Post them here!! Your best tips for saving money and keeping your cool in the summer!!!

__________________
~Happiness is a large family~

Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. James 1:19

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24

1) Have sun blocking shades and keep them drawn in the heat of the day.

2) Keep air conditioner filters clean

3) Use your ceiling fans.

__________________
~Happiness is a large family~

Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. James 1:19

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24

We put the air on at night only.
Cook outside often.
Hang out at other people houses. JK. LOL.

__________________

We also try to keep the air on only at night. As far as the cooking outside what we like to do is invite a few close friends over on a weekly basis and bbq. Since it can be expensive everyone brings one item. So since we use our grill and propane we usually provide something cheap like chips or bread that we pick up at aldis. Everyone else is also satisfied because they only pay like $5-10 per person for a great dinner.

Run the ceiling fans!

Use the dryer as little as possible, hang out most of the clothes, throw clothes in dryer just long enough to soften them.

Use your crockpot often, or cook out on the grill.
Keep lights off as much as possible.
Keep shades drawn on sun facing windows.

We use our ceiling fans, crockpot, grill.

We also put solar screens on our windows and tint on our sliding doors. We keep the blinds closed as much as possible. We had a test run the other day when it was 96 F. It only got to 79 or 80 inside. Then when it cooled down at night we opened all the window upstairs.

__________________

Believe it or not we have no ceiling fans!!! I think we are the only family in the world that does not have atleast one in our house!!! SO that is one thing I will be doing this summer is installing one ceiling fan per month!! We also leave the lights off, I cook with a crockpot and sides are salads and raw veggies and dip or we grill out. I pull the curtains closed when the sun starts to shine in and we had a new roof put on and used a color that deflects the sun better then the previous color. I also never use the dryer in the summer. I hang everything either outside or in the basement.

Absolutely, hands down, have an automatic attic fan. Just having an attic fan that exhausts hot air out of that space automatically when the temperature reaches a certain point is the best feature on a house I have ever had.

We turn up the A/C so it doesn't run as often. We spend a lot of time in the basement. That's where the family room is anyway. Since the basement is naturally cool, we tend to run just the funace fan to circulate the cooler air through the whole house. Around here, the night brings much cooler temperatures so we throw open the windows to sleep. I close up the windows around mid-morning when the temperature starts to climb.

We have very deep eaves on the house so exterior window blinds don't do us much good. Lots of large trees help, though.

__________________
"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

My blogs:
Oh!: http://oh-cookie.blogspot.com/
The Foundation Club: http://thefoundationclub.blogspot.com/
12 Months to a Homemade Christmas: http://12monthstoahomemadechristmas.blogspot.com/
Experiences, Not Things: http://experiencesnotthings.blogspot.com/

If you'd like to be friends on Facebook, PM me.

We do just about all the things listed here:

Run the ceiling fans, we have one in every room.
Pull the shades and blinds.
Run the AC at night and keep it at the recommended temp.
Grill out a lot and use the crockpot also.