Ways to beat the heat and save money

According to the local meteorologists, we’re pushing close to day 20 of 90+ degree temperatures. That’s almost two straight weeks of scorching heat. Last year, we didn’t experience anything like this until August.

Extreme heat can dangerously impact the health of many in the community. It can also pose challenges for electric utility companies.

When the temperature rises outdoors, the natural inclination for customers is to turn the temperature down indoors. And, when hundreds of thousands of homes do that during the hottest point of the day, our company must be up to the challenges of meeting the needs of our customers.

From our generating stations to transmission, and substations to power distribution, we have a team of folks working 24/7 in extreme heat to keep energy flowing continuously to the more than 1.2 million homes and businesses we serve.

Since electricity is consumed as it’s produced, we must generate enough power to meet the customer demand on our system at any given moment. This requires proper planning and good management of resources across every line of business, and it also includes partnering with customers on our demand conservation program.

Meeting the Demand

This month, we’ve set two June records for peak customer usage on the LG&E and KU combined system; 6,709 megawatts on June 23, which exceeded the previous June record of 6,572 megawatts on June 15.

To give you a better idea of what that means, one megawatt can power up to 720 households using an average of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each for one month.

Ways to Save

– Set air conditioners to the highest comfortable setting during the day: 78-80 degrees works for most people. Raising your air conditioner setting by one degree can save you 4-7 percent on the cooling portion of your energy bill.

– Turn off all unnecessary lights. Use fluorescent lighting, which is cooler.

– Turn off all unnecessary appliances. Run your dishwashers, dryers and washing
machines during the evening hours (after 7 p.m.) when energy consumption is lower.

– Use ceiling fans to circulate the cool air. Fans can help you feel more comfortable at higher temperatures. Window fans, ceiling fans or whole-house fans use much less power and are an alternative to air conditioners. Turn the fan off when you leave the room since the fan does its job by cooling you — not the room.

– Close curtains and blinds to keep the sun’s heat out of your home.

– Don't close air registers and do not close off rooms completely because it can increase system pressure and damage the compressor. Furniture or drapes should not block air registers.

– Cook outdoors on your grill; use a microwave oven or slow cooker or prepare cold meals to avoid heating up the kitchen and adding moisture to the air. Microwaves use less than half the power of a conventional oven and cook food in about one-fourth the time.

– Check your air filters monthly — even on extended filters. Change if necessary. Dirty air filters make your air conditioner work harder. Clean the filter in window units as well. It is behind the front panel.

– The outdoor AC unit should be kept free from plants, dirt or grass clippings that will interfere with air circulation. Wash the coil
periodically with a garden hose.

You can also learn more about — and enroll in — the many energy efficiency programs we offer to help you use energy more wisely. We’ll continue to keep you informed of how you can better help us manage demand as the summer wears on.

Until next time, be safe and stay cool.