How are you gonna catch up with Glee if you didn't record it in the first place? you know you need power on ur DVR box to record, right?

Some suggestions off the top of my head:
1. Turn off the AC while you're out. Easiest with a programmable thermostat, but you can do it manually too.
2. Open the windows instead of using AC when it's cooler outside than inside, like at night (depends on your location)
3. Reduce solar heat gain so your apartment doesn't get as hot. Ensure your window shades are drawn. Outdoor shading elements like awnings are even more effective.
4. Use a fan. Keep the AC on, but turn down the intensity. The moving air makes you feel just as cool and uses somewhat less electricity.

Having travelled in India in summer here are my tips

1) Eat raw food - save on cooking and save on heat gain.
2) Add greenery to the south side of your apartment/house if possible
3) Invest in double lined sun blocking curtains, keep them closed while you are away from the house
4) Close the door to your kitchen and seal other heat sources in your house. The fridge generates a lot of heat and off access to the kitchen can make a big difference.
5) If you are lucky to have multiple level windows that open, you can open up the highest windows which will allow heat to escape.
6) Instead of an aircon at night, put a wet towel on your neck or sleep with a slightly damp blanket (a real treat when camping in hot climates).
7) Stone surfaces help keep things cool. Marble, granite, slate are all good choices. If you are redecorating, you can consider them as floring choices and ditch the carpets in summer.
8) Build your own air cooler. Take a stationary fan, stick it under a table. Place a full basin of water on the table. Use bull clips or laundry pins to fix a pillow case or towel so that one end is in the water and the rest drapes over the fan. Place a drip tray/cookie sheet on the floor to catch any water that doesn't evaporate. Gravity will draw water down the towel and the fan will disperse water into the air, dropping the temperature by a few degrees fairly quickly. This last one is only good in low humidity heat but my Indian friends taught it to me and it's easy and works a treat.

Its not really a quick fix but planting trees around your house really keeps it much cooler during the summer.

Also using tile in your house instead of carpet also helps tremendously.

Granted these are not cheap or short term fixes but if you plan on living in your home for quite awhile these tips should really keep your house cool.

Cold showers! You often can't start with cold, start with cool water and then slowly work your way down to freezing. I take one when I come home, and can usually put off turning on the AC for a couple of hours afterward. A fan on you with cold, wet hair makes you feel almost TOO cold (which I love.)

Put a fan directly on your face in bed, and then turn off the AC right before you fall asleep. I can usually keep it off until morning, the fan helps a lot.

@rashamy - I wouldn't recomment putting a fan on your face. My dad and sister both have had / still suffer from Bell's Palsy, and their doctors said that air blowing in your ears could be a cause of it. It's rare, but I wouldn't risk it. Putting a fan at the foot of the bed will help cool your entire body off.

Just received my electric bill today and it was about 40% less than this time last year even though it has been warm. I think most of that is due to the light blocking roller shades I bought from IKEA a couple of months ago.

If I'm not at home or there is bright direct sunlight coming through the window, I lower the shades. As a bonus, lowering them a few hours before sunset also has done away with my insomnia. For those with body clocks sensitive to sunlight, it makes a huge difference.

My parent's house is so cold in summer I sometimes have to put a sweater on. They open all the windows at night and run two fans in front of windows at opposite ends of the house - one blowing into the house, the other blowing out. Cool night air fills the house, and when they wake up in the morning, they close all the windows and draw all the curtains, trapping the cool air inside. They cook outside all summer - they have a BBQ and a toaster oven outside (for two people, the toaster oven is big enough to cook almost anything you need to).

That's usually enough to keep the place cool. They will sometimes also turn a small fan on that is placed to blow cool air up out of the basement into the main floor.

i've switched to using led lights for both indirect bounce lighting and an led reading light by koncept tech. since they are neither halogen nor incandescent bulbs, they run cooler and cheaper.

however, you might tend to use more of these since they're not as bright as traditional lights, but in combination with 1 main traditional bulb... the amount of light you get per savings is great.

i use a box fan to circulate hot areas and plan to supplement them with a desk / table fan like a soleusair softblade 8" fan.

lastly, i use belkin's conserve surge protectors. they come with a simple on/off remote to cut off the sneaky devices that sap electricity when they're supposed to be off -like a sony ps3 or lcd tv- when not needed. one remote controls multiple outlets -so i rig one power strip to the indirect led lights as well. it's practical and simple.

The fridge uses a lot of energy. If you keep it full by filling old milk jugs and water containers with cold water - it can hold onto its temperature for longer and use less energy. Be diligent about completely unplugging any electrical device with a "wall wart" - which are vampire energy users.

I also second the cold shower technique - not only are you not using energy for heating water, but it really cools you down for a long time and augments the cooling effects of a fan. Using large appliances like dishwashers, washing machine and dryers (as well as a/c's) is usually cheaper during non-daytime peak hours. Electricity rates actually change during the course of a day.

When we first moved into our apt. six years ago we sweltered due to all the south and west windows. Even thinking about turning on the a/c made the bill skyrocket. The first winter I wracked my brain thinking of ways to insulate the windows. I hate curtains (ugly dust gatherers) and their attendant hardware. Then it hit me: Styrofoam. Our walls are white and textured as is Styrofoam, so.... I went to Home Depot one Monday morning with my window measurements, very nicely asked Oscar who manned the big vertical saw to cut their 4X8 sheets to size (they're not supposed to cut anything but wood), and off I went. I put the panels in the windows and voila! They don't just block the light they actually insulate, R4 to be exact. And you know what? No one has *ever* noticed. I have to point them out - they blend that well.

I know what people will say - believe me I went through all the arguments, environmental, aesthetic and otherwise before I did this - but we've yet to pay over $70 for a summer electric bill for 1200 sq. ft. I think that's pretty reasonable. We keep the thermostat at 77F and use fans when necessary and are completely comfortable. It's one of the smartest things I've ever done. And again, if your walls are white, they'll blend right in; they're practically invisible.

This is the fifth year we've used them and they're still in great shape. When cooler temps hit, the panels come down and get put in storage in the basement.

Some great ideas. The cool shower is a lifesaver. If I could, I would cook outside all summer long and have a swimming pool (wish wish). It sounds like I need to get better curtains though.

Sometimes it is just too hot and I give up. I take my computer and go somewhere that is cool that has WiFi. Starbucks or something. Anywhere with good A/C. It is worth the price of coffee.

Anticipating the summer electric bills, a few months ago I purchased a vintage hassock fan (the Kisco Circulair, to be exact). Not only is this device super-stylish with it's deco latticework, but it really circulates the air in my sizable studio apartment.

Combined with an oscillating stand fan, I won't install my AC until August 1st, just in time for the crushing NYC humidity.

Hassock fans can be found easily on ebay, but it's worth really hunting for the right bargain. I stalked multiple auctions for this model of fan for about 4 months, and finally got it for $15 (plus shipping). These typically go for between $70 and $125, so it was worth the wait and effort involved in diligent ebay monitoring.

sorry i know this is going to sound dumb, but - i get blocking the sun with sun-blocking shades but won't the place roast anyway from air not being able to get around? or is it kind of like i have to find a time where the house is reasonably cool and "trap" it in with the curtains?

Types of summer heat vary a bit by geographic location. Here the humidity is worse than the heat - really, I'm not just saying that! I bought a portable dehumidifier two years ago for my allergies and it sucks a half gallon of water out of the air every day in the summer. I love the fresh air, but I find that unless it's unseasonably cold or I just can't resist, it's more efficient to seal up the house, set the thermostat to 80, turn on some fans, and drain the moisture from the air. But what works here may not work there!

The most important factor for sun protection is that is has to be OUTSIDE to work well. Because if it is inside, the heat rays have already penetrated the room, so the heat is in the room, no matter what you do. If you can't mount blinds, an awning might work. We just attach cheap curtains outside the windows in summer.

http://www.efficiencyvermont.com/pages/Residential/SavingEnergy/EnergySavingTips/seasonal_Tips/

Try these tips:
Open Up. In the cooler evening and early morning hours, open your windows instead of using air conditioning. Open windows on opposite sides of the house to create cross-ventilation. Use a window fan, blowing toward the outside, to pull cool air in through other windows and to push hot air out. As the day warms, you may find that you feel more comfortable with windows and coverings closed against direct sunlight.

Adjust Your Schedule. On hot days, delay heat-producing tasks, such as dishwashing, baking, or doing laundry, until the cooler evening hours or early morning.

Seal It. Keep cool air in and hot air out: Caulk around window and door frames, use weather stripping on exterior doors, and have a knowledgeable contractor properly seal gaps where air can travel between the attic and your living space.

Use Fans. Use your range hood fan to remove hot air from your kitchen while cooking. The savings in your cooling costs will far outweigh the electricity use of the fan. Also, use a bath fan to remove heat and moisture generated by showers.

Lighten Up. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Incandescent light bulbs lose 90% of their energy as heat. CFLs operate cooler and cost you less to use because more of their energy is used to produce light, and less is lost as heat.

Shop Smart. When buying air conditioners, choose the smallest ENERGY STAR® qualified unit appropriate for the size of room you're cooling. Oversized models can be less effective at reducing uncomfortable humidity and they cost more to operate.

Clean and Maintain. Fill gaps along the sides of your air conditioner to keep outside air from leaking in. Remember to clean air conditioner filters regularly and keep the front and back of air conditioners unobstructed.

My all-time favorite purchase for cooling is a window fan. Not a box fan or those little fans with 2 separate fans, but a full window fan with side panels. Two is ideal - one pushing, one pulling. Unfortunately not many places make them and they're not the most attractive, but I prefer them to a/c - until it hits the 90s, that is...
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=lasko window fan&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=2308024552687950777&ei=zwAJTKqfG8OC8gbThJ1f&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=image&resnum=5&ved=0CEAQ8gIwBA#

Some of these have probably been said already, but this is what works for us. We don't have AC, and we're able to live relatively comfortably, except when the heat gets unbearable (we're in Southern Ontario, which gets a lot hotter and stickier than most people think it does).

Use your BBQ whenever you can. Cooking anything in the kitchen, even stove top, creates a ridiculous amount of heat. If I have to use the oven in the summer time you almost can't enter the room without melting.

Fans are your friend. Keep the air in your house moving. We just open all the windows and put fans in strategic locations to bring the cool evening air in and flush the hot air from the daytime out. It gets borderline comfortable even on those nights where the humidex makes it feel like it's over 30 degrees.

Get a programmable thermostat if you don't have one. We got a new one in the winter and it made a huge difference in our bills. Set the thermostat to cool the house to below where you want it just before you get home, and then set it to turn itself up shortly afterwards. Use the current temperature of the house to "coast" through the evening. When it gets dark outside, the temperature is probably good enough to open the windows and turn off the AC.

If you have a finished basement, hang out there. It's always much cooler than the upstairs, sometimes almost uncomfortably so in our place.

Turning off vampire appliances is a nice thought and everything, but switching those off while using your AC is sort of like emptying your garbage cans all over the sidewalk and then picking up a candy wrapper. You may feel like you're doing your part and making a difference, but in reality you're causing more damage than you know. Turning off vampire appliances may save you $2 or so per month. Using your AC can cost over a hundred in the same time span. Make a difference where the difference will count.

Close the a/c vents and close the doors and curtains to any rooms you don't use or won't be using during the day, such as your bedroom. Close off the bathroom vents, too, and shut the door.

Show offs, you people with your "doors to rooms you don't use" and central air vents! ;)

Move to the Pacific Coast - anywhere from San Francisco to Seattle - It's COLD here in the summer!
(I'm wearing a sweater today)

bepsf: my brother grumbles about san fran weather but it sounds heavenly to this new orleans dweller!

oh COME ON, AT. let's not post pictures of feet. jesus.