How to keep your house cooler and save money

Easy changes such as moving lamps away from thermostats can save you money. Here are more money and energy saving tips. Most of these cost little or nothing. Get the most from your air conditioning

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Time to read some different ideas to save money and energy.

1. Instead of operating your air conditioner, open windows and use portable or ceiling fans. Mild air movement of 1 mph can make you feel up to four degrees cooler. Make sure your ceiling fan is turned for summer. You should feel the air blown downward. If you live in a dry climate, setting a bowl or tray of ice in front of a box fan can cool you as it evaporates.
2. You can also use a fan with your window air conditioner to spread the cool air through your home.
   Shade your outside compressor without blocking air flow
   Change air filters monthly during the summer.
   To adjust setting at night or when no one is home use a programmable thermostat with your air conditioner.
3. Don't place lamps or TVs near your air conditioning thermostat. The heat from these appliances will cause the air conditioner to run longer.
   
   Consider installing a whole house fan or evaporative cooler (a "swamp cooler") Attics trap fierce amounts of heat; a well-placed and -sized whole-house fan pulls air through open windows on the bottom floors and exhausts it through the roof, lowering the inside temperature and reducing energy use by as much as third compared with an air conditioner. Cost is between $200 and $400 if you install it yourself. An evaporative cooler pulls air over pads soaked in cold water and uses a quarter the energy of refrigerated air, but they're useful only in low-humidity areas. Cost is $200 to $600.
4. Install white window shades, drapes, or blinds to reflect heat away from the house. Close curtains on south- and west-facing windows during the day.
   
   Install awnings on south-facing windows. The angle of the sun, trees, or a fence will best shade west-facing windows. Apply sun-control or other reflective films on south-facing windows.