There are a few tips I absolutely live by:

- Use CFL bulbs whenever possible. When you consider how often and for how long certain lights stay on in your home the savings can be remarkable.

- Buy Energy Star appliances. If they're more efficient when they're on then you aren't pay as much for wasted power due to inefficiency. This includes washers, dryers, refrigerators, and televisions.

- Unplug when you aren't using. This has been the most help with the washer and dryer. It take 10 seconds to plug them back in and when they aren't plugged they can't use any phanton power.

- Use ceiling fans to help circulate the air...no need to waste the AC or heat when the fans can help out.

- Keep blinds open in the winter, and closed in the summer. This helps to let in light which will produce some heat.

- Make sure windows have drapes. Blinds can adjust light, but not air. Drapes can help envelope the air around the windows.

- Make sure there aren't any cracks/gaps/spaces near windows and doors to the outside. A little bit of caulk goes a lot way. This goes for fireplaces too.

Our house has 4 people who live in it 24/7 and our electric bill is rarely more than $100 for a completely electric 3,200 sq. ft. house. Then again this is GA, and not the frigid northeast.

Why can't they make apartments with these things? - I'm paying for the electricity, but unless one of the developments in my area has these things, I have virtually no say. Ugh. At least you can mount thermal regulating curtains (if they let you put nails in the walls, that is - and oh! many don't).
How about single pane windows? Those are awesome for tenants. I love heating my living space and then turning off the heat and feeling the temperature seductively drop as the world outside sucks the life out of my home.

At least I can change the lightbulbs and turn off the lights. :) And adjust the temperature in my fridge. And arrange stuff in my freezer to allow maximum air circulation. And save up for a dream home where both our interests and our interests agree. Ah. Motivation.

"Spoiler: none of the suggestions calls for powering any household appliances with 20 hamsters scampering on as many wheels."

What about three rats? Mine just sit there and contribute nothing while I buy them food and bedding and toys. Plus they're tubby, so they need the exercise.

On second thought, they'd probably just fall asleep on any wheel I put them on...

Does the person who posts the articles actually read them? Does anyone from Consumerist actually read them?

78 degrees!?! To quote my boy Big Baldy, "I make too much damn money to sweat in my own dump."

@HIV 2 Elway: 78F along with ceiling fans running feels fine, that's where we keep ours, no sweat.

"Turn off the furnace?"

Do they mean in the wintertime? I suppose that would indeed save energy. It'll save you money on food as well, as your frozen corpse will not require sustenance.

@redskull: I was wondering about that one. Jeez, we could have saves THOUSANDS over the years doing that. Why install one at all? Duh.

#6 and #8 realize that means full as whatever it's designed to hold, not as much as you can cram into the machine, unless you like your clothes dirty, damp, and full of wrinkles.

Hang your laundry to dry: I figure I save $15 - $20 a month doing this in the warmer months. Yes, it takes space and time but I find it a nice relaxing break from my work get out to hang or take down. A bonus is that wonderful smell of line dried clothes, and the clothes actually last longer. Poop on anyone saying clotheslines are unsightly and really, nobody has to see your underpants (hang them in the house if you're scared).

@LegoMan322: enough to know that no hamster-powered appliances are required. What do you think was suspect in the article that the poster should have picked up? What's your point?

@HIV 2 Elway: I agree. I am stingy about the heat in the winter, but sorry polar bears, I love my AC.

What about us second class citizens in the south(we all agree that just because you live up north you are better than us).

In the winter it is easy to put on more clothing and turn the furnace. In Houston I almost never need to turn on the heater. Summer is a different story. It was 104 degrees this week. When it is 100 degrees and humid setting the thermostat at 78 is not going to cut it.

@NewsMuncher: Can't you use that hair dryer plastic to seal your windows?

I think they should have added (to the setting of therm. at 78 and turn off furnace) to invest in an programmable thermostat to avoid heating/cooling your home when you aren't there. Ours (installed last September) was free through the Power Partners program from our local utility and turns up the temp to avoid using AC when we're at work during the week and turns the furnace off similarly in the winter. It's saved me about 20% on my gas heating bill this winter and 15% on my power bill so far - and we haven't even hit high AC season (though it's been 105 - 107 the past few days). Yes, you can do these things manually, but a) it's consistent and it doesn't forget and b) it's set to come online and bring temps to comfortable 45 minutes before we get home.

It's totally cool how nearly all lists like this have very little to do with people who don't live in single-family free-standing homes.

@Ihaveasmartpuppy: and I LOVE the crispiness of our towels from the line.

@Ihaveasmartpuppy: If I could hang them, I would. Apartment rules and all that. :|

@Etoiles: agreed, though apartment/townhome/condo dwellers can implement a selective few. And energy considerations should be a factor in the choice of rental or purchase of these non-single-family homes.

I hang dry most everything but cannot abide scratchy towels. My tradeoff: I plug the tub while I shower, when I get out put dirty clothes in to soak all day. Get home from work, drain the tub, squeeze each item & put them in the washer. The dirt is loose from soaking, the water already in the clothes means the washer fills less & I hang those clothes to dry. *Won't work if you're really dirty when you shower.

@sir_pantsalot: Austin - 107 here yesterday. I hear you - see my point below - programmable thermostat for the win!

@Tambar: Why am I thinking of Kramer prepping his salad in the shower after reading your comment?

@Ihaveasmartpuppy: definitely depends on where you live - hot + humid = 78 not being sufficiently cool.

I've got one: Get a new thermostat. I've lived in a couple of places that had ancient mercury spring thermostats that were 'accurate' to about 5 degrees. If you've got one, or you've got a non-programmable unit, get a new, programmable one.

I got one for $40 at Home Depot and installed it myself, and the difference was amazing. As opposed to having to adjust the thing constantly, and having to leave the AC on all day if I didn't want my apartment to be baking when I got home, I just programmed it to be off all day and start cooling about 1/2 hr. before I returned. My very next bill was lower.

@undefined: I keep mine at 80 and I live along the Gulf Coast.

@Ihaveasmartpuppy: I'd be interested to know whether you live in a hot, humid area. 78 feels terrible in the 105 degree humid heat we've been having in my area lately.

@EllaMcWho:

Oops, seconded, heh. In my defense, I started writing my post before yours was here.

@EllaMcWho: Because you were born in the 70's and store iconic TV references in your head instead of useful information? That's my excuse anyway. ;)
Sounds dirty but isn't - 'prepping his salad in the shower'.

@Ihaveasmartpuppy: Our town has an ordinance that prohibits laundry on the line. Apparently folks think seeing your knickers swinging in the breeze is ugly...

@EllaMcWho: On the list of 20, I can count the following that you can do as an apartment dweller:

Everyone: 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 19, 20

With Access to Heating/Cooling Units: 1, 2, 3, 13

Full Amenities (Dishwasher, Washer, Dryer, BBQ Area): 6, 7, 8, 15, 18

Homeowners Only: 4 (buying new furnace)

Ambiguous: 14 - simply because water gets included in a lot of rent, but you should still call the landlord; 5 - hanging laundry only due to space, but I imagine you can be creative since I've seen magical things done in a very small apartment without a dryer in Kyushu, Japan with only a small balcony.

@BluePlastic: Ditto. 78 here leaves my petite self sweating inside when it is hot and humid outside.

And no, I do not sweat easily.

@Shadowfire: I have a smart dryer from Canadian Tire that I hang on the edge of my patio wall (it would probably work on a balcony as well). It's awesome because I don't have a big old clothesline across my patio.

@Stephmo: We can't do anything about the laundry situation, really. We do have a drying rack for some of it, but no balcony, and the washers/dryers are six flights of stairs away in another building, so there's limits. (Mostly on my knees.) We also don't have access to the heating / cooling systems.

We're good about unplugging stuff when we go away and about turning off lights and so on, but the fact of the matter is, for many apartment-dwellers, there's not a thing you can do about a lot of it. At least in DC my heating / cooling is sane. In NYC, every apartment had the windows open all winter long because the radiators were set to 80 degrees for six months straight.

@Etoiles: But you can borrow some of the ideas.

Turn up/down the thermostat and use a table fan to circulate air (assuming you don't have a ceiling fan and can't install one).

Put that plastic stuff on windows in winter (if you can).

Use curtains to help insulate around windows

If you have more than one floor, close lower floor vents in the summer and uppper floor vents in winter.

If you have rooms you don't use often, close vents in those rooms and shut the door.

Use CFL's

Use power strips to turn off power to applicances, electronics when not in use.

Unplug chargers of any kind when you're done.

@NewsMuncher: In the winter, what we ended up doing here towards the end (where it reaches -40) is switch our CFLs back to the older incandescent bulbs. They put out enough heat to warm the rooms you are in, so you can turn down the heat some. Ended up saving us some overall $$$.

@redskull: I suspect they meant to turn it off when you're not home, so it's not wasting energy heating an empty house.

@calquist: I want my house to feel like a damn meat locker, I don't care what it costs me.

@sir_pantsalot: It's all about the small things and actually trying them. People get so wrapped up with advice like this and talk about how crazy, hippie, commie it is and then dismiss the whole concept without trying If they could just meet halfway, they save themselves some money while doing the green thing. If you usually have your A/C set to 70, put it to 72-73, if 78 is just too hot. In a few weeks you can try to put it to 74-75 and see how you feel. Too hot? Put it back down to 72-73, but at least you tried.

@Etoiles: Ah, so what you're saying is that "selective few" really means "over half the list," but I'm going to go ahead and act like it really means "none of the list."

The point is to focus on the small changes you can make. You want a shocker - there are folks living in homes that don't have washer and dryers - it doesn't make the list obsolete. Some homeowners associations have incredibly strict rules about hanging laundry outside, so it's not an option. Some homes don't even have dishwashers.

The point is that there's plenty for those in apartments to take from the list - when you don't read the list and comment like there's nothing, some folks will read your comment and dismiss really good advice because your need to be snarky and dismissive was more important than reading the article.

@NewsMuncher: It is, indeed, one of the many ways in which apartment dwelling sucks.

Unfortunately, many landlords aren't interested in efficiency, because they don't foot the utility bill. Those that do foot the bill will find quite often that the tenants then become wasteful, making it not matter if they invest in efficiency.

I suppose an alternative approach would be to have the utility bills be split in some fashion -- perhaps 50% paid by tenant and 50% by the landlord? I just don't know.

All I know is I don't miss living in an apartment.

However, I will say this: When I was living in apartments (and later searching for a house to buy), I had a rule: electric heat is an instant, automatic and irrevocable deal-killer. The first place I would look when I walked into an apartment was the baseboards. If I saw electric heaters there, I immediately turned around and walked out, telling the agent that this was a no-go and why.

Then again, I live in the northeast. Winter here is not the worst on the continent, but it's not to be trifled with.

I got one... Don't live with a roommate that insists on turning the A/C down to 65 degrees! I woke up this morning and heard the A/C click on. I took a look at the thermostat and it said "65."

I have an older central air unit, but I installed a really high rated energy star window unit in our bedroom for when we sleep, because I like the temp to be about 70 while sleeping, but it was needless to cool the whole house to 70 all night. The window unit uses 400 watts when the compressor actually turns on, and 60 otherwise. The central air uses probably closer to 3000 watts. I also installed a programmable thermostat so I set the house temp to 79 when we aren't home or are sleeping, and 77-78 while we are roaming about (dinner time, etc).

@Ihaveasmartpuppy: No, they mean in the summer. The furnace draws a small amount of current any time that the power is switched on. This is true of both older and newer furnaces, and true of gas and oil both. This is because the controls are low-voltage, and there will be a power supply constantly powered up to supply that low voltage power to the controls.

Additionally, if the furnace has a pilot light, then you should also shut off the gas at the end of heating season and relight it in the fall, assuming that you are comfortable doing this. If you don't have a "stinger", or know what one is, then I don't recommend doing this.

Actually, as far as that goes, if your furnace has a pilot light, you might consider upgrading it. It's probably costing you in gas.

@NewsMuncher:

Depending on where you live, there may be a minimum temperature requirement, below which you can live rent-free.

In my city it's 21.5 C. So most apartments are kept at a balmy 25-30 C "just in case" and everyone open their windows and wears t-shirts and shorts.

The law is there for a good reason--bad landlords would turn off the heat in the winter to boot tenants they didn't like. In an area where the minimum outside temperature can dip lower than -20 C on the worst night, older tenants would actually end up dead.

You may be able to waive your rights to a warm apartment if you discuss it with the landlord, but they may still not do it due to the risk.

Echoing the thermostat comments... Giving a temperature isn't the best tip, as cooling a home to 78* in Arizona is going to be pretty expensive. Setting the thermostat to 80* still sets you back several hundred dollars in the summers. Given the economy and in an effort to save a small amount here and there, we're trying to keep ours at 83* with the help of ceiling fans. Those few degrees make a big difference in your overall bill. We're also huge fans of the newer thermostats, as many other commenters have said.

I generally turn everything off in my apartment. I have also generally hung up most of my clothes to dry instead of using a dryer for years and years. Helps clothing last longer in my opinion. Don't trust the dryer.

I also started getting into the habit of using power strips for everything. If I'm not in my living room I turn off the main power strip for my television area. The only two things that remain powered on are my router and my cable modem.

I rarely ever turn my heater on. Then again I live in San Francisco and if it's chilly I can just put on a hoodie and be good for the day. If that's not enough I will do some exercise to get the blood flowing.

I have no idea how I did it, but my last month's bill for pg&e is $3.97. Before I was spending about 15 dollars a month on electricity. Power strips really saved me a crap ton of money.

It is a VERY bad idea to set your thermostat to 78 when it is hot and humid outside, especially for older people. It can cause all sorts of respiratory problems and result in trips to the hospital, which would negate your energy savings.

@tom2133: You illustrate an important point - be in agreement w/ others in the house as to temp & comfort level. Changing the temp up/down manually eats $$ and sucks to argue about.

Open windows at night? Better check the weather first. Our low was over 85 last night.