Save Money During Summer And Year Round....

I'm sure most of us can agree that this year Summer has hit HARD with the heat, with a week of high temperatures a lot of households were using their aircons to keep cool. I know I have been hit hard by both the heat AND the bill.

So I decided to do a few changes around the apartment and be frugal with cooling the apartment down and keeping it cool.

Thanks to DTE Energy here are some ideas :

*  Cook outside on a grill as much as possible. Use your stove’s exhaust fan to blow
   hot air out of your kitchen when cooking indoors.

*  Run your dishwasher in the evening when outdoor temperatures are lower. Let
   your dishes air-dry rather than using the drying feature.

*  Keep your thermostat set as high as comfortably possible. For every degree
   above 72 degrees that you set your thermostat, you could reduce your cooling bill
   by 3 percent.

*  Try to wash only full loads in your dishwasher. Use short cycles. Short cycles use
   less energy and work just as well for everything but the dirtiest dishes.

*  Use drapes, curtains or blinds to keep windows covered during the day to reduce
   heat from the sun.

*  Use ceiling fans to provide additional cooling and better air circulation. Turn off
   ceiling fans when leaving the room.

*  Keep shrubbery and flowers away from your central air conditioner’s outdoor heat
   exchanger to maximize efficiency.

*  Turn off electronic devices when not in use. Home electronics account for up to
   15 percent of household electricity use, and many devices draw a small amount
   of power even when witched off. These include TVs, VCRs, stereos, personal
   computers, monitors and printers.

*  Keep your refrigerator between 36 and 38 degrees, and the freezer compartment
   between 0 and 5 degrees. Keep the coils and condensers free of dust.

*  Wash clothes with cold water. About 90 percent of the energy used for washing
   clothes is for heating the water.

*  Instead of always using a dryer, consider air-drying clothes on clothes lines.