Get acquainted with your new neighbors. Find out about trash pick-up and recycle day, about schools and bus stops, where to shop for groceries, hardware items, health and beauty needs, prescriptions. Using these needs as ice-breakers is a good way to “get acquainted.”

Take responsibility to assure that your home has adequate safety devices — lighting, fences/walls, locks, smoke detectors, and alarms.

Home fires kill approximately 6,000 people in the U.S. each year and injure thousands more—occurring mostly at night. Studies indicate that most die from smoke and toxic gases—many never awaking to know there is a fire. Smoke detectors (at least one on each floor) and an effective evacuation plan are a necessity for all of us. Your plan should include at least 2 routes to the outside from every room in the house, especially bedrooms.

You should know:

Where the heating fuel main shutoff is located.

Where the main electrical shutoff or fuse box is located.

Where the main water shutoff is located.

Where all fire extinguishers and smoke alarms are located.

Where the main drain line cleanout is located.

Identify the high energy users in your home:

Heating and cooling 58%

Water heating 18%

Appliances 12%

Lighting   8%

Other   4%

Heating and cooling is usually the biggest culprit. The most effective step you can take to keep this cost down is to assure that you have adequate insulation. Also, more heat is lost through windows and doors per unit of area than through any other part of a home. Storm doors and windows reduce energy costs by minimizing heat loss. Adding weather stripping and new caulking will also help prevent air loss.

The thermostat should be placed on an inside wall and away from windows and doors where cold drafts can cause the furnace to run even when other parts of the house are comfortable.

Clean or replace furnace filters monthly—your system will not work so hard.

Properly ventilate the attic to relieve heat buildup.

Ceiling fans can make a room feel 7 to 10 degrees cooler than it actually is.

If you have a heat pump, keep the outside unit free of any blockage. Hose it down periodically to remove dust, dirt, lint, leaves, and grass clippings.

Water heaters should be set on 140 degrees, and the size of the heater should match the size of your family.

Appliance use can easily be conserved:

Lighting is only a small part of your energy cost, but it CAN add up:

Use fluorescent lamps when possible—they produce 4 times as much light per watt as incandescent bulbs and have a life approximately 10 times that of an incandescent bulb.