One thing that made a huge difference in my electricity bill was having my A/C unit professionally serviced. We bought our house mid-summer last year, and while the A/C unit was cooling the house sufficiently, it did seem to have to run a bit harder than I expected in order to cool the house.

For about $75 I had the unit serviced. First, they cleaned out the outside unit’s coils/fins with a hose (which you can do yourself for free, but be careful with the fragile fins). Next, the technician discovered that the unit needed charging with coolant, which I think can be done by a professional only.

Once it was serviced, it cooled much more efficiently, meaning that it ran much less, and this reduced our electricity bills significantly, which more than offset the cost of the A/C service call.

Perhaps this might help some readers out there..

Look on the bright side though; winter down south is bound to be a bit easier for you.

I find it hard to believe that the energy prices fluctuated that much, though. Does your energy company bill you monthly but only check your meter every other month, estimating the off month? Maybe you are paying for part of June that you weren’t billed for then. Maine recently passed a law that makes them come check the meter every month so that bills are more accurate all the time.