In honor of Energy Awareness Month (October!), Home Depot is reminding you of ways you can reduce your energy consumption at home and save yourself some money while you're in the process. The solutions range from inexpensive (switching to CFL bulbs in your home) to don't-I-wish-I-had-that-kind-of-expendable-income-right-now (buying Energy Star appliances).

If some of these options are a bit too pricey, consider taking them in baby steps. After all, no one is saying you have to do everything at once. Next time your dishwasher dies and has no hope of revival, consider replacing it with an Energy Star one. Hanging on to some of your things if they still properly function isn't so eco-unfriendly - after all, if your dishwasher works fine and you buy a new one, you'll stall have to find a place for the old one and often times that "place" ends up being a landfill.

Anyway, back to the topic-at-hand, here are some of Home Depot's Top 10 Ways to Save Money and Energy:

Install a programmable thermostat - Controlling the temperature of your home means you don't have to unnecessarily blast the heat when no one is home. Program it so it coincides with your arrival home instead.

Update your windows - You don't necessarily have to buy new ones (if you don't have the money to begin with, you may have to sell a vital organ to afford it), but simply ensuring they are properly insulated will help your place stay warmer.

Install dimmer switches and motion detectors - Why leave your lights glaring or even on in the first place is no one is even in the room?

Install a ceiling fan - Not everyone can afford to install air-conditioning in their homes, however a ceiling fan will at least help circulate air and keep things a bit cooler.

Check up on your furnace and water heater - Performing regular maintenance on these means they should be running as efficiently as possible.

To check out the remaining five, visit Home Depot's Eco Options Home Page.

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