Video series:
Experts on Demand: Saving Energy at Home
Includes videos about

• insulation
• attics
• windows
• sealing up your house
• conducting an energy audit

Fact sheet series: Maine Home Energy
Increase your home’s energy efficiency and safety. Download our fact sheets for free or purchase color copies from our online publications catalog.

• Draft Stoppers
  Instructions for simple and inexpensive homemade devices to stop window and door drafts. Includes color photos.
• Home Heating Safety
  Fires and accidents caused by home heating equipment are largely preventable if you clean, maintain, and use equipment properly. Review general safety tips as well as those specific to electric and kerosene space heaters, wood stoves and fireplaces, and heating emergencies.
• How Much Heat per Dollar?
  If you are in the market for a home heating appliance, you will need to know how to compare the cost and value of different heating fuels. This bulletin explains the four variables you must use and how to determine which fuel provides the most heat for the fewest dollars. Includes heating fuel comparison chart and heating cost calculator.
• How to Do a Home Energy Evaluation
  While it is sometimes best to hire a certified energy auditor, this bulletin explains how to conduct your own home energy evaluation in order to evaluate potential energy-saving improvements. Includes a checklist for you to complete.
• Insulated Window Treatments and Coverings
  Properly designed insulated window coverings can significantly reduce heat loss through windows. Find out how the window treatments you may already have, such as roller shades and draperies, can provide some insulative benefit. Learn how to make two types of insulated Roman shades, as well as simple clip-on insulation boards for north-facing windows.
• Options for Home Heating Fuels and Energy Systems—An Overview
  This bulletin examines the pros and cons of home heating options including fossil fuels (oil, propane, and natural gas), renewable fuels (fire wood, pellets), heat pumps, and solar thermal heating. Alternatives and additions to public electric power in Maine, including photovoltaics, wind, and hydropower, are also discussed. Includes a detailed chart that ranks home energy options in terms of required installation costs and expertise, availability of service technicians, maintenance and operation, and many other factors.
• Passive Solar Heating
  The energy of the sun can provide a significant portion of a Maine home’s heating needs. Passive solar systems are simple, have few moving parts, require minimal maintenance, and require no mechanical systems. Learn the basics of efficient passive solar design, in which a house serves as a solar collector, a heat storehouse, and a heat trap.
• Saving Energy in Apartments
  Apartment dwellers often feel limited in their ability to make energy-saving modifications that can lower their utility bills. Learn some simple ways that you can cut costs and increase your comfort in winter and summer.
• Staying Warm in an Unheated House
  Learn how to minimize discomfort and health problems if you are without heat during a winter storm, while staying safe from fire, lack of oxygen, or carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Stop Window Drafts With Homemade Indoor Shutters
  Reduce nighttime heat loss from your windows with these removable shutters, which are made from common household materials.
• Weather-Stripping Windows and Doors
  The appropriate type of weather stripping can effectively stop expensive energy leaks around doors and windows. Basic overview of different types of weatherstripping.

Emergency

• Staying Warm in an Unheated Home

Complete listing of energy-related publications at our online publications catalog.

Home Energy information from eXtension

Home Energy Conservation

• Home Energy Saving Tips, Efficiency Maine
• Building Interior Window Insulation Panels, Guy Marsden from Art Tec
• Maine Housing Grants and Loans for Energy. If you cannot afford to heat your home, pay electric bills, or would benefit from energy improvements such as new insulation, a new heating system, or energy efficient appliances, help may be available from Maine Housing programs. Lower income households may qualify for heating assistance and energy improvements at no cost to them. Moderate-income households may qualify for low cost energy loans.
• Montana Weatherization Training Center. Focus on safe, efficient, cutting-edge techniques to address the health, safety, and energy efficiency issues present in low-income housing. Includes videos.
• New residential heating or cooling appliance replacement program, Efficiency Maine
• New Efficiency Maine Residential Home Energy Savings Program
• Landscaping Energy Saving Resources

Energy Audits or Assessments

• Maine Certified Residential Energy Auditors. Maine Housing trains and certifies Residential Energy Auditors.  They also maintain a list of certified energy auditors that you can hire to do an energy audit of your home.
• Do-Your-Own Energy Audit, online tool from Home Energy Saver

Appliances

• Estimating Appliance and Home Electronics Use from US Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
• Maine Appliance Rebate Program, Efficiency Maine

Water Heating and Use

• Conserving Water at Home. These conservation tips can save you money, preserve your septic system and help reduce water pollution. 2-pages, 2002 Bulletin #7083, UMaine Extension
• Water Heating, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
• Water Heating, US Department of Energy
• (Residential) Solar Hot Water Heater, US Department of Energy

Personal Energy Saving Tips

• Polymer Cool Neck Bands, originally from Washington State University 4-H Youth Development and adapted for Maine. [PDF]