Don’t work alone
Team up your air conditioner with a ceiling fan to spread cool air throughout the room. Using both at the same time lets you raise the air conditioner temperature by five degrees, which in turn lowers your cooling costs. You’ll also want to make sure your fan is moving clockwise and pushing the cold air down. Here are sneaky ways to save on every household bill.
Don’t light up your thermostat
Keep heat-generating appliances like lamps, computers, and televisions away from your air-conditioning thermostat. Their heat will trick the air conditioner into running longer.
Shoot for the sky
Aim the vents for your room air conditioner at the ceiling, and let the cool air float down to you. You’ll get more bang for you cooling buck by cooling the room from top to bottom, rather than in just one spot, plus you’ll have better air circulation as the cold air drifts down. Here’s how to cool your home without AC at all.
Clean the filter
Allowing too much gunk to pile up will increase the amount of energy your unit uses to get your room to a comfortable temperature. Pop the filter out and wipe it down with a washcloth at least once a month.
Get more smart saving tips
The book Reader’s Digest Quintessential Guide to Saving Money offers dozens of tricks to cut household bills, find unexpected sales and freebies, make the most of your health care, and more. Learn more and buy the book here.