Live from the labs: Energy-saving tips from our experts

With the cheerful title, "How to keep your home and car from ending up like your 401K," our Live from the Labs Facebook chat on Friday at 12:30 ET is bound to be uplifting. Even if it doesn't raise your spirits, it may increase your bank account with all the savings tips offered by the editors and experts at Consumer Reports. In fact, they have so many we'll give you four ways to save on your electronics right now.

Make your TV more efficient. That's right—today's TVs can eat up just as much energy as refrigerators. If you have a set-top box, like most homes, consider trading it for one that meets Energy Star's tougher new 3.0 specification. And if you buy a new TV, make sure it's set to "home mode" which is more efficient than the retail mode typically used when sets are shipped. The $30 to $60 in yearly savings could pay for dinner—and a movie.

Toss old plasma TVs and refrigerators. Some of the early plasmas we tested in 2004 could cost more than $200 per year to run. Old energy-hungry fridges are no bargain, either. Many home centers offer free haul-away and recycling of old fridges—if you buy the new unit from them, of course.

Unplug video games. These do more than just eat into your kids' homework time: They also draw lots of power, even when they're off or in standby mode. Simply pulling the plug can put some $125 a year back in your pocket.

Put your computer to sleep. Save $75 or more per computer per year by using the standby or hibernate setting. Just be sure to turn it completely off if you take it on the road, to protect the hard drive.