SEATTLE -- Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels launched Wednesday what the city called an "unprecedented conservation plan" in conjunction with Seattle City Light and Seattle residents, reported KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.

As part of the plan, Seattle City Light employees would come to homes to do energy audits and suggest ways to save power.

VIDEO: City Light Auditor Can Help Cut Energy Costs

Juan Peralez of the utility toured Maryianne Parks' Seattle home where she was given tips on how to save power using everything from her thermostat to her furnace.

"Some of the things to consider when you have a gas furnace is to have it cleaned and tuned every two years and also test the combustion efficiency of your furnace. You want to make sure, that just like an idle, that it's tuned and running right so it's going to use less gas," said Peralez.

Peralez looked at Parks' programmable thermostat and told her to set it at 68 when she's home and at 55 at night or when no one is at home. Parks also learned to only wash a full load of laundry and use cold water when possible.

Nickels said the energy savings in five years will equal the output from building a new power plant, which he does not want to build.

Nickels also said the programs will benefit residential, business and commercial customers and are expected to generate more than 1,000 green jobs.