Springtime in Northern Illinois: 58 Degrees to 90 Degrees in One Week

CHICAGO, June 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Last Friday O'Hare reported a high of 58 degrees. This Friday, the weather is expected to reach 90 degrees. Welcome to springtime in northern Illinois! As June arrives with the promise of warmer weather, ComEd encourages customers to follow these energy saving tips to help stay comfortable, conserve energy and manage electricity bills during the summer.  

"Summertime is when most customers see higher electricity bills with air conditioners humming to keep cool," said ComEd Energy Doctor Maryl Freestone. "While you can't control the weather, you can take a few simple steps to help get control of your energy use."

ComEd offers the following advice to its customers:

• Keep thermostats at a constant, comfortable level ─ 78 degrees ─ when at home. Lowering the thermostat setting below the desired temperature will not cool the home faster.
• To save even more energy, use a ceiling fan along with raising your air conditioner temperature.
• To reduce heat and moisture during the warmest part of the day, run appliances such as ovens, washing machines, dryers and dishwashers in the early morning or evening hours when it's generally cooler outside. Also, barbecue outside, instead of using the oven.  
• Keep shades, blinds and curtains closed. Simply drawing blinds and curtains, which act as a layer of insulation, can reduce heat gain to your home. Awnings are even better, and can reduce heat gain by up to 77 percent. Window coatings and window film can reflect additional heat energy from the sun.
• Keep doors to the outside, garage or attic firmly closed to keep cool air in and hot air out.
• Place window air conditioners on the north or shaded side of the house to avoid overworking the unit in the hot daytime sun.
• When leaving home for more than four hours, raise the thermostat five to 10 degrees in the summer. Do the same at night before going to bed.
• To tune-up your central AC system, ComEd's Smart Ideas® Central A/C Efficiency Service offers trained, independent participating contractors to use state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment to accurately analyze customers' central air conditioning systems and bring them back to peak operating performance.
• Customers in the market for a new central air conditioner can have a specially trained ComEd Smart Ideas independent participating contractor analyze their home's cooling needs to recommend and properly install a system that will provide maximum comfort and efficiency.
• When shopping for appliances such as refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners look for the ENERGY STAR® label and purchase the most affordable energy-efficient unit. Newer, more energy-efficient models can lower monthly operating costs.
• For more energy-saving tips or information on energy assistance programs from ComEd, visit www.ComEd.com. There you can find the ENERGY STAR @ home tool, which helps customers realize energy savings all around the home.

Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), one of the nation's largest electric utilities with approximately 5.4 million customers. ComEd provides service to approximately 3.8 million customers across northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state's population.

SOURCE ComEd