Your Cheat Sheet to Lowering Energy Bills and Creating a Greener Home
Over the years, CNET's experts have shared a wealth of tips on everything from solar power to everyday energy-saving habits. We've pulled together the best of that advice into one handy cheat sheet to help you live more sustainably and save money while you're at it.
For more green tips, try these eight ways to make your home a little more eco-friendly. And if you like this guide, you can also explore our solar cheat sheet and our home internet cheat sheet.
What devices can help you save energy around the home?
CNET
Here at CNET, we've tested dozens of energy-saving devices over the years to help you figure out which is best for your needs. Here are our favorites:
Small changes you can make around the house to save energy (and money)
Summer temperatures mean spiked energy use
Not only can trying to beat the brutal summer heat be tough on your wallet (costing on average between $75 and $175 per month to run a central air conditioning system), but it can also be a real drain on energy. Here are ways to save on AC usage.
There are easy ways to go green in the kitchen, too
Families often spend a ton of time in the kitchen. While it's one of the centers of the home, it's also a major area for producing waste.
Waste management is an essential part of home sustainability.Reduce, reuse, recycle. But do it correctly
If you're trying to make your home more sustainable and reduce your environmental footprint, one of the first things you'll learn is to recycle. Recycling is an efficient way to manage the 139.6 million tons of waste that heads to US landfills every year. But it can be a helpful practice only if you actually do it right, which is sometimes not as easy as you may think.
Easy Ways to Lower Your Utility Bills and Save Money Easy Ways to Lower Your Utility Bills and Save Money
Click to unmute
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Pause
Skip Backward
Skip Forward
Next playlist item
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
0:15
Loaded :
100.00%
0:00
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:15
Share
Fullscreen
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text
Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background
Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background
Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Close Modal Dialog
This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.
Close Modal Dialog
This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.
Easy Ways to Lower Your Utility Bills and Save Money
For more eco-friendly tips, here's how you can lower your energy usage as a renter. You can also explore these sustainable products that make going green easier than ever in 2025, and these sustainable clothing brands.
More sustainable tips and recs for you:
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Arizona Cardinals vs. Denver Broncos: live game updates, stats, play-by-play
Shop Team Gear See more We may receive commission from purchases made via these links. Pricing and availability are subject to change.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Green Bay Packers vs. Indianapolis Colts: live game updates, stats, play-by-play
Shop Team Gear See more We may receive commission from purchases made via these links. Pricing and availability are subject to change.
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Records show officials knew about tree decay before branch fell and killed boy in Calabasas
Crews at King Gillette Ranch raised concerns about a decaying tree a week before one of its branches snapped and killed an 8-year-old boy, according to documents obtained by CBS News Los Angeles. The text and emails from the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, which operates King Gillette Ranch, showed that staff requested the removal of "a branch that snapped and was resting on a lower branch" on July 2. A day later, July 3, an employee wrote an email that read in part, "don't know if this limb cracking has anything to do with the health of the tree." On the same day, the division chief wrote: "Wow. That was a massive branch. Thank god that no one was seriously hurt or killed. Thank you so much for taking care of this. I would not have been able to sleep at night knowing that branch was just waiting to fall." Text messages from the people who appear to have hauled the initial limb away expressed their concerns about the health of the tree, writing, "it is somewhat concerning seeing all the decay at the trunk." They also suggest staff thin the canopy to mitigate risk. Six days later, on July 9, another branch fell onto picnic tables and hurt several people and killed the 8-year-old boy, who was attending a summer camp at the ranch. CBS News Los Angeles compared images of the damaged tree from July 2 and the tree at the heart of the deadly incident. The two trees appear to be the same based on their limb structure and decay patterns on the trunk. "The first step you normally take in such a circumstance, if you have a tree and you have concerns about it, you block off the area and you move what are called targets," said master arborist Steve Marshall, who was not involved in the inspection or removal of the tree. Marshall added that targets include swing sets, benches and other items that could draw people to the area. "If you have access to the branch that has fallen, you are going to examine where it split off the tree to see if you can get some understanding of what occurred," Marshall said. He added that fatalities involving trees are incredibly rare, but make the job of a risk assessment critical. Staff have posted warnings at the King Gillette Ranch, alerting people to falling tree limbs. It's unclear how long those signs have been posted. The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority said they have commissioned an external investigation into the death and the events leading up to the tree falling. The director also reiterated their apology to those impacted. MRCA did not respond to questions about the tree's health prior to the accident.
