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The weather is heating up in our part of the country. We have had several days in the 90’s this past week. However the weatherman is calling for some cooler weather latter this week. For many people air conditioning season is upon us.
Air Conditioning is perhaps the biggest budget buster in the summertime. It is not uncommon for electric bills to more than double in the summertime. So how to you keep from having sticker shock when you open the electric bill?
- Set your thermostat higher. Choose a temperature as high as you can be comfortable. During the height of summer when outside temps can reach 100+ here during the day, we keep ours at 80 degrees. My reasoning is that 80 is a comfortable temperature outside when there is a breeze and no humidity.
- Which brings me to the second point. Turn on ceiling fans if you have them. A ceiling fan will lower the temperature in the room by 5 degrees. So that brings my 80 degrees down to a manageable 75. Make sure the fans are going n the right direction.
- When the sun comes up close the curtains. Better yet get some curtains that are insulated, not only do they keep out the cold in the summer they keep out the heat in the summer.
- If you are lucky enough to have the temperature drop when the sun goes down, open the windows at night. Sometimes it is cooler outside then it is inside
- If it is only marginally warm, open one window downstairs and one window upstairs, at the opposite side of the house. This will create a draft effect and pull the cool air though the house.
- Plan your cooking for the coolest time of the day. Double up on cooking. Cook twice as much so as not to heat the kitchen up.
- Change your light bulbs to CFL – compact fluorescent light bulbs. Not only are they more energy efficient, they do not give off heat the way a conventional light bulb.
- Make sure all of your vents are clear and not covered by furniture.
- Don’t run the clothes dryer or any other appliances that heat up during the hottest time of the day. Use your clothesline (link here to posting)
Main page photo by RockRiver/Flickr
