The following is excerpted from item #4 of my June 8, 2025 show.

As temperatures rise, so do our AC bills in Houston: Ways to save on your energy bill; By Brittany Begley, Meteorologist Reporter, & Brittany Taylor, Senior Digital Content Producer | CLICK2HOUSTON.COM | Published: May 19, 2025 at 11:44 AM/Updated: May 20, 2025 at 6:35 AM. Tags: Weather, Houston, News, Local, Money, Air Conditioning

As temperatures rise, so do our AC bills. What are some low-cost ways to save on your energy bill?

As we know, many families are trying to find ways to save money and budget, which includes their electricity bill.

So how do we prepare for the heat and save a little money too?!

Two traditional tips:

Thermostat: Adjust your thermostat if you dare — every degree above 75°F saves 3–5% on cooling costs.

Adjust your blinds: Adjusting your blinds during the hottest part of the day can reduce heat gain through your windows by 20–45%, depending on the quality of your blinds.

But what are some unique ways to cool your house that you might not have thought about?

Hack your fridge efficiency: Place a jug of water in empty fridge spaces to reduce the compressor’s workload. A fuller fridge stays colder, which saves energy.

No-power hours: Pick 1–2 hours daily—early morning is usually the coolest—turn off your AC, eat a breakfast that doesn’t require the stove, turn off lights, and use battery-operated lights and fans.

Use your laundry efficiently: Skip the dryer and let your clothes air dry. This not only cuts energy costs but also reduces heat in your home, saving you anywhere from $9–$20 on your energy bill.

MIKE: For starters, always remember that the three largest consumers of energy in your home are — according to Google AI — air conditioning and heating at 40-52%, your water heater at 12-14%, and your washer and dryer at about 13%. Just those three things consume almost ¾ of your energy.

MIKE: Other large consumers are your refrigerator at 4%, and your oven at about 3-4%. Everything else individually is pretty much nibbling at the edges.

MIKE: Some of these tips are standard stuff, as the story mentions. For me, most of the time, I’m good with a household temperature of 77^oF as long as I have a ceiling fan running, and as long as I’m not exerting myself in a way that’s raising my body’s need to shed heat. Then I tend to lower it to 75^oF until I’ve cooled down.

MIKE: When I go to sleep, I turn the thermostat down to 74^oF, so I may not be the best example, but I also sort of average out across most days.

MIKE: “No-power hours” can be problematic unless the house temperature doesn’t go up much in that time. But if the house is staying cool enough, then the thermostat won’t turn on the AC much anyway.

MIKE: If the house temp goes up during those hours, then you’re not really saving anything. You will ultimately have to remove the same amount of heat from the house, but the AC will have to work harder to reestablish equilibrium.

MIKE: During the time the AC is off, it’s not only the air that warms up. Everything the air touches also gets warmer, such as the walls, floors, furniture, etc. Interior humidity will also go up, and the AC will have to work to remove all that embedded heat and moisture.

MIKE: The only time it pays to turn up the cooling setting is if you are going to leave the house for an extended time, like work or travel. Even then, it’s a good idea not to set the thermostat higher than about 80^o Higher than that and it will increase humidity in the house, which is not good for the contents. It will also take quite a long time for the place to cool back down.

MIKE: On the other hand, putting bottles of water or juice in the fridge to save energy by taking up extra space is an excellent idea.

MIKE: Every time you open your refrigerator, the cold air literally falls out. When you close the door, the fridge has to cool that air all over again. This wastes energy.

MIKE: Using bottled water to take up otherwise empty space “stores” the cold. This leaves less air space in the fridge to drop out, and food and liquids are much better at staying cold when you open the refrigerator door. Thus, the fridge cools down faster.

MIKE: An additional benefit to this practice is that you not only save energy by reducing the need for cooling in the refrigerator because the less your fridge has to work at cooling your food, the less waste heat it diffuses into your house. That waste heat then that has to be removed by your air conditioning, so this simple hack (I hate that word) saves energy two ways.

MIKE: Another way to save on AC that isn’t mentioned in the article is to swap out any incandescent light bulbs for fluorescent or LED lights. Incandescent bulbs throw off an enormous amount of heat. If you doubt me, try touching one that’s been on for a few minutes. But actually no, don’t do that. Just take my word for it.

MIKE: The less waste heat thrown off by light bulbs or other inefficient consumers of electricity has to be removed from your house by the air conditioning. Cooler lighting saves energy two ways, and is also just more comfortable.

MIKE: On the issue of blinds, yes. They can be helpful by blocking direct sunlight into the house, but if you have venetian-style blinds, which includes miniblinds, microblinds, and some types of shades, you also have to consider issues of privacy.

MIKE: The direction you turn blinds to block sun is fine on the first floor. You can look down and out, but no one can look down and in.

MIKE: Above the first floor, it’s just the reverse. Blocking the sun means that people can look up and in just as you can look down and out.

MIKE: I formulated a simple rule to remember this for shades or curtains: What you can see out during the day is what people can see in at night. Try it for yourself and see if I’m right.

MIKE: Hmmm. Maybe KPRC should have had me write this story.