As the summer temperatures rise outside, the cost of cooling your home inside increases. The best way to keep your home cool this summer is to use an air conditioner. However, this is not the only way, nor is it the most environmentally friendly. Yes, you are cooling your home, but the fossil fuels you’re burning are only making the summer hotter.
If you choose to leave the air conditioner in the cold for the summer, try some of these tricks to keep your home cool during those hot days:
- Open your windows in the evenings, after the sunsets.
- Use a ceiling fan or other fans to move the air in your home; moving air feels cooler. Fans can make a room feel five-to-seven degrees cooler and are fairly cost-efficient. Ceiling fans are easy to install and can be low-cost.
- Avoid heat-generating activities, such as cooking, on hot days or during the hottest part of the day.
- Use a dehumidifier – dryer air feels cooler than air with higher humidity. Reduce indoor humidity as much as possible.
- Refrain from putting lamps, televisions or other heat-generating appliances near to your home’s thermostat.
- Turn off incandescent lights and heat-generating appliances.
- Make sure your house is well-insulated, including the attic.
- Have an attic fan installed in your roof – this will pull the super-hot air out of the attic and bring in cooler air through the roof vents.
- Change to white window shades, drapes or blinds – these reflect heat away from the house. Keep shades and blinds closed on windows facing the sun.
- Bumping up the thermostat a few degrees during the day and then dropping it at night can save some money, as well.
Taking the steps listed above will help with the cost of energy bills and can add to the life of the air conditioner. Whenever you can reduce the run time of your air conditioning system, it will prolong the life of the unit and save money on utilities.
Always remember that the best way to keep your home cool is to keep the heat out and be aware of where the heat is coming from.
