Notice how in the summer months, that CPS bill just keeps going up, and up, and up? Here are few simple ways to keep that bill just a bit lower, so you can
spend your hard-earned money on something you enjoy.

Make sure fan is spinning the right way. Did you know that that your fan can spin two ways? One way is “winter mode”, and the other is for heat removal. If
the fan is spinning counter-clockwise when you are looking up at it, you’re in full on summer mode. This allows the air to push down on you, blowing the
hot air off of you, providing a reprieve from the heat. Remember, fans don’t provide cool air, they just blow the hot air away from you.

Clean your air filter. Imagine running a marathon with your hands covering your mouth and nose. Pretty hard to catch a full breath, huh? This is how your
air conditioner feels with a dirty filter. Not only is the unit working harder to keep your home cool and comfortable, but a dirty filter makes pulling the
air through difficult, raising your electricity bill. If you change out your air filter once a month, this should eliminate this problem. If you do have
animals that shed, you may need to change it more frequently as the filter will probably end up having more hair than your dog at the end of the month.

You’ll pay a lot more to cool your home when the cold air easily escapes. Do-it-yourself weather stripping for doors and caulk for windows is easy to
install, and cheap. Also make sure to caulk around the holes where pipes go into the wall under sinks. Make sure to close the damper to the fireplace when
you’re not using it — otherwise, cool air will escape through the damper.

Not only aesthetically pleasing in the home, blind and drapes will help with keeping your house cool in the summer, by blocking out the sunlight. Direct
sunlight can raise the temperature of a room 10 to 20 degrees! Having both blinds and drapes will help exponentially when trying to keep your home cool as
the Texas heat rises.

Raise the temperature in the home. To you, 79° and 77° may not seem like a huge difference, but to your air conditioner it is. Each degree below 78°
increases the unit’s energy use by 3-4%.

These are all simple things you can do in your home to keep your cooling costs down while you battle the grueling Texas heat. Make sure you, your family,
and your pets stay hydrated.