1. Insulate, seal the windows and doors and reduce the amount of electricity needed. "That's the best thing homeowners can do," said Jewell.
2. Replace heating and cooling units with more efficient units when they're due to be replaced. It's not particularly glamorous, but a good thing to do.
3. A simple but extremely effective way to substantially reduce energy use is to replace light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs.
4. Solar water heat makes a lot of sense and has a payback of a few years. "People ask me about putting up their own wind turbines or putting electric generation cells or solar water heat on the roof," said Jewell. "And people can certainly do that, but should first be sure their homes are properly insulated and sealed against the extremes of the Kansas climate."