Love Summer, Hate Heat: Save Money And The Environment

PEARL RIVER, NY — Hazy, hot and humid weather has returned to the area. To help cope with that sometimes oppressive summer steam, O&R offers these cool tips to help its neighbors stay comfortable and save on energy costs.

Here are some cool tips:

• Turning down or turning off air conditioning in your home while you are away or at work helps lower your energy bill.
• Setting your air conditioner to the highest temperature your comfort and health allow. Every degree you lower the thermostat raises your bill by 6 percent.
• Adjusting your air conditioner’s fan to a low setting can make you more comfortable. It’ll take longer for the air conditioner to cool your home, but your unit will bring in steamy air at a slower rate.
• Closing all doors and windows in your home while the air conditioning is running can make things cooler at a lower price.
• Cooking, baking or other household activities that produce heat and humidity are best left for the cooler times of the day and night.
• Pulling your curtains and shades closed can help block out the heat.
• Covering liquid items in the refrigerator is best. The humidity they give off forces the refrigerator to use more energy.
• Placing the most used items in one place in the refrigerator helps keep the door open for a shorter period of time.

Check out more cool tips here. And for more cool tips, please visit O&R’s website at www.oru.com.

You also can save energy and money by replacing old appliances with new energy efficient Energy Star appliances. Replacing an old central air conditioner with a high-efficiency one can also reduce your energy usage and cooling costs by at least 30 percent. Also, O&R will pay a $500 to customers who upgrade to a high-efficiency central air conditioner or heat pump.

If you have a power outage, you can report it and check to see when your lights will be back on through:

• www.oru.com from any computer or web-based mobile device.
• O&R mobile app from your iPhone, iPad or Android device
• Text messaging by texting “OUT” to 69678 (myORU) or
• Call 1-877-434-4100.
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O&R will have crews ready to respond to any power outages that occur during the extreme heat.