Create a bright room in your household. When the sun goes down, turn on the lights in just one central room in your house, and encourage your family to spend the evening hours there instead of scattering around the house and lighting up every room. Lighting just one room will save a lot of energy and money over time. Embrace natural light. During the day, think of the sun as your primary light source, and rearrange your home or workplace to take advantage of its rays. Open the shades or blinds and let the light pour in instead of automatically flipping on the overhead switch. In your home, set up your family's main daytime activity area in the brightest room that gets the best sunlight. Drawing, reading, using the computer, and other activities that require good lighting can take place in this room without the need for electric lights. Replace your incandescent light bulbs. These old-fashioned lightbulbs burn off most of their energy as heat, rather than producing light. Replace them with compact fluorescent bulbs or LED bulbs, both of which are much more energy efficient. LED bulbs are more expensive than the other types, but they last longer and they don't contain mercury. Decide which appliances you really need to use. Your first impulse might be to say, "I need them all." However, you'd be surprised how much energy you can save by reducing your use of appliances, and how much satisfaction comes from being self-reliant. The dryer. If you have access to outside space, hang a clothesline and start drying your clothes outside. You can also get a drying rack to use indoors  just place it in your bedroom or bathroom near a window. If you must continue using the dryer, reduce your usage to once a week or so, rather than throwing in small loads every other day. The oven. Heating an electric oven requires a lot of energy. Plan to do all of your baking on one day of the week, while the oven is hot, instead of heating it every few days for various purposes. Unplug everything. Electronics and appliances continue sapping energy while they're plugged in, even when they're switched to "off." Make a habit of unplugging everything that's not in use, especially computers, TVs and sound systems, which use up the most energy. Turn off the air conditioner. Conserving energy sometimes requires making small sacrifices, and getting more familiar with the heat of summer is one of them. Leaving the air conditioner on all the time is a great way to use loads of energy and keep your electricity bills high.