In the heat of summer, it can be hard or almost impossible to consider not using the air conditioner if it is something you’ve used routinely in the past.   But when we moved to a house from a small apartment last spring, our wallets were in for a huge shock after the first month of heavy a/c usage and we knew we had to take steps to live “warmer”.   Our strategy for limiting our a/c usage last summer and this one is to slowly acclimate our bodies to a warmer temperature by raising the setting on the a/c one degree per week.  We started at 72 degrees (which is downright chilly to us now!) and moved up a degree each week until we were at 78 degrees during the day and 80 degrees at night.

This year, we started at 76 degrees and have successfully already adjusted to last year’s high temperatures, and plan to push it even further.  With the slow acclimation, we aren’t uncomfortable when we adjust upwards, and 78 feels very comfortable.  Hopefully by the end of July, 80 will feel just as comfortable and normal.

So try it today!  Kick the a/c up a degree and see if you even notice the difference.  Soon your energy bill will go down and you’ll need that a/c even less.

This frugal tip brought to you by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…