The summer is here, the weather is getting hotter and you've already had to switch on the A/C - however, with the recent surge of all prices including electricity and... well, everything else, saving energy has become not so much a trend, as a must for most of us. And given that we're headed for a very hot summer, turning off the air conditioning and just lying very still close to a ventilator or sleeping in the pool or bath tub are not really the best options. However, there are a few things we can do in order to save power and prevent our electricity bills from surging and ruining our summer finances.

Here is what you can do. Let's start with the basics. First of all, make sure that if the A/C is running, all the windows and doors are closed. This will effectively prevent wasting any of the precious cool air and will mean that you will be able to switch off the machine sooner. As far as your other home appliances that run on electricity go, here are a few golden rules. First, don't leave your home computer on during the night. "Stand by" or "Hibernate" mean that even if the monitor is turned off, the computer is still running, and therefore, still using up precious power. When you're done with it, just switch it off.

Secondly, id would be ideal if you could unplug any other energy-using devices when you're not using them, including your flat-screen TV. One idea would be to plug your TV in a power strip along with other devices such as your cable box and DVR device, your computer and your printer, and switch it off in one go when you're done watching or using those devices. If this is not possible on a daily basis, try to do it when you're going on holiday for a few days. Finally, always keep in mind the fact that electronics constantly use energy even if they're turned off, so unplugging them really makes a difference.