A road map that begins with simple actions as replacing incandescent bulbs by efficient compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) or light-emitting diodes (LED) is the best first step to saving energy. This has the added benefit of cutting the unwanted heat produced by incandescent bulbs to glow the filament when electricity passes through it will reduce the heat load in our homes, requiring less air conditioning during the summer, cutting down on utility bills. If every U.S. household switched out just one incandescent bulb for an energy-efficient equivalent, the greenhouse gas emission prevented would be the equivalent to taking 1 million cars off the road.
We could follow these actions finding air leaks, installing programmable thermostats to turn down heat or air conditioning when nobody is home, wrapping water heaters to avoid heat loss and replacing heating and cooling filters. There are many simple tasks that can be part of a do-it-yourself for efficiency program that are not rocket science and can be conduct by homeowners with a simple but diligent walk-through.
