Save $$ This Summer

The dog days aren't quite here yet, but they are a-coming and we all know it.  How do we cut down our summer electricity bills?

A recent survey released this week said 43% of senior citizens reported their electricity bill went up last summer.  You know that won't change.  So let's put our head's together to stay cool, cut costs and stay safe.Start by going around your house and making a checklist of things that might need replacing or fixing (are there some bad seals around a window that would cost $5 to fix but might cost $30 in energy costs to leave?).  After that checklist has been made and the small fixes have been checked off the list, it's time to get moving!

• Change that air filter regularly!  Do you know that can reduce your air conditioner's power consumption by 5 - 15%??
• Get one of those programmable thermostats.  They aren't that expensive and someone you know is smart enough to install it.  That will give you the option of keeping the house warmer when no one is home.
• Test yourselves!  If you can be comfortable with the thermostat set at 68, up it by one degree a day until you hit a level that doesn't make you feel fresh and breezy.  Back it down by one degree and put the shorts on in the house.
• Unplug those useless appliances when you don't need them.  How about the toaster?  The coffeepot?  The alarm clock in the 2nd bedroom that no one uses until a visitor comes?  All these things can be unplugged until you need them.  It's an incremental amount of savings, but everything adds up.

What suggestions do YOU have?