You can qualify for more than $1,000 in incentives with HWE's Responsible Resource Home Program. > more

• Appliance shopping? Compare more than price - If you're shopping for new or replacement household appliances, you need to compare more than just the prices of different models. That low-price washer, water heater or refrigerator may be inexpensive because it will cost you more to operate. > more

• Conserve water and energy with a few easy steps - Water heating accounts for the second highest use of energy in most homes, after space heating and cooling. Just keeping your family supplied with hot water for bathing, doing laundry and washing dishes can cost up to $400 per year. > more

• Good, old-fashioned fans! - We've become so accustomed to air conditioning that sometimes we forget what came before -- those old-fashioned fans that helped keep our parents and grandparents cool during the hot summer months. Fans haven't outlived their usefulness! > more

• Holiday cooking - Those holiday dinners take a lot of energy to prepare -- the cook's energy as well as the energy to fuel the stove. So use both wisely. When you have several dishes to go into the oven, try to schedule your cooking so that you can cook more than one dish at a time. > more

• Is it time to retire your fridge? - Refrigerators are among the biggest energy-users in American homes. You might want to take a look at yours and decide if you should retire it in favor of a new, more efficient model. An old inefficient model can cost you more than $100 more per year to operate than a new one and puts more waste heat into your home, too, putting an extra strain on air conditioning. > more

• Running an efficient office: Computers and printers - Run an energy-efficient office -- not merely an efficient office. Electronic office equipment is the fastest-growing source of demand for electricity in the United States. Although commercial businesses account for most of that growth, the increasing use of home computers, fax machines and other office equipment also contributes to the growing demand. > more

• Taking a bath on water heating costs? - When it's cold outside, you may love to soak in a hot bath to beat the chill. But the U.S. Department of Energy says that the average bath consumes up to 25 gallons of hot water compared to the 10 gallons or less used during a five-minute shower. > more

• Warm your house -- with the dryer! - All that hot, moist air from the clothes dryer that you want to keep out of the house in summer can actually help keep you warmer and more comfortable in the winter. > more