 | Tony Esposito
WCNC Production |
Whew, is it hot or what? Dog days. August is here and temperatures are in the mid 90s.
I went for a walk in the neighborhood today and I almost couldn’t hear the birds singing over the hum of the air conditioners.
I thought about the things I do to help keep my electric bill down so I thought I would share them with you.
Setting the temperature for the A/C is a big way to save money. Since I don’t like giving money to the electric company, I set my A/C at 78 degrees. I did an informal survey with my co-workers as to what temperature they set their A/C. The responses came back 72-74 degrees. Raise the temperature and see the savings. For every degree you raise the temperature on your thermo-stat, you can cut your cooling bill by about three percent.
While on the subject of the A/C, change the filter at least once a month. This will help the unit move the air more efficiently.
Install ceiling fans. Using ceiling fans and circulating the air will make it feel eight degrees cooler and reduce air conditioning bills by 30 percent. As I write this the outdoor temperature is in the high 90s and my indoor thermometer is reading 82 degrees. Because I have ceiling fans in all the rooms, it is very comfortable.
I also keep the lights off unless I need them.
Keeping the shades drawn will help keep the heat outside and reduce the heat radiating through the window. All these tips will save you money and reduce the demand for energy, thus reduc-ing air pollution.
Add all the tips up and there will be some real savings.
Our family is on a PEAK time energy use program and has been for years. We get approx. 1/2 price electricity in exchange for not using our heat pump, washer and dryer, stove and other things during certain hours of the day. There are days we can use what ever we want, when we want, like weekends and holidays. We save money and it helps conserve power in our section of the country. If other people would participate this would help a lot. Most people do not even know that programs like this exist.