5 Things You Should Do Right Now to Lower Your Electric Bill This Summer

We all know higher electric bills are coming this summer, but there’s no need to wait until the first bill arrives and your jaw hits the floor to do something about it. Making proactive choices now will help lower your electric bill this summer and give you peace of mind about what’s to come.

Here are five things you can do now to keep your electric bill low this summer.

Replace or Clean Your AC Filter

The simple act of swapping a dirty air filter for a clean one can lower your energy consumption by 5% to 15%. Think about it: if your air filter is dirty, air can’t get through. Your AC system will have to work harder to cool the home, which won’t be cooling, and you’ll be dropping the temperature on the thermostat in a futile (and expensive) attempt to cool your home.

Replace it, clean the filter yourself, or call an HVAC pro to remedy this issue. You’ll also want to clean the coils and fins on the air conditioner while you’re at it.

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Reassess Your Blinds and Shades

There are two ways you can use blinds and shades to lower your electric bill: one, get more energy-efficient window coverings; two, actually open and close them.

Some products are better for temperature control than others. For example, well-installed cellular shades (they have a honeycomb shape) can reduce heat loss through windows by over 40% in winter, and reduce heat through the windows in summer by up to 60%. Lace curtains, on the other hand, are purely ornamental.

Look for products that are certified with an Attachments Energy Rating Council (AERC) Energy Improvement rating. Those numbers will tell you how good the covering is at cooling and heating a home.

And even though almost all of our window coverings are adjustable, how much are you actually moving them? Take five seconds to close the shades in rooms you don’t use or when you’re leaving the room.

Install a Smart or Programmable Thermostat

Get yourself a smart or programmable thermostat. If you already have one, actually learn how to program it. Set the temperature to change 30 minutes or an hour before you wake up. Let the house heat up while you’re away at work and set it to cool down around when you return. The savings come from not letting the house be cool when you don’t actually need to be cool.

The common thinking is that an HVAC has to work harder to cool a space, so it’s better to just keep it cool all the time—but that’s not actually true.

If you keep your thermostat at 70°F, the second your home hits 71°F, the HVAC will have to bring it back down. The fight for every degree is the same. Therefore, the higher your AC temperature is set to, the higher the energy savings.

Check for Vampire Energy Suckers

Anything plugged into an outlet is not just using energy when it’s in use—that coffee maker is still contributing to your electric bill even in the 23 hours of the day it’s not making and warming coffee. A 2015 study showed that about a quarter of your electric bill can be attributed to these vampire appliances.

Consider which appliances and items you have plugged in that you never actually use or use infrequently and unplug them. If you want to get technical about it, get a home electrical energy usage monitor (available for less than $15) and test individual items around your home (it’s easy, we promise).

Seal Cracks and Gaps

Any opening in your home is a spot for heat to seep in. Feel the areas around your window panes and door frames. If you can feel a temperature change, you might want to try to seal these areas, either with caulking, weather stripping, or foam sealant.

Other telltale signs of cracks and gaps are dirty spots on the walls or carpet, or even water stains (if moisture is coming in from outside, air probably is too).

Outlets, the fireplace and chimney, the dryer vent, your mail slot—all of these are spots where air goes in and out. Fireplace flues are a big spot for air flow, so consider adding an inflatable chimney balloon or DIYing an inexpensive, reusable one with a trashbag filled with fiberglass batting scraps. Just remember to take it out before your next fire.