If you've been renting in a building where utilities were included as part of your rent, you may be a bit startled the first time you see your new home's utility bills. New home owners often are so excited about having a place of their own that they tend to forget not only about home maintenance costs (usually 3 percent of your home's cost each year, but also about monthly utility bills.

If you haven't yet closed on your new home, consider asking your Realtor (or the current homeowners) for copies of the highest summer and winter utility bills (including the water/sewage/garbage). That way, you'll know what to expect and can better budget for your utility costs.

Even knowing the past can't always help you predict the future, though. Take my house, for instance. We have less than 2,000 square feet of space and typically pay anywhere from $125 to $300 per month for our combined gas/electric bill. But when natural gas prices were extraordinarily high a couple of years ago, our utility bill in the winter topped $500 per month for several months in a row. Ouch!

While homeowners can't do much about price spikes like that, we CAN help lower our utilities year-round by choosing the right appliance. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy notes that appliances typically account for more than 10 percent of your total energy bill, and that the amount it costs to run an appliance year after year can easily surpass the amount the initial price of the appliance. Consequently, buying energy-efficient products pays -- literally -- because such appliances cost far less to operate.

So what do you look for if you've never purchased a major appliance before? Start with the eye-catching, yellow-and-black EnergyGuide stickers. These help you compare the annual energy use of competing brands and similar models -- just like those per-unit price labels on grocery store shelves. The products that have the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star certification are exceptionally energy efficient.

According to the Energy Star Web site, such choices can cut your utility bills by about one-third. For instance, compared to a 10-year-old clothes washer, a qualified washer can save you up to $120 per year on your utility bills. Such washers use 50 percent less energy and nearly half as much water. They also extract more water from clothes during the spin cycle, which reduces drying time, thus saving more energy.

If you can afford it, consider a front-loading, "horizontal-axis" washing machine. The initial cost is significantly more than typical, top-loading machines. But they save both energy and water by tumbling the clothes in and out of a much smaller amount of water (rather than agitating clothes while they're submerged). Some local energy companies offer rebates on these washers; check with yours to find out.

In the kitchen, an Energy Star dishwasher can save you more than $30 a year by using 25 percent less energy and less hot water. When selecting a refrigerator/freezer, choose a top-freezer model with automatic defrost. If yours is less than 18 cubic feet, you can save as much as $7 per year over one that is more than 21 cubic feet. Bottom-freezer models are slightly less efficient. Side-by-side models use 123 to 260 more kilowatts per hour than top-freezer models, and can cost $13 to $21 more per year to operate.

Other energy-saving ideas for appliances:

·         Turn your water heater down to 120 degrees F.

·         Make sure your water heater has an insulating blanket; it'll pay for itself in one year or less, says the ACEEE.

·         Don't ignore the energy-savings settings on refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines and clothes dryers.

·         Wash only full loads in your washing machine and dishwasher.

·         Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible. (More than 80 percent of the energy required for washing clothes is used just to heat the water, notes the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.)

·         Air-dry clothes whenever you can.

·         Opt for air-dry over heat-dry settings on your dishwasher, and skip the rinse-hold and pre-rinse features for more savings.

·         Check the age of appliances that came with your house (often, your Realtor can help you get this information from the previous owners). Even if an older unit has a couple more years of life, it may pay in the long run to buy a more energy-efficient model now.

For more information:

·         If you're not sure how much energy your appliances are using, try the government's Home Energy Yardstick.

·         Check the ACEEE's Web site for a consumer guide to top-rated appliance models. ACEEE also offers for sale a publication called "The Most Energy Efficient Appliances 2009-2010."