It can be very disheartening to get the first electricity bill of the summer.  In your attempts to keep the indoor temperature of your home at a comfortable level, you may have inadvertently made yourself uncomfortable in another area:  Your wallet.  Running your air conditioner can sometimes cause your electricity bill to increase by quite a bit, leaving you wondering if you're going to have to make a decision between keeping cool and saving money.  However, you don't have to make this difficult choice.  Use these tips to keep your air conditioning costs as low as possible.

Close Your Blinds during the Day

One simply way that you can keep your air conditioning costs under control is to keep your blinds or curtains closed during the day.  This is especially helpful if you happen to work outside of the home during the morning and afternoon hours, which is when the sun is at its highest point and is therefore beaming down the most heat.

The reason why you should keep your curtains and blinds closed during the day is the sunlight that is radiated into your home can raise the indoor temperature.  Your air conditioning unit will then have to work harder in order to maintain the temperature that you've set on your thermostat.  This will typically result in a higher bill.

By simply keeping your blinds closed, you protect your interior temperature so that your unit works as it should.  This can go a long way toward keeping your air conditioning expenses under control.

Install a Smart Thermostat

Another technique you can use in your fight to keep your air conditioning costs low is to install a Smart thermostat.  A Smart thermostat is a device that is powered by the wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) Internet service in your home.  The Smart thermostat is programmed by the changes that you make to it each day.  After it's been programmed, the device automatically raises or lowers the temperature based upon the information that it has saved about your preferences.

For example, if you leave for work each day at 8 o'clock in the morning, the Smart thermostat will raise the temperature to a level that makes it very easy for it to dial back down to a cooler climate once you come back home.  This helps to prevent your home from getting so hot that your air conditioner overworks to compensate.

Once your Smart thermostat is programmed, you can expect to save approximately 15% on your cooling expenses.

Keeping your home cool during the summer months doesn't have to break the bank.  Start using these tips right away so you can avoid sticker shock when your summer electricity bills arrive. Talk to an HVAC professional like Mike's Bremen Service Inc for more information.