Consider these ideas to cut your home energy costs

Now that many of us are home 24/7, staring at our walls, we might also be staring at our utility bills. It’s a good moment to make some changes and save some dollars — especially before the air conditioning and sprinklers get turned on. We talked to the Budget Mom, a.k.a. financial counselor and blogger Kumiko Love, and Glenn Rush, visual design manager for build.com, about energy conservation, energy efficiency, and all the ways that we can save.

"This is a weird situation that we find ourselves in," Love says, but it's also "our chance to inspect our homes and what we have in our homes and make those decisions based on what we find."

And a note about energy conservation vs. energy efficiency: Many of us may think that to save money, we need to spend money on more efficient systems and appliances; however, Love, who once challenged herself to spend only $50 a month on her apartment’s utility bills, recommends making the small changes first. Experiment, see whether there are changes in your bill and tweak as necessary.

» READ MORE: Beyond typical spring cleaning: Six tasks you may have overlooked

Your water heater accounts for 14% to 18% of your home’s energy costs, according to the Energy Department. Reduce the 140-degree default setting to 120 degrees to save up to $61 a year, Love suggests. This move can also reduce mineral buildup in your pipes. Do take note, though, on whether your dishwasher has a heat booster. If not, the dishes may not get as clean with the water heater turned down. If anyone in the household has a suppressed immune system or chronic respiratory disease, 140 degrees might be safer, the Energy Department reports.

Appliances such as washers, dryers and refrigerators make up about 9% of your energy bill, according to Consumer Reports. Make sure you’re not drying loads that are too big or too small; this will increase drying time. If your dryer has a cool-down feature, using the remaining heat to finish drying the load, use it. Some people have had luck with wool dryer balls as a tool to cut down drying time, too.

Even better, Rush suggests, “take your clothes out of the washer and put them right on the line on the ‘solar dryer.’”

The best solution for drafty old windows is to replace them, but if that's not an option, addressing drafts and using the right window treatments can help.

Take caulk to any gaps of less than one-quarter of an inch on windows, as long as you’re only caulking the non-movable parts, such as around the frame and trim. The Energy Department estimates the cost of the caulk will be offset in a year by utility savings.

Make sure window treatments are ideal for the kind of light the window gets. Filtering curtains will allow light in, for example, so you can warm up a house in winter, while blackout curtains can keep a house cooler, blocking out the summer afternoon heat. These draperies can reduce heat gains by 33 percent, according to the Energy Department.

Other options include insulated cellular shades, which can reduce heat loss by 40% or more, and blinds, which work better at keeping summer sun out than reducing winter heat loss.

While air conditioning costs about 36 cents an hour, Love says, a ceiling fan costs only about a penny an hour. Fans don’t necessarily reduce the temperature of a room, but they can make you feel cooler, and they can reduce humidity.

While you’re thinking about AC, Rush recommends installing a programmable thermostat. “People think that if you set your AC at a more moderate temperature rather than running it at a comfortable temperature, you sacrifice personal comfort for money savings,” he explains. “It works,” but it’s better to be “programmatic.”

The Energy Department reports that setting any thermostats lower by seven to 10 degrees for eight hours a day can save as much as 10 percent on heating and cooling a year; a programmable thermostat makes scheduling those changes easy.

» READ MORE: With the right tools, cooking at home is much easier

Rush recommends portable air conditioners. "These small, convenient AC units can either supplement or replace your existing system," Rush says. "They cool one room at a time to save money on cooling the whole house." Love says that they work especially well if you're in an apartment and can't replace an old, inefficient air-conditioning system.

LEDs consume the least amount of power and have the longest life span — up to 25 years. If you’re still using incandescents, switching to LEDs can save up to $600 a year, according to the Energy Department. Use timers or motion controls for rooms you rarely use so the lights turn off automatically when you leave. Dimmer switches are also a good way to minimize the amount of energy a light uses, Rush says.