Daily reports of rising oil prices can be hard to put in to context, but at the end of the month when the electricity bill comes one thing is obvious - it costs more.

But what do the numbers really mean? And how much is you air conditioner actually costing you? The numbers can be startling when broken down.

Excluding the fuel adjustment charge, Belco has estimated:

• Running your air conditioner for eight hours a day will cost you approximately $43 - $105 a month depending on the size of the unit.

• Running your dehumidifier will cost you $33 a month if it is run for 240 hours.

• A ceiling fan left on in the evenings will set you back $10.50 a month.

• Cooking your meals on a self-cleaning oven will rack up a $13.10 charge and using your microwave 22 times throughout a month will cost $2.29.

• Every 100 watt bulb in your house will cost you approximately $1.96 if you turn them on for 90 hours a month.

And these costs are set to rise as Belco has recently purchased a new order of heavy fuel oil, up nearly three percent, and diesel, up 44 percent, to power its plant. The company says its important consumers conserve energy and use it efficiently if they do not want to be reaching deeper into their wallets every month. Its website, www.belco.bm, has many energy saving suggestions such as:

• Use compact fluorescent light bulbs as they are more economical than incandescent bulbs, use less energy and last 10 to 15 times longer.

• Install dimmers for lighting control.

l Using the right temperature of water while doing laundry can cut down on costs to heat water, cold water cleans many fabrics and soils just as well as warm water, although heavily soiled fabrics may require hot water.

l Washing dishes by hand three times a day uses more electricity to heat the water than running your dishwasher once a day

• Consider using a microwave oven, small portable electric frying pan, grill, or toaster/broiler instead of the oven, these small appliances use about a third of the power of an oven broiler.