Many people have accepted high cooling costs in the summer as an inevitability for comfort. However, you may be able to drastically reduce the cost of air conditioning if you adopt a few simple habits. Here are three tips that can help you reduce your home cooling costs.

Install a Programmable Thermostat

While many homeowners feel that traditional thermostats serve their purpose well enough, installing a programmable thermostat will allow you to fine-tune your system to minimize wasted energy.

One of the easiest ways to reduce energy costs using a programmable thermostat is to set your air conditioner to turn off about an hour after you go to sleep, and to turn back on before you wake up. On all but the hottest nights, you will not notice the temperature difference while you are asleep, and you will still wake up to a comfortable home.

Maintain Your Condenser

Most modern homes are equipped with a central air conditioner. With this type of system, it is extremely important to maintain proper airflow to the outdoor condenser for the unit to be effective.

Make sure to trim away any weeds and shrubbery that has grown up around the condenser regularly so that the coils on the sides of your condenser can draw in air effectively. In some cases, you may need to clean dirt and debris off of the coils manually using a vacuum hose or a specialized tool known as a fin comb.

Install Solar Window Screens

If you enjoy opening your curtains on a hot day, you may have noticed how much more difficult this makes it to keep your home cool. Standard window glass is not well insulated and will allow a significant amount of radiant heat to infiltrate your home.

Instead of leaving your curtains closed, you should consider installing solar screens on your windows. These screens are designed to block out a portion of the sun's heat without obscuring your view outdoors or preventing light from entering your home. Most solar screens are films that are placed directly over the panes of your window, although mesh screens that are installed in your window frame are also available.

In most cases, keeping your air conditioning bill at a manageable level is possible without making any significant changes to your cooling system. Keep these tips in mind so you can keep your home cool and comfortable this summer without breaking the bank.