Use the following tips wisely 

•     Turn your air conditioner off when you go out. Leaving your air conditioner on wastes energy and costs you more to run.

•     Save electricity by installing the right sized air conditioner for the space you need to cool. Consult a qualified air conditioning contractor to ensure your unit has optimum capacity.

•     The most comfortable and energy efficient temperature setting for summer air conditioning is 25oC. Dropping a degree or two could turn up the heat on your power bill.

•     Close windows and doors in areas you want to cool. And remember to close blinds and curtains too, it keeps the heat out of your home and makes your air conditioning more efficient. 

•     Select the air 're-circulate' setting. Otherwise you'll be drawing much warmer air in from outside and using a lot of electricity to cool it down. 

•     Clean the filter pads on your air conditioner regularly so that it works efficiently.

•     Install ceiling insulation with a minimum rating that suits your locality to keep the heat out of your home and make your air conditioner work more efficiently and cost less to run.

•     Instead of air conditioning, open up your home to create cross breezes.

•     Using a fan is always friendlier on your hip pocket than switching on the air conditioning.

•     Choose curtains and blinds with lighter colours and pale linings to keep the ambient temperature of the room down so you may not need to turn your air conditioner on as often.