Are costly energy bills draining your wallet? Win the power struggle

You can go broke going green.

Solar panels cost tens of thousands of dollars. And who's got the money to buy all new appliances?

Don't despair. There is a lot you can do, right now, with very little cash outlay, to make your home energy efficient and cheaper to run.

Go fluorescent. You'll save as much as 75% on the lighting portion of your electric bill by losing those incandescent bulbs.

Your old pool pump sucks. Energy, that is. You can save an average of $50 a month by leasing the latest technology.

Then there's that banged-up fridge in your garage. Unplug it and throw out the stale six-pack chilling inside. You'll be sipping bubbly on New Year's Eve with the dough you'll pocket by year's end -- easily $100 or more.

"There are lots of simple things that people can do to save energy," said Mark Bernstein, managing director of the Energy Institute at USC. "It's not that hard and it doesn't require big changes in behavior."

Sure, old-school energy efficiency isn't as exotic as a home wind turbine or as fun as driving a Prius. Still, it's an easy way to pinch pennies in a lousy economy while helping the environment. Experts say reducing the U.S. appetite for fossil fuels will depend not only on developing clean, renewable sources of power, but in getting Americans to go on an energy diet as the population and economy grow.

"The only way to keep up with demand is to cut it," said Bill Tauber, founder of Tustin-based Progressive Lighting & Energy Solutions, which helps businesses slash their energy bills. "It's the only way we're going to get energy self-sufficient and not destroy the planet."

A good place to begin is your home or office. Buildings consume about 40% of all the energy used in the U.S., according to the Department of Energy. And they account for nearly half of greenhouse gas emissions. That's because the nation burns copious amounts of fossil fuel to heat, cool and light these boxes.

The No. 1 fuel source for producing electricity in the U.S. is coal, which spews more carbon dioxide per unit of energy produced than the gasoline in your car. CO2 is the stuff that's helping melt the Earth's ice caps. That's why leaving your iPod charging for days on end is helping make life tough for polar bears and penguins.

Even if you don't believe in global warming, energy efficiency is still good for your wallet. Constructing new power plants and transmission lines costs billions of dollars. Ratepayers foot the bill.