By Dawn Burleigh

The Orange Leader

For the 17^th Annual Beat the Heat Fan Program, Entergy donated 120 fans to Salvation Army on Thursday.

The fan will be available for distribution from 10 a.m. – 12 noon on Monday at the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club located at 1950 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive in Orange.

Since the program’s inception, the total of fans distributed to qualified customers is more than 19,300 fans.

Besides fans, there are a number of other ways to save energy and keep your costs lower without sacrificing comfort are:

• Getting your air conditioner inspected. Inspectors can make sure your system is leak-free and operating as efficiently as possible. Don’t forget about air filters; some units require monthly cleaning or replacing.
• Setting your thermostat at 78 degrees or the highest comfortable temperature. Every degree lower than 78 can raise your bill as much as 3 percent. So if you crank down the A/C to a cooler 72 degrees, you’ve already increased your bill by 18 percent.
• Installing a programmable thermostat. As energy usage rises, costs also rise. If you spend most of your day outside of the house, set your thermostat to automatically shut off or raise the A/C setting when you’re away.
• Closing blinds, shades and curtains to keep the sun out and the cool air in. Also, close air conditioning vents in rooms that are not in use.
• Sealing cracks and holes around doors, windows and duct work. Weather stripping and caulk will help keep the cold air inside the house and the hot air outdoors.

“We also encourage you to visit entergy.com/savemoney to access a variety of energy-saving tips and calculators that will help you determine the best cost-cutting scenarios to suit your needs,” Pierce said. “And to avoid the billing spikes that extreme temperatures can bring, we suggest you sign up for Level Billing if you haven’t already done so. That way, you can better control your monthly budget.”

What’s more, you can benefit from Entergy Solutions, which offers ways to help you lower your energy bill and find new ways to save energy – and money – at your home or business.

For customers struggling to pay their summer energy bills, Entergy helps low-income, disabled and elderly customers through its customer-assistance fund, The Power to Care, which is funded by Entergy employees, customers and shareholders.

In addition to The Power to Care, bill-payment assistance also is available through the federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. In 2016, over $5 million in assistance was provided to more than 39,000 Entergy Texas customers through these programs. For more information, visit the Entergy Texas website.