How you can save energy costs in spring and summer

CINCINNATI - With warmer temperatures come changes to how residents prepare their homes for spring and summer conditions.

People Working Cooperatively (PWC) offers a few tips to help weatherize your home:

1. Utilize functioning windows.

Spring is the best time of year to make use of the windows in a home. When temperatures are moderate and humidity is low, the circulation of air is enough to keep you cool. Ceiling fans and box fans can keep your house comfortable without racking up your energy usage like turning on the AC would.

2. Find your comfort level.

Once you've decided to turn your AC on, do your due diligence to find the right temperature setting. PWC Weatherization expert Eric Donahue recommends setting the dial to 70 degrees to see if that's comfortable and then challenging yourself to see how high you can raise the setting while remaining comfortable. You may surprise yourself that 75 degrees feels just fine. The only difference will be in your energy usage.

3. Get out of the laundry room.

With warm sunny days here, consider taking advantage of an outdoor clothesline. After the refrigerator, an electric clothes dryer typically uses the most electricity of any appliance in a home. Using a clothesline is the most energy-efficient way to dry your clothes.

4. Make the most of Daylight Savings.

With more daylight, try to take advantage of the sun and use limited lighting in the early evening hours. If you have outdoor lighting programmed to kick on at a certain time, be sure to set the timer back to reflect the changing sunset time.

5. Change your furnace filter.

Even though its name implies it's used for the furnace only, you use your furnace filter yearlong. You should check your filter every 30 days and replace it regularly to save on heating and cooling.

Get more PWC weatherization tips by clicking here.