In difficult times, every penny is important. You can hear it! “You’ve got to spend money to save money”It may seem counterintuitive, but people are tightening their belts. It is possible to save money and time by doing simple, inexpensive tasks around the home.

Start with your appliances. They account for the largest portion of your household’s energy consumption. Harris Interactive conducted a survey for Whirlpool Corporation and found that energy was the most important attribute in appliance efficiency.

To save money on your utility bills, look for appliances that have the ENERGY STAR label. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), if all households in the United States installed water-efficient appliances they would save over 3 trillion gallons of water annually and more than $18 million per year.

“People may be surprised at the affordability of ENERGY STAR qualified appliances,”Mary Zeitler is a consumer scientist at Whirlpool Institute for Fabric Science. “The ENERGY STAR-qualified Whirlpool Classic is a top-load washing machine that pays for itself in water and energy savings in less than five years.”

These tips are from the Department of Energy to help you prepare your home for efficiency.

Depending on your climate zone, replacing single-paned windows with ENERGY STAR ones could help you save between $126 and $465 per year in energy bills. For better insulation, you can caulk around the glass to seal the windows if they aren’t being replaced.

Properly sealing your attic and insulation can help you save 10% on your energy bills each year.

Weather stripping the seams around your home provides insulation. Cooling the house will reduce your electricity bills in the summer.

“Saving money doesn’t mean abandoning convenience,”Marilyn Strefling is senior consumer scientist at Whirlpool Corporation. “By scraping dishes into your compost or disposal and not rinsing them before loading into an ENERGY STAR-qualified dishwasher, you can save up to 20 gallons in water, which translates into considerable savings for the environment and extra money in your pocket.”

These are some tips to keep in mind when doing household chores:

– Drying only a few loads at a time in the dryer will maximize heat left over.

Ensure your wardrobe lasts by carefully reading fabric-care labels. This will ensure clothes are clean and dry properly.

Use a coil-cleaning brush to clean underneath your refrigerator. This will increase efficiency.

Visit this site for more efficiency tips www.instituteoffabricscience.com.