Control: A programmable thermostat can save about $180 a year in energy costs if your home temperature is set back 8 degrees in the winter or up 8 degrees in the summer, the 8-hour span of the day when no one is home, and 10 hours at night. Thermostats must have a heat pump recovery function to continue to maximize energy efficiency during the winter.

Set your thermostat at 78° F in the summer and 68° F in the winter. With each degree decrease on your thermostat in the winter and increase in the summer, you can reduce energy use 3% to 5%.

Upgrade: If your heat pump is more than 10 years old, you should consider replacing your inefficient electric heating and cooling equipment with an ENERGY STAR® rated heat pump. This upgrade can save you 20% or more on heating and cooling costs. Up to 50% of the energy used at home goes to heating and cooling the air inside.

Cash: $1,900 in rebates are available from Jackson EMC when using the Personal Home Fitness Evaluation to identify and improve energy efficiency.

Recycle: your unbroken CFLs at Lowe’s, Home Depot and other retailers.

Screen Saving: Utilizing the sleep function on your computer, rather than a screen saver, when you will be away for more than two hours has the potential to save $42.75 a year.

Bright Idea: Switching from incandescent to CFL bulbs can typically save more than $300 a year. It costs $70 per year to power a 100-watt incandescent light bulb 24/7. More is not better. One 15-watt fluorescent bulb puts out roughly the same light as two 60-watt incandescent bulbs, but uses 20% less energy.

Use our energy efficiency guides to learn how you can reduce electricity and cost. www.jacksonemc.com/guides.