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KIRKSVILLE -- Is the summer sun making your wallet sweat as well?

Here are some helpful hints to help shave a buck or two off your electricity bill this summer.

Keep your blinds and shades closed during the day. The more light that enters the house, an extra degree of heat is added to the room.

Think about using energy efficient light bulbs, but try to keep the lights off during the day.

Make sure your air conditioning filters are clean.

Leave the temperatures as high up as you can tolerate, but make sure you and your family are comfortable.

When you leave the house Annette Sweet said crank up the thermostat.

"When you are gone turn it up quite a bit because if you set your thermostat up to 80-82 degrees while you're gone during the day it's not going to run as much. When you come home and set it up to 78 or whatever you want, it's going to catch up in a short period of time," Sweet said.

If you would like more helpful hints on how to save some money this summer, click here.