Whether it’s intolerable summer nights spent rolling around in bed, or freezing winter evenings, adjusting and retaining the temperature in your house can be difficult. Luckily, some of us have air conditioners and central air to save the day. These can be a godsend, but they can also run up your energy bills as well. Here are five easy ways you can save on these costs.

Though it may seem unnecessary to do anything else other than installing your AC, you can actually boost its efficiency by surrounding your home with plants.

As most of the heat inside a house comes from the sun shining in through the windows and beating down upon the roof, surrounding these areas with shrubbery is a good way of increasing the efficiency of your AC. A 15- 20-foot tree over your windows will diminish the amount of sunlight and heat that penetrates the house. This could be especially beneficial if that happens to be the room where the AC is located in.

A good standard setting for your AC should be 78 degrees Fahrenheit. This, of course, can be adjusted on very hot or cold days, but in general, you should be comfortable at this temperature. However, keeping the thermostat at this temperature could push up your energy bill.

At night, if you’re not too hot, and especially when you’re not at home, either turn the AC off or bring down the temperature. This will allow you save you 5-15 percent on bills.

It is always a pain when the AC breaks and needs to be replaced. Not only does this make for uncomfortable living conditions, especially if it occurs in the middle of summer or winter, but it can mean expensive repair costs.

Luckily, websites such as allthingshvac.com offer a variety of articles detailing how to troubleshoot common HVAC issues. Whether it is a cooling or heating system, you can follow troubleshooting instructions and see if you can correct the issue yourself. This could save serious money you would otherwise spend on a technician.

Ensuring your AC is running smoothly and properly will help you get the best out of it and will stop fluctuations in your energy bills, as you try to push the temperature up or down in your efforts to get optimal temperatures.

Cleaning the filters of your AC is vital to its capability. Furthermore, switching to newer systems could cut your costs in half.

Having both fans and AC in your home will ensure you have options in cooling down. Sometimes, pumping your AC may feel right but not be necessary. Ceiling fans can make rooms feel 10 degrees cooler, so don’t forget about them.

Using these tips will help you save on your AC bill while still staying cool in the summer and warm in the winter.