Summer may still be a few weeks away, but you want to be ready for it when it arrives. Few things are worse than having your air conditioning unit break down in the middle of July, only to discover that all of your local AC service and repair companies are booked solid for a week. But having your air conditioner serviced and possibly replaced isn’t the only thing you can do to get your home ready for summer heat and lower your seasonal cooling costs.

From shading your windows, to checking your ductwork for leaks, to beefing up your insulation, there’s a lot you can do to lower your cooling costs. Let’s take a look at some of the things you can do to get your home ready for summer.

Take a Look at Your Air Conditioner

Before the summer cooling season starts, it’s absolutely vital that you get out and take a look at your air conditioner. In fact, it’s best if you have your air conditioner serviced by a professional to make sure it’s ready to run smoothly all summer long. But at the very least, you should change your air conditioner’s air filter before summer starts and once a month throughout. If your unit has a reusable filter, you can easily clean it just by hosing it down.

You may also want to go ahead and hose down the exterior condenser unit, which is the big, square object located outside your house. It’s a good idea to have your ductwork cleaned and checked for leaks. An HVAC professional can properly seal leaking ductwork for you.

Is your air conditioner on its last legs? You may want to just go ahead and have a new AC unit installed. The California Energy Commission says that replacing an old, poorly-functioning air conditioner with a new, Energy Star-compliant unit can cut your cooling costs by as much as 10 percent.

Keep Sunlight Out

While you certainly don’t want to spend the summer months cowering in a dark, dreary cave of a home, the more sunlight you allow to beat down on your windows, the harder your air conditioner will need to struggle to keep your home cool. Do what you can to protect your windows from the sun.

You can choose from several window-shading strategies, or combine them all for maximum comfort and savings. Solar window film can block as much as 80 percent of the sun’s heat from entering your house, without sacrificing any light. If you like plants, you can cultivate bushes or trees around your house to create shade. You could install awnings above your windows. Drapes, curtains, and blinds also keep solar heat out of the house.

Raise Your Thermostat

For every degree above 72 that you set your thermostat, you knock one to three percent off your household cooling bill. Most people find they’re perfectly comfortable at about 78 degrees. You can save even more money by setting the thermostat at about 85 or so when you’re not home.

Don’t want to come home to an oven? Get a programmable digital thermostat and set it to automatically adjust your home’s temperature at predetermined times of day, so that your home is cool and comfortable when you arrive home from work, but you aren’t paying to keep it that way all day long. Consumer Reports says that this type of thermostat can knock $180 off your energy bill over the course of a year, since you can use it in a similar fashion to cut your heating costs during the winter.

Check Your Insulation

Insulation is just as important to keeping your home cool as it is to keeping it warm, so make sure your home is adequately insulated before temperatures start to creep into the 80s, 90s, and beyond. Homes in Phoenix should be insulated to an R-value of 38 to 60, which means at least 10 to 15 inches of insulation or more in your attic alone. Other parts of your home, such as walls, floors, and cathedral ceilings, also need adequate insulation. If you’re not sure whether your home has enough insulation, now’s the time to have a home energy audit performed.

Consider New Windows

If you’re still using single-pane windows, it’s time you had them replaced with double-pane vinyl windows. Double-pane, Energy Star-certified windows can save you $126 to $465 a year on your energy costs. Not only will new windows cut your cooling bills, they’ll also more effectively block out noise and make your home look nicer.

Sure, you’re ready to enjoy summer weather, but is your home ready to provide an escape from the season’s hottest temperatures? Don’t wait until your air conditioner breaks down to have it serviced; make sure everything is in good working order before the hottest weeks of the year arrive. Prepare your home and air conditioner for summer temperatures in advance, and the money you’ll save can go a long way toward helping you and your family enjoy the warmest months.