Survive the Blistering Summer Heat and Lower Energy Bills

It doesn't take big sacrifices to stay cool in the summer and reduce the high cost of energy bills. A few simple changes in how you do things will help you survive the wild temperature changes and keep more money in your wallet where it belongs.

1.Consider the savings you'll reap from your outside landscape. Trees not only provide shade and beauty they work as wind and heat blockers to reduce heating and cooling costs. Lowered wind chill and wind speed blocking can result in as much as a 10 degree temperature differential. Trees and plants reduce the spread of both heat and cold before it reaches the walls, windows and doors of your home. Lowering the temperature differential will lower both your heating and cooling energy bills.

2. Avoid using your oven in the summer time during the daytime hours. The heat generated by baking makes your air conditioning work harder. Instead use the microwave or quick stove top recipes or no bake recipes such as preparing cold salads or sandwiches for meals. You will save money on both your electric bill for oven use and energy bill for having to compensate the thermostat changes to keep the room temperature constant.

3. Keep curtains and blinds and shades closed during daytime hours to help block warmth from the sunlight. This is a painless way to help lower the cost of your monthly energy utility bill.

4. Spend one Saturday looking for all potential leaks of outdoor nooks and crannies and foundation and wall and window seals. A little caulking and replacing worn weather stripping around these draft areas will give big savings both in the hot weather and in the cold winter months. You will see both short term and long term savings in your electric and gas bills.

5. Fluorescent light bulbs not only provide energy savings, they also keep you from frequently replacing bulbs. Most homes can save a minimum of $65 a year just in electricity savings by using energy saving Fluorescent light bulbs. As an added bonus, fluorescent lighting often provides even better lighting to a room than incandescent light bulbs.