With heating costs expected to skyrocket this winter, any effort to shave cents off of utility bills can pay off. For example, you'll save more than $1,000 over the life of a printer if you pick an Energy Star model that prints on two sides of a page, says the U.S. Department of Energy. Such printers are required to enter sleep mode when at rest, and use 80 percent less power than an always-on machine.

Just look for the blue Energy Star seal of approval on the printer or check out this list of approved office equipment.

If you're interested in electronics that are frugal with energy and friendly to the ecosystem in other ways, see if your printer is stamped with the Canadian Environmental Choice EcoLogo. And Swedish company TCO provides a searchable database on its site of printers, monitors, mobile phones, and computers that meet stringent European Union requirements (see the "Search certified products" button). To make this list, products must skimp on energy, be recyclable, and be free of toxic chemicals. The ultracautious TCO even measures the magnetic and electrical fields emitted by printers.

But no matter which machines are humming in your office or den, the burden of not hogging energy lies in your hands. Turn off equipment at work when you leave the office overnight and on weekends. Get in the habit of plugging gadgets into a power strip with an on/off switch that you can flip at the end of the day. Leaving electronics plugged into the wall, even when not in use, can drain surprising amounts of standby energy. For example, a constantly plugged-in printer could add up to as much as $80 per year.