Reduce energy bill, temperature with honeycomb shades

Summer has been burning on all cylinders and temperatures have been consistently rising. With higher temperatures inevitably comes higher cooling costs. According to KATV - Middleton, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that 49 percent of the average home's electric bill is spent on heating and cooling.

However, there are easy ways to reduce the size of the electric bill, says Progress Arkansas Executive Director Scott Carter.

"The easiest way to reduce your summer cooling costs is to reduce the time your air conditioner has to run," Carter told the source.

One way Carter recommends is setting the thermostat no lower than 78 degrees because for each degree lower than that, the bill increases by as much as three percent.

Another way to ensure that the air conditioner does not have to be turned on is keeping the amount of light that enters the room to a minimum. Experts recommend doing this by hanging honeycomb shades on the windows. Honeycomb shades not only help deflect heat in the summer but when the winter comes around, they can also keep the cold out.