The summer heat is here.
Remember a couple short month ago when we were all complaining about the cooler than usual weather? And now we’re faced with hot weather and a potential heat advisory warning coming our way this week. So, how do we keep our homes cool despite the heat and humidity (and save money on air conditioning by keeping it from working quite so hard)?
We’ve got some tips for you:
The sunshine is beautiful but of course, it creates a lot of heat as it streams into your home. Pull your curtains, at least during the hottest part of the day to keep some of that heat from entering your house in the first place.
Avoid using your oven. We’ve noticed that when we turn our oven on, the temperature in our homes can raise by at least a degree or two. Try cooking outside on your BBQ or use your microwave or slow cooker. If you must use your stove or oven, be sure to use your exhaust fan to help remove the warm air from the room.
Using ceiling fans helps move the air around your home, cooling things off and keeping your air conditioner from working as hard. It’s less expensive than running your a/c unit. If using other types of fans, one quick way to cool a room down is to place a bowl of ice in front of the fan so that the air being blown is chilled. It really works!
Make sure you are taking the time to clean and maintain your a/c unit to help it work more efficiently. Have an older model? It might be time to replace it for something that is more energy efficient.
Use an automatic thermostat so you can set it to keep your home warmer when you’re away and then start cooling again before you come home.
Turn the a/c off and open the windows when you can. Often it is cool enough at night to sleep without the a/c on! Just be sure to close the windows before the heat of the day starts up again. This will help hold some of that cool air in your home and again, prevent your a/c unit from having to work too hard.
Take cooler, shorter showers – again to prevent too much heat from entering your home in the first place. And be sure to turn on your exhaust fan to remove as much of the warm air as possible.
Avoid opening your doors too often (and holding them open for too long) especially during the hottest part of the day. Or is this just a problem in homes where the kids are letting the dog out and seem to leave the door open for much longer than it needs to be? (Can anyone relate to this?) Close doors to rooms that aren’t currently being used as well. No sense trying to cool empty rooms.
Make sure that the pipes and vents in your home are all properly sealed. Check windows, doors, your dryer...
