The average American household is on track to spend about $792 to keep cool between June and September this year, up from $717 last summer. That 10.5% jump, projected by the National Energy Assistance Directors Association in its June 2026 update, would push summer cooling bills to the highest level on record. In Arizona the season’s tab is forecast to hit roughly $1,060. So if you want to lower your summer electric bill this year, the work is worth more than it was even twelve months ago, because the bill you’re fighting is bigger.
Here’s the encouraging part. A lot of what drives that number is within your control, and the changes that move it most cost little or nothing. You don’t need to replace your air conditioner or re-insulate your attic to see a difference on next month’s statement. You need to be deliberate about a handful of habits, starting this week.
Start with the thermostat, because it’s the biggest free lever you have
The single highest-return move is also the cheapest: nudge the thermostat up. The U.S. Department of Energy recommends setting your thermostat to 78°F when you’re home and awake during summer, and the math behind that number is why it matters. For every degree you raise the setting, you trim roughly 3% off your cooling costs. Go from 72°F to 78°F and you’re looking at close to an 18% reduction in the part of your bill that runs the air conditioner.
The bigger savings come when nobody’s enjoying that cool air. The Department of Energy estimates you can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling by setting the temperature back 7 to 10 degrees for eight hours a day, the stretch when you’re at work or asleep. A house doesn’t need to stay at 74°F while it’s empty. Letting it drift to 82°F or 84°F during the workday and cooling it back down before you get home costs far less than holding a constant temperature all day, and you barely notice the difference.
If remembering to adjust it is the problem, a programmable or smart thermostat solves it for you. ENERGY STAR estimates its certified smart thermostats save households about 8% on heating and cooling bills, or roughly $50 a year, by handling the setbacks automatically. A unit that pays for itself inside two summers and then keeps paying is a rare deal in personal finance.
Let your fans do part of the cooling
Ceiling fans don’t lower the air temperature, but they make you feel cooler by moving air across your skin, which means you can raise the thermostat about 4 degrees with no loss in comfort, according to the Department of Energy. A fan running in an occupied room costs pennies an hour to operate compared with the dollars an hour a central AC compressor pulls down. The one habit to build: turn fans off when you leave a room. They cool people, not spaces, so a fan spinning in an empty bedroom is just spending money.
Stop paying to cool air that’s leaking out
Some of your cooling bill is literally escaping through gaps around windows, doors, and ducts. Sealing those leaks is cheap and the payback is fast. A tube of caulk and a few dollars of weatherstripping can close the gaps where conditioned air slips out and hot outdoor air sneaks in. Pulling shades or curtains on south- and west-facing windows during the afternoon blocks the solar heat that makes your AC work hardest in the first place. None of this is glamorous, but it’s the difference between cooling your living room and cooling your front yard.
While you’re at it, change the air filter. A clogged filter forces the system to run longer to move the same air, and replacing a dirty one with a clean one is a five-minute job that keeps the unit running efficiently. Most filters want changing every one to three months during heavy-use season.
Time your heaviest electricity use, if your utility lets you
A growing number of utilities now charge time-of-use rates, meaning a kilowatt-hour costs more during the late-afternoon and early-evening peak than it does overnight. The national average residential electricity price is forecast to reach about 17.6 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2026, up from 17 cents in 2025, according to the Energy Information Administration’s Short-Term Energy Outlook, and on a time-of-use plan the peak-hour price can run well above that average. Running the dishwasher, doing laundry, and charging devices after the peak window ends can shave real money off the bill for the same chores you were going to do anyway. Call your utility or check your online account to see whether you’re on a time-of-use plan and when the peak hours fall.
This is also the moment to ask about budget billing and any assistance programs. Many utilities offer to average your annual usage into twelve equal monthly payments, which won’t lower the total but smooths out the brutal July and August spikes so they don’t blow up your budget. If money is tight, the federally funded Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program helps with cooling costs in many states, and your utility can point you to it.
Why lowering your summer electric bill matters more this year
Cooling a home has gotten meaningfully more expensive, and not by accident. Summer cooling costs have climbed nearly 40% since 2020, driven by higher electricity prices and hotter summers that keep air conditioners running longer. The EIA expects about 3% more cooling degree days this summer than last, which is a technical way of saying it’s going to be hotter, and your AC is going to run more. CBS News reported this spring that analysts expect electricity costs to hit a record high for the season. When the underlying bill is rising, the percentage you save converts into more actual dollars in your pocket.
Add it up and a realistic plan looks like this. Raise the thermostat a few degrees and set it back while you’re out, lean on fans, seal the obvious leaks, shade your west windows in the afternoon, and shift a couple of chores off the peak. Stack those together and trimming 15% to 20% off a $792 season is entirely achievable. That’s $120 to $160 you keep, and the right home for it isn’t your utility’s account. Park the savings in a separate savings account where it earns interest instead of getting reabsorbed into everyday spending. If you want to find more leaks in your monthly bills, our guides on lowering your internet bill without losing speed and the 60-minute mid-year money audit are a good next stop.
The heat is coming either way. But the most reliable way to lower your summer electric bill isn’t a single big purchase, it’s a stack of small, deliberate habits, and the size of the bill the season leaves behind is more up to you than it feels.
