(MONEY Magazine) – When oil prices spiked in 1973 and again in '79, well-meaning consumers by the thousands: -- Raced to weatherproof their houses -- and overdid it, sealing in carbon monoxide and other noxious fumes -- Used wood-burning stoves to hold down heating bills -- and polluted the air with particle-laden smoke -- Installed windmills to help cut electricity costs -- and watched the shafts crack and the blades spin out of control -- And got conned into buying bogus energy-saving devices such as ''solar- powered clothes dryers'' -- actually, clothespins. With oil prices rising again, it's time to get better educated about energy conservation. ''For the past five years,'' says energy expert Daniel Yergin, author of The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money and Power (to be published in late November by Simon & Schuster), ''it hasn't made economic sense to pay attention to gas prices,'' which, on an inflation-adjusted basis, were at their lowest level since World War II. Now, he says, ''conserving energy should be one of your top priorities.'' According to Yergin and other energy experts, here are some of the best ways to keep your fuel costs down: -- Get an energy audit. Sometimes free, but more often for a fee of as much as $30, a service representative from your local utility company will check out the fuel efficiency of your home's heating and air-conditioning systems. But be wary of self-dealing: some utilities try to sell heating equipment based on what they turn up in the audit. -- Keep your car's engine tuned. ''If you haven't had a tune-up for your car in the past 12 months or so, get one,'' urges Bion D. Howard, program manager at the Alliance to Save Energy, a nonprofit consumer group based in Washington, D.C. ''The better tuned your engine, the more gas you will save.'' -- Check out new home energy-saving devices that really work. Over the past 10 years, several genuine advances have been made in fuel-conservation technology. Flame-retention burners, for instance, cost about $500; they are standard equipment in oil-burning furnaces less than eight years old and consume 16% less fuel, on average, than older burners do. Compact fluorescent light bulbs cost about $10, but last 10 times longer than 95 cents conventional bulbs and use a fourth of the electricity. And low-emissivity (so-called low E) windows can reduce the amount of heat your home loses through glass by a third. Since low E windows are costly (often $3 more per square foot than for regular glass), installing them pays off only if your home needs new windows. For more information, get the free booklet Tips for Energy Savers from the U.S. Department of Energy (800-523-2929). Overall, consumer experts say, you can trim 15% to 30% from your annual fuel bill by boning up on energy-saving techniques. That's a better return, says Howard, ''than you get in today's stock market.''