We are considering installing solar panels on our shed roofs. If we hook it up to the grid, we get reimbursed far more per kWh for anything we dump into the grid than we pay for electricity we draw from the grid, even at the peak demand price. We may start with some small, portable ones just to get some lights hooked up in there, that wouldn't feed to the grid.
It doesn't conserve energy but it saves money: We have off-peak pricing from 7 pm to 7 am every day, all day on Saturday and Sunday and statutory holidays. So I try to make sure I'm doing my electricity heavy stuff during those times - baking, laundry, running the dishwasher, running the hot tub. The hot tub is costing us a pretty penny in electricity but I more than make up for it with reduced medical bills. I don't need to go as often for physio or massage now that I'm in the tub almost every night.
Doesn't really work for SamiHami, unless night time temperatures get low enough - 15 C or about 60 F. My Mom's trick was to open the house up wide in the early evening, closing only those windows that were a security risk, going to bed. Then first thing in the morning, before it started heating up again, closing all the windows and drawing all the drapes. The house would stay relatively cool until about 3:30 in the afternoon on hot days. I've been doing this the last few nights. It looks like I won't have to turn the AC back on again until after the weekend.
As incandescent bulbs burn out, I replace them with compact fluorescents and now, LEDs. I'm just loathe to throw out something that is perfectly fine and we don't leave lights on very much, anyway.
A properly insulated house makes a big difference. We can tell that our place is a little light on insulation so that's going to be a project late in the year, before the cold weather hits.
When you are redoing your roof, pick a colour other than black, which absorbs the heat.
Programmable thermostats are great, especially if there is a way to vary the schedule day to day. The one at the old house let me modify each day individually. So I could treat Friday differently than Monday through Thursday and Sunday differently than Saturday since my bedtimes would be different on those days. The current one only has a M-F and S-S scheduler. I'm trying to hook up with a buddy to get that changed out.
Change your furnace/AC filters regularly. The dirt buildup makes your furnace and/or AC run less efficiently. And if really gets blocked, it will shut down due to lack of air flow.