As temperatures continue to climb, keeping your home cool can tax your air conditioner. Here are some ways you can give your electricity bill some relief.

These simple actions can help:

• Close curtains or blinds to keep the sun and its heat out.
• Use a programmable thermostat to reduce the cooling needed when no one is home, while staying comfortable when you are.
• Avoid setting your thermostat at a colder setting than normal when you first turn on your air conditioner. It will not cool your home any faster and could result in excessive cooling and unnecessary expense.
• Avoid use of heat-producing appliances like the washer and dryer, oven or dishwasher during the afternoon and early evening.
• Give your oven a break. Cook on the grill or use smaller kitchen gadgets like an air fryer or crockpot
• Turn off ceiling fans when you leave the room. Remember that fans cool people, not rooms, by creating a wind chill effect.
• When you shower or take a bath, use the bathroom fan to remove heat and humidity from your home. Your laundry room might also benefit from spot ventilation. Make sure bathroom and kitchen fans are vented to the outside (not just to the attic).
• Avoid placing lamps or TV sets near your room air-conditioning thermostat. The thermostat senses heat from these appliances, which can cause the air conditioner to run longer than necessary.
• Seal cracks and openings to prevent warm air from leaking into your home.

Another way to save: Evergy expects to start energy savings July 29 to help reduce electricity demand on potential peak usage days. Residential customers sign up to help reduce demand on the system by enrolling in Evergy’s Thermostat Program, and their home is precooled during these energy savings events to help keep the home’s temperature within three to five degrees of their original setting.

Participants are notified in advance, receive a yearly enrollment incentive, and may opt out of an event at any time. Events usually last about two to four hours in the afternoon and early evening and happen only on weekdays. Last year, Thermostat Program participants helped save nearly 60 MWhs of energy.

To learn more about the program, visit: https://www.evergy.com/ways-to-save/discounts/thermostats.