1. Do you know that the biggest user of energy in the home is your heating and cooling system?
To conserve energy and cut down on energy waste here’s what you can do:
Upgrade older equipment with higher efficiency furnaces, central air conditioners, and heat pumps.
Make sure that your heating and/or cooling equipment is properly sized for your home. Operating a unit that is too small or too large is very inefficient. Your heating and air conditioning contractor can determine the best size unit for your home.

2. Check your heating system to see that it is running efficiently. Have your dealer inspect the system before the winter months. Be sure to change the filters regularly at least every three months. If you replace your central air conditioner, make sure that the contractor replaces the indoor coil as well as the outside condensing unit. Otherwise, your system won’t perform at its promised efficiency. Install electric ceiling fans to boost the efficiency of room air conditioners in the summer and to circulate warm air away from the ceiling in the winter.

3. Be sure to clean or replace the filters of all equipment regularly. Clogged filters make appliances work harder, so they use more energy to do the same job.

4. Check the efficiency ratings mandated by the Department of Energy when you shop for new equipment so you can make sure you’re getting high-efficiency equipment. Ratings will be prominently displayed on the yellow hang tag required by law to be on each new unit sold.