But many of those air conditioning units are becoming the target of kids wanting to drain the freon gas from inside and inhale it, sometimes with deadly results.

"They feel a euphoria, light-headiness and they may pass out. But it's that euphoria that they're going after. Unfortunately what these kids don't know is there is long term damage to the body from breathing in freon gas," said Doctor Donna Carney at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale.

But his arrival home, wasn't very comforting, because a power surge ruined many of his electronics and appliances.

"It could've burned my house, it could've done more damage with my family here," he said.

The power surge not only cost him a lot of headaches it cost him and his family to lose a lot of their belongings.

"We lost three air conditioning units, two DVD players, a microwave, several televisions, the refrigerator and a freezer" said Guillen's son Inocencio. "Ceiling fans went out, and light bulbs broke."

1. Use energy-saving appliances. Refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, furnaces, heat pumps, air conditioning units and water heaters all have high- efficiency models. Before buying a new appliance, compare labels to find one that uses the least amount of energy and water with the lowest operating costs. Appliances with the Energy Star label are up to 50 percent more efficient than standard models, saving you up to 30 percent on your electric bill. "I've been promoting Energy Star appliances for over a decade," Bob Vila says, "and it still makes sense to invest in them because of the energy savings you'll get."

The recent auction by the nonprofit Independent System Operator New England was the first in the country in which bidders could propose ways to cut demand and increase efficiency, instead of just increasing supply.

The auction proved that it can be cheaper for a system to arrange, for instance, for big power users to ease off the air-conditioning on the hottest days than for the system to look to other options, such as the construction of new peak-power plants that burn costly natural gas.

I don't have the resolve for all this. Just every so often, when I'm sick of their sallow, supine bodies and the way the smaller one clutches the backless remote controls like holy amulets - even taking them with him to the loo in case his brother seizes power - I switch off their favoured doom-porn, Air Crash Investigation or Anatomy of a Grizzly Attack, and try to boot them outside. Only to see them graze idly at the computer instead.