7 Easy Ways to Lower Your Summer Cooling Bill

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Hi Guero, could not agree more. But yet the clowns in D.C. have plenty of time to investigate steroids in baseball and the New England Patriots "Video-Gate". What a joke.

Kyle James of CA 10:56AM June 26, 2008

Hello Kyle, I'm well aware of HR5351 -- it's mentioned in that link I previously posted -- and have been following it closely myself after installing lots of Energy Star windows and appliances this year as part of a remodeling. Unfortunately, as I understand it these credits will be paid for by reducing existing tax breaks for large oil companies -- likely increasing the cost of gas at the pump. This legislation is certainly NOT a done deal! I doubt that Bush (oil man) will sign it, and the House vote wasn't strong enough to override a veto.
This is not to gainsay the value of purchasing and installing energy-efficient products and appliances. Even without tax breaks, you're saving money in the long run, and collectively, conservation is the best thing we can do to help reduce energy costs, shortages, pollution, etc. Unfortunately it seems that conservation is extremely low priority among policy makers right now, when we need it the most.
As I was told as a child, "The energy you save is everybody's; the money you save is your own."

Guero of MO 5:15PM June 25, 2008

Guero, thanks for the correction. It looks like a new one is coming down the pike though:
"On February 27, 2008, the House passed $18.1 billion in renewable energy tax incentives (H.R. 5351), including an extension of the tax credit for energy-efficient home improvements. The bill is similar to the one passed last year, which was ultimately removed from the 2007 Energy Bill, signed into law in December 2007. This bill must still pass in the Senate, and be signed by the President to become law."

Kyle James of CA 3:14PM June 25, 2008

Those EnergyStar tax credits you mentioned are only for improvements placed into service before Jan. 1, 2008. Congress has not yet renewed those and there's no guarantee they will do so. see http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits for more info.

Guero of MO 12:22PM June 25, 2008

I guess these tips are good if you own your own house, or have an abode you can modify, but for those of us who rent and cannot modify anything in the apartment, we're left with fans and air conditioners. And technically we're not supposed to have the air conditioners without permission from the landlord.
As for staying cool, I just stay at work where there is AC.

Veronica of NY 11:17AM June 25, 2008

Thanks Kyle - We keep our curtain's closed during the day and it really makes a difference in maintaining the cooler temperatures (not as much work for the AC). The one thing I wish I had a solution to is how to get the sunlight on my indoor plants in the heat of the summer. It's too hot to sit them outside and too dark for them to get sunlight inside. I try to open the curtains very early in the morning for a while so they get some light.

Siddeley of VA 7:48PM June 24, 2008