If your air conditioning breaks, get ready for the con artists.

The Arizona Republic reports an HVAC company out of Memphis, Tenn., agreed to a $395,000 settlement with the state of Arizona because they were ripping people off. This company, which operated under several names, was lying about selling equipment and repairs to senior citizens that didn't need them.

This is a long standing problem in the HVAC business, which is an industry overwhelmingly occupied by nice, decent, legitimate and hard-working people who do a very difficult job at all hours of the day and night.

But this industry is also one that's ripe for con artists. If you Google or Bing for a local HVAC service, more often than not you'll see scamsters at the top of the search results page because they use techniques to manipulate the listings so they come up first.

Speaking of cooling off during the summer, cooling your home is a big expense, typically two thirds to three quarters of your electric bill during the hot months. But there's so much you can do to reduce those bills.

• Use a simple ceiling fan in the bedrooms. A ceiling fan will make it feel six or eight degrees cooler, allowing you to run your AC much less.
• The Bed Fan sells for around $80 at BedFan.com. It's designed to help you reduce energy consumption by making your bed feel much cooler than it normally would, which allows you to dial the temperature up on your thermostat.
• Go up in attic (if you have one) and make sure it is properly insulated. If you're seeing too many rafters, you need more insulation. Proper insulation can reduce heating and cooling costs by about 30 percent.