Each Holiday season, families across the world gather for fellowship, feasting, and festivities. Many times, visiting friends and family may stay a while. This, along with several other factors, can drive up your home's energy usage throughout this holiday season. Follow these tips and celebrate extra energy savings this year:

1. Do not cook more food than you need. This can include buying a turkey sized appropriately for your group. The more time the meal takes to cook, the more energy is consumed. If you're making more food than your family and friends need, this can be energy wasted.
2. Monitor lights in your home. With the business of hosting, it's easier to forget to turn off lights in unoccupied rooms or areas of your home. If you're able, make the switch to energy-efficient lighting options such as LEDs, which use 75% less energy and last 25x longer than an average incandescent light bulb.
3. Wash dishes in an efficient dishwasher. Washing dishes by hand uses twice as much energy as washing dishes with an EnergyStar certified dishwasher. Bonus- it will also use less water to do so! 
4. Lower the thermostat while you cook. Your home will warm up naturally as you cook with most appliances. Avoid unnecessary heating in your home by turning your thermostat down a few degrees while you are cooking. Bonus - before putting your hot leftovers in the refrigerator, let them cool down to keep your fridge from working overtime to cool them down.