God, what a summer. Call it global warming, call it a heat wave, call it whatever you will - those power bills sure haven't been fun lately. So let's take a moment to talk about cutting your home office power bill, the way Floridians do it.

I know it's hot where you are. I've heard from you, and man, do I sympathize.

Here, we're getting hit by three factors that are keeping our power costs high. One, there's the war in Iraq and the effect it's having on crude oil prices - remember, the power companies buy crude too, and they're passing the cost along. Two, there's the summer heat; here in Central Florida, we're averaging daily temperatures between 98 and 101 degrees. Finally, the power companies here are finally getting around to prorating the repair costs of the 2004 hurricane season, which were considerable.

So now we're seeing hundreds of dollars per month added to our home office expenses. You can probably sympathize. So here's a few tips on comfortably cutting that bill.

Scale back your A/C usage as much as possible. Easier said than done, right? Actually, it's not that hard - first, go around and close most of the air vents, leaving open the ones in the areas in which you spend most of your time during the hot hours (such as your home office). Close the rest, set the thermostat to 85 degrees, and all the cold air will rush to the open vents. Those one or two rooms will provide a cool sanctuary during the afternoon.

Use a small fan to circulate the air where you work (buy a fixed direction, metal fan - they last a lot longer than plastic oscillating fans). Once the evening starts, the temperature will drop and you can shift the vents around. By only cooling the areas that are occupied, you'll rarely ever need to turn the A/C down below 80 degrees to keep things comfortable.

Also, limit how often you open and close doors to the outside.

Avoid using appliances during the day that generate heat. Stoves, hair dryers, clothes dryers, computer equipment: work to not generate a larger heat mass than absolutely necessary. Conventional CRT-based computer monitors are significant heat generators; replace them with more energy-efficient LCD monitors. Heat generators not only cost more to use, they also make your office more expensive to cool.

Don't use electric light when natural light will do. Get creative with light - take notice of where the sunlight falls through the window during the day. Move things around to take advantage of it. Don't turn on the lights any more than necessary - they use power and they generate heat.

Unplug everything you're not using, even if it's not turned on. These days, many appliances never completely turn off. Modern TVs always maintain an active voltage in order to recognize a remote control signal; microwaves have digital clocks. Don't just turn things off: unplug whatever you're not using.

During the day, consider the sun your enemy and fight accordingly. Motels around the world use heavy thermal curtains over their windows to block sunlight in summer and insulate rooms in winter; they're not particularly expensive, so go buy some. Evaluate your entire office area for ways to prevent unnecessary sunlight and heat leakage from the outside.

If you've got any other good tips for keeping cool and cutting the power bill, drop me a line at writer@rswarren.com. I know plenty of people here who'd love more ideas.