If it seems like you spend far too much money on electricity, heating, cooling and water in your home, that's probably because you do. In fact, most Americans have the same problem. They waste far too much energy and create far too many unnecessary environmental hazards in the process. Consider these facts:

• Home Heating Accounts For About 29% Of Home Energy Use

• Cooling Comes In Next, At About 17% Of Home Energy Use

• Water Heating Makes Up About 14%

Of Home Energy Use You may have noticed that those numbers only add up to 60%. Where is the other 40% coming from? Well, 29% comes from appliances, lighting and electronics. The rest comes from miscellaneous home energy use.

Energy-Saving Devices:

These days, we all tend to be very attached to our electronic devices. TV sets, Computers, sound systems and similar devices all suck up energy in our homes. Not only that, but the peripherals, like modems and chargers, add to the mounting energy expenditure. However, it might surprise you to learn that electronics aren't all bad for energy conservation. In fact, there's an entire field devoted to the pursuit of creating electronic devices that help people to ave energy in their homes.

Outlets:

One of the latest and greatest innovations is the invention of electrical outlet plates with built in LED lights. Those lights glow when the outlet is being used, reminding you to unplug an appliance. That can be great for people who forget to unplug certain things, such as laptop computer power cords. It also serves as a constant reminder that outlets do put out energy when something is plugged into them, even if that item is turned off. Here are some examples of other energy-saving household devices: • Power Cords That Light Up To Remind You That They Are Plugged In • Motion Sensors That Will Shut Off The Lights When You Leave A Room • Timers That Allow Lights And Appliances To Turn On And Off At Specific Times • Monitors That Tell You How Your Home Is Spending Its Energy

HEM:

Yes, one of the latest and greatest home improvements that you can make to save energy was just released in 2010. It's called HEM (Home Energy Manager). The HEM system creates a “smart house”. It's a simple to understand console that actually will alert you when you waste too much energy or spend more than you have told the system that you want to spend on energy. The system will even suggest ways that you can cut back on your household energy usage. Many companies, including Intel, are looking into creating similar products to the Whirlpool HEM system. Unfortunately, not all of them are available to the general public yet. However, there are a lot of things that you can do to conserve household energy in the meantime. For instance: • Get A Simple Filter That Will Recycle Your Clothes Dryer Heat Into Your House • Purchase Water-Saving Faucets, Toilets And Shower Heads • Update Your Appliances For Optimum Energy Efficiency

Small Home Improvements:

You can also make some small home improvements that will conserve energy in a big way. For example, be sure that your home is well insulated and that you use weather stripping where it's needed. It's also a good idea to seal and insulate your heating and cooling ducts. Also, one daily change that you can make is to open and close your curtains and shades according to the changing light and weather patterns. For example, natural sunlight can heat your home a bit, which is great in colder months. In the warmer months, however, you may want to keep your curtains closed more often. That should help to keep things cool and make less work for your air conditioner.

Small Appliances:

Finally, another good energy-saving tip is that mall appliances are great for small jobs. For instance, far too many people will heat up their entire oven to cook one small item. Instead, it is much more energy-efficient to use a small toaster oven, or even a convection toaster oven. Toaster ovens can put out 50% less heat than regular ovens. Convection toaster ovens, since they are built for slower, steadier cooking, are even more energy efficient than that. So, particularly on hot summer days, they are much better for cooking meals. The Breville BOV800XL and the Cuisinart TOB-195 are a couple of the best toaster oven models.

Author Bio:

Mark Lumen is passionate about green living and writes exclusively on the topics of becoming environmentally friendly at home and in the kitchen.