Substantial home energy savings can be as simple as changing humidity levels and washing clothes in cold water.

"People think about these [energy-savings] issues as complicated and expensive, but that's not the case," said Jerry Loch, an energy-use and financial management educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension who conducts energy-savings workshops in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties. "There are a lot of low-hanging fruit."

Here are 10 simple changes that can lead to big savings when oil prices are skyrocketing:

• Turn down the thermostat. Over a 24-hour period, for every degree that you turn down your thermostat in the winter (or turn it up on a cooling system in summer), you save an average of 3 percent of your total energy costs.
• Use a programmable thermostat. These digitally programmable systems are inexpensive and easy to install. Just set it and forget it.
• Maintain proper humidity. The combination of relative humidity and temperature has a large effect on how warm it feels. For example, a house set at 70 degrees with 30 percent humidity will feel like 66 degrees. On the other hand, a thermostat set at 66 degrees in a house with 60 percent humidity will feel like 70 degrees. If you're shocking your kids with static electricity, your humidity is too low.
• Set the hot water heater to 120 degrees. The cost of heating water is the second biggest home energy expense after heat.
• Install high-velocity, low-flow showerheads. Most hot water in homes is used in showers.
• Use cold water only to wash clothes. Heating water accounts for 90 percent of the energy to run a washer, a waste when hot water does not get clothes any cleaner than cold water. Using hot water for laundry is a holdover from when our grandmothers used soap to wash clothes, but today's machines get sudsy with enzyme-based detergents that clean regardless of water temperature.
• Set refrigerators to 38 to 40 degrees, and keep the freezer full and set at zero to 5 degrees. Refrigerators use about 8 percent of our total home energy.
• Turn off computers when they are not in use. Desktop computers use 10 times more energy than televisions, while laptops use five times more.
• Use a power strip for entertainment centers, and turn it off when not in use. Any appliance with a remote control saps energy even when turned off. For example, a five-year-old, 27-inch TV uses 14 watts an hour when on, and 9 watts when off. Americans waste $1 billion in energy for standby power.
• Look for air leaks, and use foam gaskets in drafty electrical outlets; caulk leaky windows, doors and holes.