Biggest energy use in the house tends to be heating and cooling, having an energy audit done will give you insight as to where your house needs sealing, most houses need more insulation in the attic, houses with crawl spaces also almost always need insulation in the crawl space and every house needs more in the sill box, digging around your house to add insulation to the outside will also help with keeping the basement warm and if you make a foam skirt with 2" foam it will help shed water and keep your basement dry.
Heating water is the next big energy use, insulate the snot out of the water heater and the pipes, if installing a new water heater get the most efficient you can (forced vent gas is normally ideal) and install anti-siphon traps, any water heater with an electrical input (pure electric or forced vent) can be put on a timer, time it so it turns off before your main use so it's not reheating water that you don't need hot.
Cooking is another big users, a plug in counter top tea kettle water boilers use half of the energy of heating in the microwave and the microwave uses half of heating on the stove top, most counter top water boilers also have a toaster style switch so it pops and turns off when your water is hot so it only uses as much energy as it takes to boil and then stops.
Fridges and freezers do not belong in garages, they stop working correctly if it's to cold and they draw alot of power if it's too warm!
I like fridges that don't have a freezer, they tend to use less energy and your food is at a hight that you can see it, you can then have a small chest freezer in your basement and use it for storing foods that you stock up on when they are on sale.
Computers and other electronics use alot of power just sitting, switches on power strips can help alot _if_ you remember to use them, for things that you have a set schedule for, like watching your favorite TV show in the evening, you can put a cheap timer on your home entertainment system to kill the phantom loads.
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