Summer is coming to a close and a lot of websites out there are switching gears to help people get their back to school shopping done, prep their house for the season change and update their interior decor with some cozy additions to welcome fall.

The local craft store is already prepped for Halloween. Triple digit heat and I’m staring at cinnamon scented autumn leaves and jack-o-lanterns. I can’t stop rolling my eyes because I know I’ve got at least 2 more sky-high electric bills from the “run the air conditioning or face uncertain death at the hands of irate family members” season.

We went shopping at Target about a week after 4th of July and the kids groaned when they saw that the “seasonal” aisle that had once held mosquito repellent and barbecue accessories now held pencils, pens, rulers, lunch pails and backpacks. At least our local store takes parents shopping with kids under consideration. The “seasonal” aisle is in the back of the store, that way when the kids make a break for it you have an entire store to catch them before they can hit the parking lot and get mushed by a minivan in their panic induced escape attempt.

The upside is that while trying to catch my little escapee (the second grader) she passed an end cap with princess bedding and became distracted which meant she narrowly avoided plowing into a lady holding glass vase. Lucky me, I managed to find the bath pillow I’d been wanting while I caught my breath.

As it sits now, I’ve got 3 weeks to school starts and for once I’m almost looking forward to it.

Did summer sneak up on you? We were spoiled by what felt like below average temps through most of May and now it feels like the high 90′s have ambushed us like a coconut throwing monkey in a palm tree!

This is the first year we’ve been ahead of the heat wave. We spent the weekend prepping our air conditioning units, cleaning the coils, clearing the area and we checked our attic for leaks in the vents. Living in Bakersfield where temps can easily soar above 105 in the summer and there are no breezes of which to speak, it goes without saying that you are going to be dealing with air conditioning and working overtime to pay for the electricity bill.

Currently, we live in a newer home with decent insulation, dual pane windows and as much energy efficiency as one can expect from your average home builder. Since we don’t have a custom home we didn’t have a whole lot of say in the matter. Our air conditioning intake units are positioned on the side of the house where they are in the summer sun for at least 8 hours a day; that means our units are working harder to cool hot air. If they had just been placed on the opposite side of the house they would have had shade the majority of the day.

Our plan is to install A/C misters similar to the products at www.coolnsave.com or AC Mister. Next step is to put a reflective solar shade above the units to block the blistering summer sun.

We are fortunate that our house has a great north/south exposure, but the next step is to do some solar screens on the exterior and possibly one to two awnings (both for aesthetics and shade) as well.

We don’t have any hard proof (read: too lazy to research this) of climate changes in Bakersfield, just long term Bako-residency memories, but it sure seems like grandma and grandma used to say, “at least it’s a DRY heat” and we’re not convinced that’s entirely the case for 100% of the summer anymore.

Eventually, we might make a move toward the expense of a solar attic fan or a whole house fan and evaporative cooling system which would greatly reduce our air conditioning use as long as we experience dry heat. If the humidity creeps up evap coolers aren’t of much use around here as most people know.

For more energy saving tips check out this great article by Mr. Electricity.