When you turn on the air conditioner, you can almost feel the surge as your electric meter starts to spin faster – as well as feel your body temperature rise when you imagine next month’s bill.

Across the southern USA, AC is at or near the top of the list for home electricity consumption. Rather than spending money on electric bills, most rational people would rather reduce energy consumption and apply the savings to the OTHER list that might include things like a vacation, college, retirement savings, a new car…

Adding up the bills
The electric company charge by the kilowatt (or kill-a-wallet as some might say). So the more kilowatts used, the higher the bill.

Consider that a typical central AC system uses about 3.5 kilowatts of electricity per hour and a medium window unit uses about .9 kilowatts per hour.

According to the government’s Energy Star program, homeowners in Arizona pay about $212 to run a standard room air conditioner for about 1,000 hours over the summer period. Those cooling their entire home with central AC pay roughly $484. Southern California residents could expect similar bills – and some would consider such bills conservative.

The energy-focused, non-profit Alliance to Save Energy looked at the big picture across the USA and projected average annual household heating and cooling costs to rise to about $1,200.  Hotter portions of the country usually pay significantly more, particularly in AC costs.

According to Michael Bluejay, an expert on home electricity use, “air conditioning uses more electricity than anything else — 16% of total electricity used. In warmer regions AC can be 60-70% of your summer electric bill.”

So, the need to make equipment and home as efficient as possible is obvious to all who value their hard-earned cash.  Saving even a modest 10% on a conservative $1,200 annual bill means $120 in your pocket instead of the utility company’s.  If the annual bill is a not-unusual $3,000, you save $300.

Keeping your air conditioner and other electricity-consuming appliances (yes, clean that dust from your refrigerator’s coils) in peak operating condition will help keep bills as low as possible.

Cost of neglecting maintenance
Since AC can be such a major portion of your bill, you can’t afford to neglect regular tune ups. For each year of routine maintenance you skip, your air conditioner loses about 5% of its efficiency. So, even an efficient Energy Star-rated unit will soon become an energy glutton without attention.

There are other, social and environmental costs of poor maintenance that range from requiring power producers to generate more electricity (which often contributes to more green house gases and the need to build additional power stations) to creating more demand that invariably raises the cost of fuel, such as oil and natural gas, used to power many electricity generating plants.

Ideas for reducing AC costs

• Top of the list: Keep your air conditioner tuned up! A professional inspection is inexpensive and can quickly pay for itself. Regular maintenance that might include services such as balancing the refrigerant level, changing filters, straightening bent cooling fins and sealing air ducts promote efficient operation. Efficiency = savings. According to the government’s Energy Star program, returning an unmaintained AC system to peak efficiency could cut up to $20 off a monthly electricity bill.

• Keep your home naturally cooler with simple steps such as closing window shades to block direct sunlight, switching to cool-running fluorescent light bulbs and running heat-generating appliances (clothes dryer, oven, etc.) in the cooler morning and evening hours. And, seal your home against air leaks around windows and doors with weather stripping – cheap and effective.

• When no one is going to be home, turn up the thermostat. If you have a programmable thermostat, set it to kick in at cooler temps just before people return. If you don’t have one, get one, because you could save about $180 annually in cooling and heating costs.

• Use fans. They consume less juice than AC, create moving air that cools people, and enable you to set the AC a couple of degrees higher or so.

• If your air conditioner is old, consider replacing it with one of today’s efficient models.

Your bottom line is the bottom line
You have better things to spend your money on than electric bills. Making sure your air conditioner and other appliances are running at peak efficiency is simply part of a smart lifestyle.

No doubt about it, electric bills rise during air conditioning season, especially if your home has central AC… and you’re fighting back!

Knowing that AC is the most expensive part of your electric bill and a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions, you’ve set the thermostat to as high a temperature as is comfortable, right? And, you’ve maintained  your air conditioning system by changing filters, sealing air leaks in ducts and taking other efficiency-boosting measures, yes?

Good work. You’ve taken crucial steps to lowering your electric bills. Now it’s time to fight on, and look for other, commonsense and inexpensive ways to not only save your money, but also help the planet by reducing the environmental impact of electricity generation.

Fans – cheaper to run and very cooling
We’ve all heard the TV weather people talk about “wind chill.” Moving air simply makes actual air temperatures feel cooler to your body. Harness this effect indoors with fans. Fans draw less electricity than AC and can be used exactly where needed on a room-by-room basis. Ceiling and standalone fans are both great for getting the air flowing, allowing you to bump up the AC thermostat setting.

Take advantage of cool night temperatures
Open the windows at night or late afternoon to allow cooler air temperatures in, then close them in the early morning to retain the cool air. By adopting this natural cooling technique, your AC will have to run less.

Deflect the greenhouse effect
Sunlight entering through windows creates heat! The California Energy Commission says that this solar gain is responsible for up to 30% of a home’s cooling needs. There are simple ways to block sunlight and reduce heat build up.

• Use window drapes. They block sun and insulate to retain cool air. Darker living space is the only downside. However, light-colored drapes help brighten things up. Note that drapes are more effective than blinds.

• Use reflective film. Available at hardware and home improvement stores, this tinting film adheres to window glass and reflects about 40 to 60% of sun-generated heat while allowing light in. A tinted window will also stop about 99% of UV rays that can fade furniture. The cost? About $2 per square foot for do-it-yourselfers  – which could prove a wise investment if electricity costs continue to rise..

• If your windows have ordinary screens, you can replace them with solar screens. They are made of a special mesh that reflect up to 70% of heat-producing rays and are available at hardware/home improvement stores.

• It’s a major expense, but if it’s time to replace your windows, make sure they’re today’s “low-E” models. You can specify glass with just the amount of solar blocking (or gain) that works for your climate.

• Plant trees, especially on the south-facing side your home. Deciduous trees (their leaves drop in the fall) provide cooling shade in the summer while allowing in sunlight in the winter – when solar gain can be a good thing!

Properly managing windows, drapes and shades throughout the day can make as much difference as more expensive things such as additional insulation.

Insulate and cool your attic
Did you know that un-insulated attics allow the hot air that builds up there (easily reaching over 100 degrees in summer months!) to transfer into your home through ceilings? This makes the AC work harder. Add insulation (loose-fill cellulose and fiberglass are popular choices) to stop the heat transfer.

If you don’t have an attic fan, you should consider one. With gable vents, retrofitting a fan at the vent is easy. By blowing hot air out the vent, you reduce heat transfer into your home and create less work for your AC. You could even power the fan with a solar panel mounted on the roof or exterior wall with minimal installation and… no charge for electricity!

Stop air leaks
Don’t cool the great outdoors. By sealing doors and windows with weather stripping you ensure that you’re only cooling indoor air. Holding a lit match next to window and door edges is a good way to test for air infiltration.

Paint — a simple solution
Are you going to paint your house? Use a light color to reflect rather than absorb heat. You could cut cooling costs by about 20%.

Techniques for cooking and lighting
When cooking with the stove or oven, turn on the vent hood to remove hot air. Whenever possible, use the microwave! Microwave ovens don’t generate much heat.  Bonus — they’re cheaper to operate than gas or electric ovens.

Outfit your entire home with cool-running compact fluorescent bulbs. Not only are they just as bright and use considerably less electricity than conventional incandescent bulbs, they generate about 90% less heat. Because the less heat that is generated, the less need there is to cool the air.

Saving here and there adds up
By applying as many of the measures in this article as possible you help optimize your home’s ability to stay cooler and reduce the load on your air conditioner – a commonsense solution for lowering electric bills and environmental impacts.

Heat Pumps & Roof Top Units - As the term “pump” implies, a heat pump moves heat from one place to another. In the winter, it moves heat from outside to inside to heat your home. In the summer, it moves heat in the other direction to cool your home. The Roof Top Install is basically the same but it is stationed on the roof instead of inside the home or office.