Tips on saving energy dollars in your home

A typical U. S. family spends more than $1,600 a year on home utility bills, yet making some simple changes around the home can save money and make heating and cooling systems more efficient, according to World Energy Solutions, a publicly traded energy services company based in St. Petersburg, Fla.

By evaluating facilities and equipment, World Energy Solutions (symbol: WEGY) helps businesses lower their utility consumption and maintenance costs and extend the life of their equipment.

"Many of the energy-saving strategies we use for our commercial customers can also be applied to the home," says Benjamin Croxton, chief executive officer of World Energy Solutions. "There are many common-sense, low-cost and no-cost ways to lower your home energy use as well as many new technologies that can be applied to your home's energy-consuming systems."

Here are some tips from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy on things homeowners can do to make their homes more energy efficient:

* Turn down the temperature of your water heater to the warm setting.

* Use energy-saving settings on refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines and clothes dryers.

* Use compact fluorescent bulbs, which can save three-quarters of the electricity used by incandescents. First to be replaced should be any 60-watt to 100-watt bulbs that are used several hours a day.

* Have your heating and cooling systems serviced in the fall and spring. Duct sealing can also improve the energy efficiency and overall performance of your furnace or central air conditioner.

* Clean or replace furnace, air conditioner and heat-pump filters.

* Assess your heating and cooling systems to determine if you should replace or retrofit them to make them work more efficiently to provide the same comfort, or better, with less energy.

"If your home's central air-conditioning system is over 10 years old, a new state-of-the-art system can save you 30 percent or more of your home's air-conditioning expense," says George Walker, air-conditioning expert with World Energy Solutions.

Not to late to make 2005 ira contribution

Many Americans make annual contributions to individual retirement accounts. If you haven’t done so for the 2005 tax year, you still can.

Not To Late To Make 2005 IRA Contribution

Contributing to individual retirement accounts just makes sense. Most don’t believe social security is going to survive for long. Even if it does, one has to wonder how small the distributions are going to be. With the baby boomer generation about to put significant strain on the system, distributions in ten or twenty years are going to be paltry.

If you failed to contribute to your individual retirement account in 2005, you have until April 15, 2006 to do so. This is also true if you contributed during 2005, but failed to deposit the maximum amount allowed under law.

The contribution limits for individual retirement accounts went up in 2005. You can generally contribute up to $4,000. If you are older than 50 years of age, the limit bumps up another $500 to $4,500. When making contributions, just make sure you note on the deposit slip that it is for the 2005 year, not 2006.

Although there are variations, individual retirement accounts come in two general forms. The traditional independent retirement account is a pre-tax contribution vehicle. If you meet salary and filing requirements, the money you contribute from your earning is excluded from your adjusted gross tax calculations. If you are looking for extra deductions for 2005, catching up on your individual retirement account contribution can create a healthy reduction of your reported earnings. The downside, of course, is distributions from traditional IRAs are taxable when you hit the relevant age limit.

The Roth IRA represents a different approach to the individual retirement savings conundrum. Essentially, the Roth IRA shifts the tax burden to the beginning of the savings cycle. In human terms, this means you get no deduction for contributing to a Roth IRA. If you don’t get a deduction, why would you use a Roth? The huge advantage to the Roth is found in the distributions. Simply put, distributions are tax-free when you reach the appropriate retirement age. If you are young, say under 40, Roth IRAs typically present a better return than traditional IRAs. This is because the money invested has more time to compound and grow.

Regardless of your choice, socking away money for retirement makes sense. Fortunately, you can still do so for 2005.