Summer heat is here

If your age is anywhere close to the number reading on a temperature gauge during the summer months, the sweltering heat can pack a hefty punch to both your health and your wallet.

Senior citizens are the most at risk for heat-related illness along with children younger than 4, and those with chronic medical conditions.

As the summer temperatures heat up in Central Florida, not only are the risks of heat-related issues higher, but the average electricity bill skyrockets as well.

Progress Energy reports that cooling a single-family home at 78 degrees during the summer months can cost an average residential customer an extra $2 a day.

This can lead some senior citizens to a choice of either turning up the AC and pinching their pennies, or turning it off and risking their health.

Local physicians and energy experts hope to give the elderly a happy medium, by offering them ways to save on their electric bills and stay healthy in the heat.

Doctor's orders

Phil Ciufo, a physician's assistant in Casselberry whose office – as part of Family Physicians Group- Florida – deals primarily with senior citizens and medicare patients, says the elderly are more at risk for heat-related health concerns because their bodies cannot as easily cope with rising temperatures.

"We find that the elderly are more prone to heat injuries because they don't adjust as well as young people do to changes in temperature," he said. "They also can have cognitive impairments that can keep them from recognizing changes in heat or how they feel in the heat."

Because of this, he said, senior citizens need to do all they can to keep cool, healthy and hydrated.

"Most of the advice we give is to of course stay cool and out of the sun during the peaks in temperatures," Ciufo said.

Avoiding the heat from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and drinking plenty of liquids, even when you're not thirsty, are the best ways to stay healthy, he said.

Along with preventative measures, being alert and aware of symptoms of heat illnesses is key. He said many warning signs of heat issues often go untreated.

"We see one or two incidents a month, but probably the majority are not reported to us because they're thought by the elderly to just be normal muscle cramps or other conditions because they are older," he said.

Keeping cooling costs down

For senior citizens, who are often living on fixed incomes, an increasingly high electric bill can be hard to handle. Suzanne Grant, a spokeswoman for Progress Energy, however, says there are many tips and alternative programs available to help keep costs down.

Her top tip is to keep tabs on the thermostat. She said for every degree the thermostat is set above 78 degrees, an average customer can save up to 10 percent on their cooling costs.

Progress Energy also offers a Save the Watts program that enables anyone, either online, by phone, or by in home inspection, to have an Energy Efficiency Advisor help perform a Home Energy Check. The results of this free check then give residents personalized recommendations on how to improve their efficiency and cut costs.

Also available, and increasingly popular among senior citizens, Grant said, is the Budget Billing program, which allows customers to pay a set electricity bill every month.

"In order to deal with the highs and lows in billings, many senior citizens, often living on fixed incomes, through the program no longer have to wonder what their bill is going to be," she said.

The monthly payment is calculated from the average of what the customer's energy usage in their home has been in the past 12 months.

Grant said that anyone looking for ways to save money on their energy bills should call the Progress Energy customer service line.

Heat tips

Heat illness symptoms- muscle cramps, heavy perspiration, cold clammy skin, dizziness. Serious warning signs- headaches, nausea, generalized weakness, fainting spells.

If you ever experience these symptoms, go indoors or seek shade, get water, and call someone close by or 911. For more energy-saving tips call Progress Energy's customer service line at

407-629-1010.