This was the first time in my life as a homeowner that I went back to look at the HVAC cooling costs from the summer. Every other winter, I was just glad to have the HVAC cooling costs in the rearview mirror. Winter was a time to enjoy the fact that I didn’t have to worry too much about HVAC costs. That’s just the way it goes in this region. The winter is great as the heat pump is pretty quiet. The summer is brutal hot and had been super expensive when it came to all the HVAC cooling. And yet, I just didn’t do anything to change that scenario. So, I sure wasn’t pulling out the old bills to have a bit of a victory lap during the winter. This year was different though. And I have the HVAC technician who came out to do the air conditioning tune-up to thank. He encouraged me to have the HVAC maintenance be just the first part of my HVAC savings strategy for the summer. He then tuned me into just the basics for preparing the house and using the air conditioning properly. Believe it or not, this totally motivated me to do just what the HVAC professional was suggesting. The results were pretty amazing. I made sure the house was good and tight to keep the HVAC cooling inside. And the windows were covered to stop direct sunlight heating. But it was the thermostat programming I learned that was the big game changer. I save so much money on HVAC cooling that I’m still pulling out the bills to add it up and pat myself on the back.