Save On Cooling Your Home

Monday was the first day this summer that we’ve had to turn on the air conditioner. We normally just open all the windows and turn on the ceiling fans. The breeze usually helps keep the house cool. Not when the temperature is near 90 and it’s humid. I found the issue by suggesting we get in the pool and cool off but didn’t win. The air conditioner was turned on Monday afternoon.

This got me thinking. If we have to run our air conditioner, how can we save money by doing it?

1. Raise the temperature a degree or two.
I changed ours from 75 to 78. We have attic fans and ceiling fans that can do most of the work…not the air conditioner. I’ll just say that I haven’t had any complaints about it being warm or hot in the house.

2. Program your thermostat. If you don’t have a programmable one, spend the couple bucks for one. Turn the thermostat up when nobody is home.
Ours is currently set for 82 or 83 degrees from the time we leave the house until a half an hour before we should arrive home. I don’t want to walk into a HOT house!

3. Make sure your air filter is clean.
My fiancé cleaned (maybe even changed) ours out in early June.

4. Close vents, doors and blinds in rooms that aren’t being used.
We haven’t had to deal with this yet. If we keep the air conditioner on this weekend, I will close off my older son’s room since he will be gone for the weekend.

5. Move objects (toys, furniture, clothes, rugs…whatever it might be) off the vent. Allow the air to come through the vents.
I had to pull our love seat away from the wall. We have a vent that’s under there. Last night, I had to move my youngest son off the vent. He was cold so he decided to sleep on it to block the air from blowing on him (LOL).

6. Make sure your doors and windows are sealed with weather stripping, sealants or trim.
I found a door that needed to be sealed. The trim had come off. We need to get this fixed this week before our air conditioner goes on overdrive trying to cool off the outside.

7. Purchase window film. This will help with heating and cooling.
I found this product during the winter (February) but when we went to the store they didn’t have any in stock. I’ll be purchasing some as soon as I have the “extra” money.