We made similar changes and found that two changes contributed most of our savings: switching to CFLs, and switching to front load washer and dryer models. The savings have already paid for the upgrades.

We all have such a funny response to prices. A high quality CFL such as the ones I recommend actually do last for 5 years; most low quality ones have a fault of some sort and are fragile due to poor design and assembly. So instead of paying $4.00/bulb of the right wattage, we cheap out and save $3.00 on one that will likely break much sooner, and perform badly. Yet, when faced with large purchases we spend much more without batting an eye.

Buy GE (and now Philips and Earthmate CFLs have made my list) — they are much, much, much better.

I don’t know if such ‘smart strips’ are available here in Europe, I haven’t found anything, in fact this is the first I’ve heard about them. We use switched extension-leads everywhere around our home and can get much the same saving if we remember to turn things off, but these strips would be ideal for people who won’t always remember to do that.