The most effective way to keep your AC costs down is to turn your AC off and leave your house to go somewhere cool (i.e. work or the beach) during the hottest hours in the short term. To keep the sun’s heat from seeping in while you’re gone, make sure to keep any sunlight out of the house by shutting all of your blinds or drapes.

When you are at home, try not to add heat to your living space. In other words, don’t use your oven or stove, and turn off any appliances that don’t need to be used. Computers and incandescent light bulbs, for example, give off extra heat. If it cools down at night, try to run window fans rather than your AC to circulate cool air through your home.

As a long-term solution, you may want to switch to high efficiency air conditioner if you feel your cooling costs are abnormally high and you are using an outdated system. In the past 15 years, air conditioner technology efficiency has improved greatly, and you can purchase central air conditioners with a SEER 20 rating or higher.

Find out if there are rebates and tax credits for air conditioners in your area.