Money saving tips to cool your home

When the weather gets hot, it pays to be smart. Use our energy saving tricks to significantly cut your air-conditioning costs.

This summer, you can stay cool and still keep your costs down. Here’s how:

Reduce heat-generating utilities

• Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lights that use about 80% less energy.
• Let dishes drip-dry -- run your dishwasher without the hot drying cycle.
• Use the microwave whenever possible instead of the oven.
• Turn off lamps, computers, TVs, VCRs and DVD players when they’re not in use.

Raise your thermostat

• The closer you keep the indoor temperature of your home to the outdoor temperature, the lower your cooling bill.
• Dress lightly and raise your thermostat a few degrees higher than normal when the weather gets hot.
• Set your thermostat even higher when you’re going to be away for an extended period.

Shade your windows 

• Shade south-facing windows with awnings or reflective film.
• Use white curtains to reflect heat away from your house.
• Install double-pane storm windows with high-performance glass to reduce your heat loss by up to 50 percent.
• Open windows to the breeze: Even mild air movement can cool you off.
• When nights are cool and days are hot, throw windows open at night and shut them during the day.

Choose a light roof

• A dark roof can absorb 70 to 90 percent of the sun’s energy, whereas a light roof will reflect heat away from your home. So if you’re replacing your roof, use a light-colored material.
• Consider putting a reflective coating on your existing roof.
• Install louvers or roof vents to ventilate your attic.

Plant for shade

• Plant trees on the south and west side of your home. Trees to the west provide natural shade from the afternoon sun at the end of the day, preventing excess heat build-up.
• According to the U.S. Department of Energy, just three trees could save you $100-$250 annually in cooling and heating costs.
• Avoid installing unshaded rock, cement or asphalt outside the south or west side of your house; they radiate heat and raise your cooling bill. 

Install fans

• Install ceiling fans in bedrooms.
• Use ventilation fans to disperse heat and humidity away from bathrooms.
• Get a whole-house fan installed in your attic. It pulls cool air into your home at night or when the air outside is cooler than the air inside, and pushes hot air out.
• If you live in a dry region, consider an evaporative cooler. It pulls air in from outside and cools it by running it through a filter containing water-soaked pads. It uses only a quarter of the energy of a standard air conditioner.
• But because it adds moisture to the air, it’s only effective in areas with low humidity.

Cut down on air conditioning

• Keep window air conditioners set to low and place fans (which use far less electricity) in front of them to spread cool air throughout your home.
• Keep the outside compressor of your central air conditioner cool. Install it in the shade or plant shrubbery around it so it will need less electricity. Just make sure that plants don’t block its airflow.
• Caulk and weather-strip your home to keep cool air in.
• Install a programmable thermostat to turn your air conditioner down or off when no one is home.
• Because air conditioners have to work harder to remove moisture from the air, reduce humidity inside your home. Try to shower, cook and run your dishwasher and washing machine early in the morning or late at night.