The Public Utilities Commission just approved electricity rate hikes of an average of $120 a year for homes, leaving you with the options of cursing, sitting in the dark in protest or taking steps to make your home more efficient to offset the added cost. For those who choose the last, Denis Bergeron, who is the director of the state’s program for improving energy efficiency, called Efficiency Maine, has some practical advice.

The quickest return on efficiency investments, Mr. Bergeron says, is in light bulbs. Each replaced high-use incandescent bulb yields about $10 a year in savings – two or three fluorescent bulbs can make a noticeable difference in your electric-bill increase.

After bulbs, wrap your electric water heater and your hot-water pipes. The kits aren’t expensive and the savings are felt immediately. Homes with electric water heaters often have forced-air heating systems. Changing the filter annually so the motor doesn’t have to work as hard lower electricity costs and may even make the motor last longer.

Finally, Mr. Bergeron passes along a rule of thumb for a major investment: If your refrigerator’s color is avocado or harvest gold, eschew the retro look and get yourself a new fridge. Mr. Bergeron himself admits that his old refrigerator pre-dated those colors, and when he replaced it recently he saw his electric bill drop by $20 a month. Guilt, he said, was what persuaded him to make the change, but you can use the motivation of looming higher electricity prices.

The PUC’s order takes effect March 1, so there is plenty of time to make your home more efficient. And if you do decide to trade in your avocado-toned refrigerator, why not go all the way and retire the Feelin’ Groovy coffee mug set that came with it? Change is good.