Looking to conserve energy? Whether you want to cut back on your energy consumption to save money or just be a bit friendlier to the environment, the following tips will come in handy.

1. Wash your clothes in cold water. Most of the time there really is no need to use hot water and you save on heating that water.

1. Set up your porch light with a timer. This will automatically shut it off after a certain amount of time. Another option is to use a motion sensor so that the light is only on when needed.

1. Switch to fluorescent light bulbs. These days, you don’t need to suffer from cold, flickering lights, since fluorescent bulbs now come in yellow light to simulate a regular bulb. The energy you save is drastic.

1. Use your TV’s speakers instead of running the sound through your entertainment system. You can set up a switch box so that the really cool movies can be seen with full on sound, but for regular TV viewing, avoid the extra energy.

1. Don’t leave your battery chargers plugged in. To recharge your laptop, cell phone, etc., just plug them in for the duration needed and then remove from the plug to avoid that extra energy drain.

1. Turn off your water heater while you are on vacation. No need to heat the water when there is no one to use it. When you are home, lower it to 120º

1. Set your refrigerator to 36º for maximum efficiency. Up that efficiency by setting your freezer temperature to about -3º.

1. Avoid opening the oven door while baking. Use your timer instead. Every time you open the oven door, heat escapes and your oven has to work harder to heat back up again.

1. Turn off lights and appliances when you aren’t using them. There is no reason to have a light on in the living room if you are in the kitchen and it can waste quite a bit of energy.

1. At night, use energy efficient night lights instead of leaving hall lights on. You can still see your way to the bathroom, but won’t spend as much on energy.

For anyone who is remotely interested in the environment or saving some cash, these tips are easy and painless to implement. It is mostly just remembering to do things like turn off lights and unplug your battery charger, but these small steps can make a big difference.