If you have a central air-conditioning system, a $2 filter and a hose can save you energy costs along with wear and tear on your air conditioner, said Kathleen Kuhn, chief executive of HouseMaster, a New Jersey home inspection company. Air-conditioning filters in the house get clogged with dust and lint, forcing the air-conditioning unit to work longer and harder to push cool air through the dirty filter.
You don't need a handyman to fix it, Kuhn added. Just open the screen, pull the filter out and bring it to Home Depot to find a matching replacement. It will take 10 minutes and cost about $2.
On the outside of your home, there's also a compressor unit. You should clear the area around it of brush and hose it off to make sure it's clear of clogging debris too, she said.
A drafty house loses heat in the winter, but it also loses air conditioning in the summer. Kuhn suggests that you inspect all window frames to make sure there aren't gaps. If you can't tell where the draft's coming from, close the doors and windows and light a candle. Follow the flicker and caulk the leaks.
Fans can make a room feel about 5 degrees cooler and are far cheaper to run than an air-conditioning unit, McGrady said.
It's also important to set the timer on your air-conditioning unit. It makes little sense to cool an empty house. If you're gone during the day, a programmable thermostat can turn on the unit an hour before you get home.
Many experts also urge consumers to replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs, maintaining that the fluorescent bulbs will save energy and last longer. This reporter's experience belies that advice, though. I saw little savings from switching to fluorescent bulbs, but that may be because I found them to be too dim and turned on more lights.
Utility companies all over the country are willing to help you save power, McGrady said. Some perform energy audits over the phone, asking a series of detailed questions about your use to make suggestions about how to save. Others do audits over the Web or will send representatives to your home. McGrady makes no promises about savings. But Tauber maintains that most consumers can save 30 percent to 40 percent on their energy bills by taking all the suggestions to heart.
If you're trying to cut costs because you've lost a job, make sure you call your local utility and see whether it has a cut-rate plan for low-income families, McGrady added. Most do. These plans are not new, but people who have never been out of work before probably aren't familiar with them, she said. Those who qualify save 20 percent or more.
"We're really trying to reach out to people in these tough economic times," McGrady said. "It's really kind of funny how much money we spend telling people how not to buy our product."