Air conditioners actually uses heat in order to cool, so it's almost the same as running a heater. Since air conditioner are needed when the sun is up and it's hot it makes sense to use the sun to heat up the part that cools. Some fridges use propane to cool its interior and contents. Maybe the sun could be used to also cool the fridge during the day. Ben and Jerry's use high decibel sound to cool all their ice cream. Sound can also be used to heat. If you live in a dry climate like the southwest water coolers can be utilized. Also how you construct your house is important in order to control the climate inside. You can add extra layers of insulating materials on and even build a thicker wall on the side of your house that receives the most amount of solar heat usually the south/southwest side. Or you can add an awning or shade roof on that side. Or plant a big wide shade tree there as well. Anything to keep that wall from baking. There is also a product out there called safe wire. It takes return electricity and sends it back into the hotwire. Commercial buildings have had this implemented for years. The unit costs a little over $400,-. Maybe you could as a fun project build your own little (maybe 8 foot tall) maglev windmill, using magnets. I'm currently looking for magnets to build my own. It isn't hard to do. The concepts real easy. Magnetic repulsion overrides gravity, and the spinning part levitates. I'll put little LED lights on it so it'll look real cool at night, kind of like a flying saucer. It's gonna be so much fun to have people drive by and marvel at it, but it will raise awareness to alternative energy. Besides if it looks COOL, people will be sure to want one, right? Anyways, there are a number of ways to lower your bill. You can if your gone during the day, while you're at work, leave windows open at opposite ends of the house where the wind is coming from to create a draft( that is if it is safe to do so and you have a secure fence and good security on your property).

The reason for the increased electricity bill is the high usage of AC, fan etc. The usage of the AC must be controlled even though it is summer. Otherwise it increases the energy bill and also the electricity resource must be face many problems. In future there will be a condition where no electricity in the required amount. There is no any requirement of AC or fan in the evening and in the morning. So you can control the usage at those times.

You may not have turned on your heat but I'm guessing you turned on your air conditioning. Our dog has Cushing's so we have to keep the air on in the summer and our most recent bill was $230 :p. You can ask your energy provider for an energy audit to learn how to save energy and bring your bill down...

Air conditioners actually uses heat in order to cool, so it's almost the same as running a heater. Since air conditioner are needed when the sun is up

My room mate and I got a house in May and just received out first energy bill. It was $180. I'm not sure how normal that is. I know we are not on an equalized payment plan yet but we haven't even turned our heat on since we moved in! Why is it that much