Keep Your Cool This Summer with Entergy’s Hot Weather Tips

06/24/2015

Contact:

Michael Burns
504-576-4132
mburns@entergy.com

BATON ROUGE, La. – The mercury is beginning its climb up the thermometer, and you can bet it will be a long time before it begins to retreat. Don’t let your electric bills climb with it. By taking steps to be more energy-efficient, your air conditioner will run less and that, in turn, will help keep your electricity bill down.

"It takes a lot of energy to keep your house cool during the summer, but there are easy ways to save energy without sacrificing your comfort," said Dennis Dawsey, vice president of customer service for Entergy Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C.

Five top ways to improve your energy-efficiency and keep your costs lower are:

Get your A/C inspected. Inspectors can make sure your system is leak-free and operating as efficiently as possible. Don’t forget to clean air filters; some units require monthly cleaning or replacing. One option is to sign up for Entergy Solutions’ CoolSaver AC Tune-Up Program, which can improve the cooling output and efficiency of your AC unit by up to 30 percent. Any residential Entergy Louisiana or Entergy Gulf States Louisiana customer with a central air conditioner or heat pump that is at least one year old is eligible to receive a discount for the CoolSaver program. To receive a $150 rebate discounted from the original price, contact one of the participating CoolSaver contractors listed here. Entergy Solutions offers several other programs to help save energy. They can be found at entergysolutionsla.com.
Set your thermostat no lower than 78 degrees. Every degree lower can raise your bill as much as 3 percent. If you spend most of your day outside of the house, set your thermostat to automatically shut off the AC when you’re away. Heating and cooling systems are the biggest electricity users in a house.
Use fans to cool off, but remember – fans cool people, not rooms! Ceiling fans, box fans and oscillating fans use very little electricity and circulate the air, which helps you feel several degrees cooler. Just remember to turn them off when you leave the room.
Close blinds, shades and curtains to keep the sun out and the cool air in. Also, close air conditioning vents in rooms that are not in use.
Seal cracks and holes around doors, windows and duct work. Weather stripping and caulk will help keep the cold air inside the house and the hot air outdoors.

Customers can access a slew of energy-saving tips and calculators at entergy.com/savemoney to determine the best cost-cutting scenarios to suit their lifestyle, home and billing needs.

Entergy's Louisiana utility companies provide electric service to more than one million customers through the operating companies Entergy Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, L.L.C. and natural gas service to nearly 93,000 customers in the greater Baton Rouge area through Entergy Gulf States Louisiana. With operations in southern, central and northeastern Louisiana, the companies are subsidiaries of Entergy Corporation.

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including nearly 10,000 megawatts of nuclear power, making it one of the nation’s leading nuclear generators. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.8 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $12 billion and approximately 13,000 employees.

-30-
entergylouisiana.com
facebook.com/EntergyLA
Twitter: @EntergyLA