A programmable thermostat is an easy way to conserve energy.  By varying the temperature settings through the day—typically dropping the degrees when most people are asleep or when house members tend to be away—you can significantly reduce your bills.  The point value for this gesture is a bit lower, however, because most houses are heated with natural gas, which is a much cleaner source of energy in terms of carbon emissions than electricity which is largely coal generated.

This is a tough one.  There’s no question that selecting energy-efficient appliances is key to long-term reductions in energy.  Particularly when it comes to big power draws like air conditioners and refrigerators, paying a little extra for an efficient appliance will have major cumulative consequences.  That said, we can’t give the Energy Star designation a lot of points because its guidelines, while improving, are questionable.  Many refrigerators with side-by-side doors, for example, have earned an Energy Star designation even though those units demand a whole lot more energy than a refrigerator with a freezer on top.  Be smart.  Investigate.  Look at the actual estimated energy demands.  Make good choices.  Get 10 points.

By selecting a shower head that reduces the flow below 2.5 gallons per minute (gpm), you can reduce water consumption between 25-60%.  This reduction is significant because water use is actually connected to power consumption (the pumps at Springfield’s water treatment facility are the largest power draws in the city) and lower hot water demand also means a reduced energy need at the water heater—every day.

Here are some easy points.  While light fixtures generally use less energy than other appliances—constituting 9% of a household’s energy demands on average—compact fluorescent bulbs require 20-30% less electricity than incandescent bulbs for the same task, and they can last 10-15 times longer.  This simple change can reduce electricity usage fairly significantly without much change in routines.  An easy win.

All of the myths about using less energy by leaving lights, computers, and air conditioners on in between uses have very little foundation in reality.  One of the reasons that U.S. citizens use more energy than others in the developed world—we burn through twice as much per person as our English counterparts—has much to do with wasteful habits.  Cutting back on unnecessary uses of energy going on around us could, according to one study, reduce consumption by 30%.

Utility bills may not be everyone’s favorite items in the mailbox, but they generally do provide us with very useful information about consumption within our households.  (Water bills are an exception since they only charge you for an estimated monthly usage based on the size of your water main.)  These records of past electricity and/or natural gas consumption can provide any house with the basis of a reasonable goal for reducing consumption.  There’s some potential for major point gains here:  in its first year, the Eco House reduced electricity consumption more than 50% from the previous year.