By Joel Hruska
July 04, 2008 - 02:30PM CT

Ah, summer. It's a time of long days, relaxing evenings, and Country Time Lemonade. For these few, halcyon moments, it's possible to rely on the 15,000 cicadas parked just outside the window to drown out the sounds of your drunken neighbors punching each other in the head over the last Pabst Blue Ribbon, instead of feeding a steady addiction to prescription drugs.

It's also the other season where electricity consumption can become a major issue. Winter, and the associated cost of heating oil, gets most of the press on this topic, but anyone who has ever owned a home or apartment with central air knows just how much the monthly power bill can spike when you flick the thermostat to "Cool."

With gasoline at $4.00+ per gallon, saving every possible watt counts more than ever, and we here at the Orbiting HQ feel your pain. Since digging a deep basement for all of your Nerd-Caves isn't possible, we've put together a quick-and-easy guide to reducing your computer's power consumption.

Every penny you can shave off your electrical bill is, after all, another penny you can spend on fuel to drive you back and forth from the job you hate with the intensity of a thousand burning suns. ArsTip: While taking that daily sojourn, save the tears you shed when wishing you'd bought a hybrid instead of an SUV. Use these to refill your coolant system when it runs low.