Think cool: Is your electric bill skyrocketing with cooling costs? Read these tricks to keep your bill as low as possible

Believe it or not, it is possible to stay cool this summer without burning through cash by paying high utility bills.

Several steps are commonly recommended to help keep a home cool, such as setting the thermostat at a higher temperature and using ceiling fans.

"It certainly helps with the circulation of cool air already in your home," says Chris Janet, director of sales at Dutch Enterprises in Jackson.

A programmable thermostat allows people to set the temperature higher when they will be away from home for an extended period of time each day, and lower it before returning to the house.

Don't set the thermostat on too high a temperature while you're out of the house, Janet cautions. He recommends a four-degree variance between the normal temperature and the temperature for the empty house, because raising the temperature too much causes the system to run longer to cool the house back to the desired temperature.

Thermometer

Covering windows with curtains or blinds also can help keep the internal temperature of a home down.

But Tim Funke, owner of Aire Solutions, says he has very few curtains in his 4,200-square-foot home, which has lots of windows. He says his average "comfort bill" -- that's the cost of only the cooling portion of an electric bill in summer and heating in winter -- averages $68.

"I don't want to live in a cave," he says. "And I don't think you should have to set your thermostat higher and be uncomfortable just to save money. It will work, but I think there are better things a person can do."

Just having the air conditioning unit cleaned can make it run more efficiently, he says.

"We go out every day and these units are just filthy, nasty. A filthy, nasty unit can't cool well and it does take a lot more electricity," Funke says.

The age and efficiency of the air conditioning unit is another consideration.

"The average life span of an air conditioner is 15 years," Janet says.

But that doesn't mean they all last that long or run at peak performance for that long.

"If you've got a 10-year-old piece of equipment and you've got high utility bills, you should be looking at that equipment replacement," Funke says.

Naturally, newer models are more energy efficient than old ones, and show exactly how much energy they are using.

Air conditioners have a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER), Janet explains.

Older models may have a SEER of 10. New units have a SEER between 13 and 20, some even higher.

Without proper insulation in the home, however, units have to run longer, using more energy and driving cooling costs up.

Using special equipment, staff at Aire Solutions perform energy audits for customers to assess energy use and areas for improvement.

"We do whole-house diagnostics using infrared and blower door testing for air leakage," Funke says. "We also test air quality and do moisture testing. Those will reveal issues with the thermal envelope of the home."

The cost for that service is $385, but can reveal a lot about problem areas that are causing utility bills to spike.

The company will perform a walk-through and provide a visual assessment for free, but results are nowhere near as comprehensive as the whole-house diagnostic.

Funke says the bottom line is there are three things to consider when it comes to low utility bills and comfort. The first is having a reasonably well-built, well-insulated home. The second is using good old common sense, like not keeping lights on all the time.

"For every dollar you save on your use of electricity, you save 50 cents on air conditioning," Funke says. "Any time you burn electricity in the home, it generates heat."

The third thing is to have reasonably high-efficiency equipment.

"You don't have to buy premium; you can buy an upper midline unit and get good results," Funke says.