{"id":570,"date":"2026-08-19T15:50:06","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T20:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/?p=570"},"modified":"2026-08-19T15:50:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T20:50:12","slug":"affordable-august-cooling-tips-for-ameren-electric-consumers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/affordable-august-cooling-tips-for-ameren-electric-consumers\/","title":{"rendered":"Affordable August Cooling Tips for Ameren Electric Consumers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2>Beat the Heat, Save on Electricity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-medium\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/August-cooling-tips-IL-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Our cooling tips can help you keep your home or apartment energy efficient while being more affordable.\" class=\"wp-image-578\" title=\"Beat the Heat, Save on Electricity\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/August-cooling-tips-IL-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/August-cooling-tips-IL-230x153.jpg 230w, https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/August-cooling-tips-IL-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/August-cooling-tips-IL-480x320.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/August-cooling-tips-IL.jpg 724w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption><center><em>Check out these affordable cooling tips to help keep your home cool for less this August.<\/em><\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Another <a href=\"https:\/\/forecast.weather.gov\/showsigwx.php?warnzone=ILZ084&amp;warncounty=ILC077&amp;firewxzone=ILZ084&amp;local_place1=Carbondale%20IL&amp;product1=Hazardous+Weather+Outlook&amp;lat=37.724&amp;lon=-89.216\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">heat advisory<\/a> is hitting southern Illinois, and this one is sure to strain your AC. However, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/high-summer-electricity-rates-coming-for-il\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">high summer PTC rates<\/a>, you might be more worried about your electricity bill than staying cool. Don&#8217;t sweat it! These cooling tips are sure to keep your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/resources\/high-il-electricity-bill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">electricity bill<\/a> low. And, we&#8217;ll tell you where you can shop for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/deals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cheap electricity<\/a> rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Cooling Tips for Apartments<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Cooling apartments can be tricky. That&#8217;s because you&#8217;re limited in what you can do to alter your space. However, you still have a ton of easy, temporary solutions available to stay cool for less!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our first cooling tip is to cover your windows. Foil with the shiny side facing outside can reflect back some of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yourhome.gov.au\/passive-design\/thermal-mass\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">infrared heat<\/a> that your home would absorb. But if that&#8217;s not an option for you, you can use old blankets or sheets. The main goal is to block sunlight from entering, and heating up your home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.energy.gov\/energysaver\/fans-cooling\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Fans<\/a> are a great, affordable tool for staying cool. If you have a ceiling fan, make sure to set it to spin\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.homedepot.com\/c\/ah\/ceiling-fan-direction-in-summer-and-winter\/9ba683603be9fa5395fab9036ab25bf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">counterclockwise<\/a>. This blows air downward onto you. At night, when it&#8217;s cooler, you can set a box fan facing outdoors to blow hot air out of your home. But remember, fans cool people, not rooms. Turn your fans off when you&#8217;re not in the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before the heat begins building on really hot days, you can prep by pre-cooling your home during\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.energystar.gov\/products\/ask-the-experts\/how-save-electricity-during-peak-demand-conditions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">off peak hours<\/a>. Run your AC\u00a0<em>after<\/em>\u00a09 pm and\u00a0<em>before\u00a0<\/em>9 am. Then, during peak hours, raise your home\u2019s thermostat to cut your AC\u2019s runtime. This way, your home will take longer to heat up when the sun is beating down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, avoid using large appliances during the day. Your oven, dishwasher, washing machine, and dryer all use a lot of energy. And more importantly, they generate heat. So, save the baking for the evening, when it&#8217;s cooler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Cooling Tips for Homes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Owning your home gives you a few more options. For instance, you can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstenergycorp.com\/content\/dam\/customer\/get-help\/files\/brochures\/100waysbrochure.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">seal air leaks<\/a> in your home. Check around doors, windows, and chimneys for cracks and gaps. With some weather stripping, a caulk gun, spray foam insulation, and a dream, a cool home is close at hand. Use the spray foam or silicone caulk for larger gaps, and replace weather stripping around doors and windows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lastly, if you have an attic, check your vents. Attics can absorb a lot of heat, and radiate it through the rest of the house at night. You can counteract this by placing a fan to blow hot air out of an attic vent. And keep the attic access door shut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Keep Your Bill Affordable<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You might be tempted to turn the AC off with these high\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/electricity-rates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">electricity rates<\/a>. However, you can keep your home cool without breaking the bank with an affordable electricity plan. So shop now for a reliable fixed rate,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">compare electricity rates<\/a> from different providers, and find the best electricity plan for you all in one Shop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Beat the Heat, Save on Electricity Another heat advisory is hitting southern [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mbp_gutenberg_autopost":false},"categories":[22,5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":582,"href":"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570\/revisions\/582"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ilenergyratings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}