I don’t know where you live, but if it’s anywhere near where I live, then you’ve been feeling the heat in a big way this summer. There’s always that glorious, idealistic part of late spring where you think, “Yes, I can feel it getting hot, but I can handle this. I’m going to hardly ever use my AC this summer!” And then by this point in the year, all bets are off. Keeping cool during the dog days seems totally worth paying a few extra dollars on your electric bill.

That said, those extra dollars can add up. While you can’t completely eliminate the extra utility hit that many people suffer around these stifling months, there are things you can do to make the damage as minimal as possible.

1. If you’re gone, the AC goes off

Maybe this is a no-brainer to a lot of you but I’m guessing I’m not alone in my desire to leave the air conditioning kicking while I’m out, just so I can have that glorious moment of arriving home from the sweltering summer outdoors to my arctic apartment. But don’t do it. It’s really one of the best ways to cut down your bills. You can handle 20 minutes of tepid temperatures when you get home while you wait for the cold air to bring you back to bliss.

2. Seal your doors and windows

Remember when your mom used to yell at you for standing with the door open and telling you not to “air condition the whole neighborhood”? Well, she was onto something. Making sure your abode is airtight is important. When you’re paying so much to keep cool, it’s only smart to keep every crispy bit of that expensive air all to yourself.

3. Close the curtains

As a big fan of natural sunlight, I’m never a fan of keeping my curtains closed. But that lovely light can raise a room’s temperature by as much as 10-15%…that’s serious! On the other hand, using natural light means not turning on as many lights in the house, which also saves energy. Still, if your primary objective is to keep cool on the cheap, close those curtains.

4. Clean your filters regularly

Having clean air filters is good all around; it means that you are breathing the cleanest air possible, which is vital to having good health, but it also means that your air conditioning unit isn’t having to work nearly as hard to pump air into your home. The easier it is for the AC to do its job, the less energy it’s expending–which means savings for you.

5. Make sure you have the right size

If you have an AC unit that’s too small, it’s going to be working overtime to try and keep the space as cool as you want it to. Alternately, if you have an unit that’s much bigger than you need for your home, then you’re simply using up more energy than you need to.

What do you think?

With energy prices so high, have you come up with any clever tricks for saving on your AC bills? Or keeping the heat at bay without turning the thermostat to “blizzard”?