To get you started on the road to great savings, here are 10 of the most costly home practices, which, if corrected, could significantly cut your home utility bills. But with a keen eye, you're sure to find other areas around the home that can be turned into money saving measures. As an added bonus, you can also get a one-time income tax credit of up to $500 for installing energy efficient new windows, doors, insulation, roofs and heating and cooling equipment in your home.

1. LIGHTBULBS. Incandescent lightbulbs not only consume a lot of energy, they're costly. If you have at least four, 100-watt incandescent bulbs that burn four or more hours a day in your home, the Alliance To Save Energy recommends replacing them with 23-watt fluorescent bulbs. Compact fluorescent bulbs use only a quarter of the energy of typical lightbulbs, last 10 times longer and lower utility bills. Replacing just four incandescent bulbs with fluorescent light bulbs will save about 454 kilowatt hours of electricity, a savings of $82 over three years.