Nice Weather = (hopefully) Lower Power Bills

During the Summer, I made quite a few adjustments in how we were consuming power. My house was built in 1957 so the energy efficiency is terrible. Add to that that we have relatively no shade on the house and that generally equals outrageous power bills in the summertime months. This summer, I made a few adjustments that I think really helped keep the power bills down: I air dryed all of our clothes (and so far, I'm continuing this), I cooked more in the microwave and toaster oven than in the oven, we wore tank tops and shorts around the house, and we made better use of fans than we have in years past.

Those efforts helped generate summertime power bills than I've seen since I moved in to this place. And now moderate temperatures are helping me to keep those efforts going. While it is still getting into the 80s in the afternoons, the cooler overnight temperatures are cooling the house off sufficiently that we aren't having to turn the air conditioner on during the day. And although we've had a couple of nights were the temperature went down into the 40s outside, we've only had one morning where we were tempted to turn on the heat, but we just gritted our teeth and got through it. The still warm days are letting me continue with air drying the clothes, although it is taking longer than when it was 100 degrees outside. I'm continuing the practice of cooking as little as possible in the large oven and still relying on the microwave and toaster oven (with a family of just two, it can be very easy to cook small things in the toaster).

I've really been happy with the way this has worked out, and my budget has certainly appreciated it! Any suggestions for reducing our heating bills as the temperatures continue to cool will be most welcome!