Chicago Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog

Unless you’re living in Nome, Alaska, where the temperatures are hovering around the high 40s range, you’re probably expending a lot of personal energy on beating the heat, while still trying to keep your utility costs down. Good luck. Oil prices have, yet again, hit a new high this week, at $147 a barrel. Count on seeing the gasoline prices going up any day (maybe even any minute) from now, and know that you’ll see increases in your utility bills.

The cost of cooling or heating a home accounts for more than 40% of total energy expenditures, and inefficient cooling units, i.e. fans, window air conditions, central air conditioning units, can increase those costs by another 20 to 30%. Wow! Let’s talk about ways that you can keep cool and comfortable, without spending any more money than you absolutely have to.

If you’ve got a whole house fan in your attic, make use of it or if it is not working, fix it fast – open the windows and let the breeze in and turn the fan on if your house is stuffy and hot. It will push out the hot air (heat rises, remember?) and bring the cooler air in through the windows. It’s not as cooling as an air conditioner, since it only equalizes the inside and outside temperatures, but it does make the house more comfortable.

Speaking of air conditioners, while it’s nice to have central air, it’s also much more expensive since they cool your entire house. But sometimes you don’t need your whole house cooled. Remember to close the vents in the rooms that no one is occupying, so that the cooler air is not misdirected and wasted, and keep the open vents free of obstructions. Be sure to regularly clean the condenser (that’s the part outside the house). The fins tend to get pretty dirty, since the fan sucks the air in and pulls dead leaves, dust, grass and all manner of stuff. What that means to you is less efficient cooling system and higher cooling costs. Check your owner’s manual for instructions, or you can find generic instructions online here. If you haven’t already planned it, keep your condenser shaded from direct sunlight.

If you’ve only got window air conditioner units, keep the filter cleaned – vacuum it, rinse it or wash it with soap and water – depending on what the manufacturer suggests. Check the coils, they can really get a build up of guck (how’s that for a technical term!) and you can use a toothbrush to gently brush it all out. If the fins are misaligned, you can use a “fin” comb to straighten them out, or do it the cheap-o way, by using a soft piece of straight wood, such as a tongue depressor or a stick from an ice pop (any flavor will do). Don’t forget to vacuum the coils on the outside as well.

If you’ve got ceiling fans in your house, be sure to turn them on in conjunction with your air conditioner, provided that they are multi-directional, meaning that it runs clockwise or counter-clockwise. In the summertime, you want the fan to run counter-clockwise to cool the room, since it forces the air downwards and creates a breeze. By running the ceiling fan at the same time, you can lower the temperature on the air conditioner unit and enjoy the same cooling benefit.

When the weather is cooperating, just run the ceiling fans to catch a breeze beneath. But remember, ceiling fans cool people, not a room, so turn it off when the room is empty.

Finally, if you’ve done all you can to maximize the efficiencies of your cooling units, and you still can’t afford the monthly summer-time payments to the power company, call up your local utility and find out if they’ve got a budget plan which can spread your estimated annual charges over a year, so that every month is a fixed payment.

Stay Cool!

-- Debt Diva for DebtStoppers