Energy usage typically increases during the holiday season, especially with all the appliances and electronics working overtime.

But Angie's List has tips so you can keep the holidays bright while keeping energy costs down.

• Don’t open the oven door to take a peek at what’s cooking inside: Opening the oven door lowers the temperature inside by as much as 25 degrees – which increases cooking time and wastes energy. Instead, turn on the oven light to check the cooking status.
• Use your small appliances: Use your microwave or toaster oven for those small holiday cooking tasks. A microwave uses about 50 percent less energy than conventional ovens and then doesn’t heat up your kitchen. Slow cookers are also great energy savers. They will cook a whole meal for about 17 cents worth of electricity.
• Turn holiday lights off during the day when you are away: Timers are a simple way to do this and are a great safety measure since lights can cause fires if not used properly.
• Switch to LED lights: LED lights are up to 90 percent more efficient than traditional holiday lights. They also last longer and produce almost no heat. They pay for themselves in as little as one season.
• Turn the video game system off: Most video game systems use nearly the same amount of power when they are turned on and idle as they do when you are actively playing a game. Always turn the system off. Don’t assumer that just because you turn off the TV that your console shuts down too.
• Pull the plug: Seventy-five percent of the electricity used to power home electronics is consumed while the products are turned off. Unplug the appliances/electronics or use a power strip and using the switch on the power strip to cut all power to the appliance.
• Dial down: Turn the thermostat down when you have guests. Extra bodies in the house will warm up your home.