Summertime is here again, and as the weather continues to heat up, your utility bills are also rising. This is pretty common, since most other households are also cranking up the air conditioners and using a lot more electricity to keep their home interior temperatures in a comfortable range.

But comfort comes with a price. If you’re looking for ways to stretch your paychecks and lower your utility bills this summer, then check out these five tips for making your home more energy-efficient.

Switch to Energy Star Appliances

One of the best things you can do to lower your utilities is to use appliances and fixtures that are more efficient. The Energy Star program was developed to help consumers identify energy-efficient home appliances that help to reduce the consumption of water and electricity while lowering energy costs.

Now obviously, if your appliances are all working just fine, then it might not make much sense to toss them all and replace them with Energy Star devices. But you should keep in mind that as your appliances wear out and need to be replaced, switching to more efficient machines at that time will save you a good amount of money over the long term.

Use Power Strips

Major appliances that use more energy than needed to get the job done aren’t the only money waster in your home. All of your electronic devices also suck up a lot of electricity just by being plugged in, even when they aren’t turned on! To reduce these energy leaks, make sure that they are all plugged into power strips that can easily be turned off when not in use.

Give Your HVAC System a Tune Up

Your central air conditioner can also waste a lot of power and money if it isn’t working efficiently. Over time, parts can begin to work loose, and the vibrations can cause your unit to wear out faster. Not only that, but the hoses, vents, ducts and filters can become clogged with heavy use, and this can cause the unit to strain more as it works to cool down your home.

So it’s a good idea to call in an HVAC company like Aggressive Mechanical Contractors, Inc. every few years to give your system an overhaul and get everything working as efficiently as possible.

Add Window Tint, Blinds and Curtains

In the cold winter months, sunlight coming in through your windows is a welcome sight, as the additional warmth helps to regulate your temperature and reduce the load on your central heating system. But in the summertime, all that extra heat just drives your electric bill up.

So now is a good time to install heavy drapes and blinds on all your windows to block out the heat of the sun. Many homeowners also opt to have tinted film applied to the windows, just like you would do with a car. That tint reduces the heat and also adds a little extra privacy to make it more difficult for people outside to see inside your home, especially during the day.

Replace Weather Stripping to Reduce Drafts

Lastly, replacing weather stripping around your exterior doors and windows can also help bring down your cooling bill by keeping the cold air from escaping. It’s an easy job that you can do yourself, and the stripping itself is very cheap. You just buy a roll at the local hardware store, rip off the old stripping and stick on the new strips.

Reducing your electric bill in the summer is a great idea, and it doesn’t have to be complicated. Follow these five tips to keep your home a little cooler and to eliminate energy waste and watch how quickly your utility bills come down compared to the same time last year.