One of the easiest ways to keep your home cooler in the hot months is to be smart about your lighting choices. Super energy-efficient lightbulbs that are either CFL or LED create significantly less heat -- or none at all -- than old-fashioned incandescent bulbs. But according to the Environmental Protection Agency, only 10 to 15 percent of the electricity incandescent bulbs uses is to generate light; the remaining 85 to 90 percent creates heat. Keeping those light fixtures on heats up the house. Reducing heat sources in your home will help your home feel cooler and use less electricity in the long run.

Making use of ceiling fans can help keep the indoor air cooler and feel refreshing. Using a ceiling fan allows you to raise the programmable thermostat by 4 degrees with little to no noticeable difference in comfort. But when you have a ceiling fan on in the room you’re in, remember to turn it off when you leave. Ceiling fans do not actually lower the air temperature; they keep us feeling cool because of the wind chill effect. Leaving a ceiling fan on in the room when nobody is in that room wastes energy and does little to keep your home cooler.

It’s common knowledge that a programmable thermostat is a smart investment to regulate temperatures in your home and keep your heating and cooling bills as low as possible. In the hot summer months, when you’re away during the day, set your thermostat to what the average high temperature will be for the day. When the difference between your indoor and outdoor temperature is small, it allows your HVAC system to work as efficiently as possible. So while the morning temps are cool, check to see what the average high is and set your thermostat for that temperature.