Here's how to save money on your electric bill during a heat wave

Electricity usage tends to skyrocket during a heat wave as people crank up the air conditioning to stay cool.

That increase in usage will translate into a rise in energy costs.

Action News talked to two experts about what you can do right now to beat the heat, conserve energy, and lower your electric bill.

When it comes to staying cool without using excess energy, the first piece of advice is to turn your thermostat up.

For every one degree you go up in temperature, you're reducing your energy usage by about 1%.

"The difference between 72 to 74 might be very impactful to your bill, without really making you any more uncomfortable," said Dave Schrader with NRG.

The second tip is to close your blinds or draw your curtains.

"Heat coming into your window can raise your temperature several degrees, many degrees," Schrader said. "Don't have the sun heating up your house unnecessarily, that's going to make your air conditioner work a lot harder."

The third tip is to make sure you have a clean filter so you're not obstructing airflow coming into your home. You can replace your filter, if necessary.

"Another thing you can do is to seal up cracks and openings in the home so that cool air is not getting out of the home," said Richard Barnes of PGW.

The fifth tip is to wash the dishes and your clothes when you have a full load and do back-to-back drying.

"If you do back-to-back loads, the dryer's already pretty hot. It'll take far less energy to heat it back up," Schrader said.

"Another thing people can do is also cover their pots and pans so that when you're cooking on the stove, your food cooks faster. So you're using less energy that way," Barnes said for the seventh tip.

Another piece of advice is to get a smart thermostat.

"At our marketplace, we offer a number of smart thermostats and rebates of up to $70 off of those smart thermostats," said Barnes.

One last tip to beat the heat is to use a fan. That will also allow you to raise your thermostat but still stay cool.

You can also replace your traditional bulbs with LED bulbs to save on electricity.

That can have a huge impact as LEDs use 75% less energy and will have a noticeable effect on your bill.