Before everyone freaks out about their tanks, get the facts! Buy a Kill-A-Watt meter (or 3 or 4) and figure out the usage of everything in your house. You will probably find that your hot water heater, dryer, oven and AC use far, far more energy than your tanks. With that knowledge, you can target the energy hogs better.
Now, you may not want to live without hot water, but if no one is home during the day, stick it on a timer! It only takes about 2 hours of off time to use less energy than reheating the water.
Get a clothesline. You don't need to dry everything. Save the dryer for the items that need it and damp dry the stuff that damp dry works for. Electric dryers tie electric ovens for the #1 most powe consuming device in the house.
Got a gas BBQ? You can use it just like a gas stove and a gas oven, and you won't be heating up the house -- which the AC then cools down.
Get shades, blinds, heavy curtains, or whatever up on the windows, especially the south facing window.
Oh hey, what about those big plasma TVs everyone is always talking about on this forum! 340 watts for a Gateway 42" plasma TV. That's more than a lot of people's tank lights.
