By Karen Cohilas - bio | email
ALBANY, GA (WALB) - If you were outside Wednesday, you know how miserably hot it is. In fact, it's dangerously hot with a heat index in the triple digits. Not only is it uncomfortable to us, this heat means your air conditioner is likely working overtime.
And it's days like this, when you can see the heat waves on the pavement, that you want to immediately run inside and turn the thermostat to the lowest possible temperature.
Resist the urge. Here's why: For every degree under 78 that you move your thermostat, it raises your bill 3%. Water, Gas and Light had one customer who lowered her thermostat all the way down to 62-degrees. It was cool inside her home, but her bill was extremely high, lowering the temp increased her bill by almost 50%.
Also, if you leave your home for more than three hours each day, you may as well turn the air off completely, and just turn it back on when you return, it doesn't take that long to cool down. And if it's been a while since you had the unit serviced, spend the money now on that and you'll save in the longrun.
Lorie Farkas with Water, Gas and Light said, "We're being penny wise and pound foolish and I think we all tend to do that. If it's not broken, don't fix it, but servicing your unit both before you use it in the summer, If you do it in the spring and fall you're going to really save on the other end."
One other tip to help you save, make sure to change your air filters, it helps your A/C run more efficiently, plus you'll be dumping all that dust and dirt. If you want to know what else you can do to save on your electric bill, call Water, Gas and Light. They have energy auditors who will come to your home or apartment and help you find ways to save on your bill.
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