Tame Your Home's Energy Hog

You could too. Solar efficiency varies nationwide -- per installed kilowatt (about $9,000) you can expect to get about 1,300 kilowatt hours a year in Maine and 1,800 in California. To truly go off the grid, you'd have to heat your home with electricity (provided by your solar array) or with an electric-powered geothermal heat pump, which can cost up to $30,000 installed.

Of course, there's one much more affordable way to separate yourself from the coal-fired power grid: Sign up for green power through your utility company. For a small premium (about 12 cents a kilowatt hour), you can purchase your electricity from wind turbines, solar arrays, low-impact hydroelectric dams, or biogas or biomass sources.

A measured approach

If you'd like to take a more incremental approach, a few simple tweaks can shave pounds off your carbon footprint and dollars off your energy bill. Energy experts say phantom loads -- from any appliance that uses electricity even when it's turned off -- add about $200 to the average annual energy bill. Stopping these energy suckers is simple (and free): Unplug appliances that aren't in use. To avoid the unsightly appearance of unplugged cords -- or to make it easier to turn on and off a group of appliances like an entertainment center -- plug them into a surge protector or smart strip.

Hot water is another energy sink. Use it just when you need it: Take shorter showers, wash your clothes in cold water and only run the dishwasher when it's full. And don't overheat your water. Some water heaters push their contents to 140°F, but 120°F is plenty warm. Consult your owner's manual to safely adjust the water temperature.