According to the U.S. Department of Energy the typical U.S. family spends more than $1,600 a year on home utility bills, and a large portion of that energy is wasted. That is why the U.S. Department of Energy suggests many small changes that you can make around your house to cut your energy use and reduce costs.

One simple way to cut energy costs is to lower your lighting costs. To achieve this, you can turn off all of the lights in rooms you’re not using, install timers to reduce the amount of time your lights are on, use task lighting instead of lighting an entire room, and use compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). CFLs are more expensive than incandescent bulbs, but they are much more efficient and last 6 to 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs. Therefore, they end up paying for themselves in the long run.

Making some simple changes when you are doing the laundry can also help. You can reduce costs by using less water or using cooler water. Believe it or not, using warm water instead of hot water will cut a load’s energy use in half. You can also reduce drying costs by cleaning the lint filter after every load to improve air circulation, and by not over-drying your clothes which wastes energy.

If you are building a new house, or would like to renovate your current house, consider some of the environmentally friendly options that are available. You could install sustainable flooring such as bamboo or cork or low-flow faucets, which reduce water consumption and water heating costs by as much as 50 percent.

If you are in the market for new household appliances such as a refrigerator or air conditioner, make sure to look for the Energy Star Label because these products use less energy. For example, an Energy Star-qualified refrigerator uses about half as much energy as refrigerators made before 1993.

In addition, there are several ways you can cut costs while you’re driving around town. Avoid aggressive driving and observe the speed limit, lighten your load by clearing your car of extra weight, and make sure your car is well maintained. Cleaning air filters can improve gas mileage by as much as 10 percent.

My wife and I do many of these things and have found them to be very helpful and cost effective. However, there is still more that all of us can do to cut energy costs and help to improve our environment.