Vacation checklist: Save while you’re away

Important steps to take before you leave home.
While you're relaxing on the beach, snapping photos with Mickey Mouse or bunking with the in-laws this summer, your lights, AC, electronics and other home energy users should be taking a summer break, too. Here are four simple steps to take before you step out the door.Pre-vacation checklist

1. Turn off unnecessary lights. Leave on just one or two lights, and - unless these are compact fluorescent lights - put them on timers set to random patterns to make it look like someone is home. Photo sensors and motion detectors are good ideas for outdoor lights.
2. Turn off your electric water heater at the breaker panel if you're going to be gone for more than a few days. There's no sense keeping a 50-gallon tank of water hot if no one is there to take showers or wash dishes. When you return home, remember to turn it back on, and allow a few hours for the water to reheat. If you have a natural gas water heater, turn it down but not off.
3. Turn off air conditioning. Cooling an empty house wastes a lot of money that can be better spent on your vacation!
4. Unplug appliances. Many appliances use energy even when they are turned off, so unplug your computer, printer, television, DVD player and other electronics. (You may need to reset the clock on DVD/VCR players when you return.)
   
   Instead of trying to reach behind your washer and dryer to unplug them, it might be easier to turn off the power at the breaker box. And while it won't save energy, it's still a good idea to also turn off the hot and cold water to your washer. Most homes don't have "burst-proof" hoses connecting the washer to these faucets, and more than one person has returned from a vacation to a house flooded with water. The shutoffs are usually behind the washer. Leave a note on your washer to remind yourself to turn on the water and power when you return from your trip. (Even better: Replace your old hoses - typically they are black rubber - with burst-proof hoses that have a braided stainless steel sleeve. They just screw into place.)
   
   For safety's sake, don't overlook small appliances that are best left unplugged when unattended - items like toasters, coffee makers, irons, curling irons, hair dryers and electric tools. And remember those energy "vampires" like cell phone and MP3 chargers.