With all the heat this summer has bestowed upon us, many people are thinking of ways to keep their homes cool without increasing the utility bill. Here are several tricks and tips you can use to Keep Your House Cool.
1: Close your curtains and blinds
Everyone knows the benefits of a greenhouse. It keeps an environment warm by taking advantage of the sun. This tip addresses that same concept by blocking out the sun. It has been known to keep the house cooler by as much as 20 degrees!
2: Adjust the direction of your ceiling fan
Most people do not realize that the direction and speed of the ceiling fan should be adjusted to suit the season. In the summer it should be running counter clockwise at full speed, which will cause the fan to blow air straight down causing a nice breeze. In the winter it should be turning clockwise at a low speed to draw air up and force the warm air the naturally rises to the ceiling down to the rest of the room.
3: Let in the cool night air, keep out the hot day air
Take advantage of the cool night air and let it into your home. Once the temperatures begin to rise, close all your windows to keep the cool air in.
4: Cook Outside
By turning on the oven or stove top you are adding a heat source into the home which will obviously raise the temperature of the air around it as well, essentially heating the home. Instead, try keeping all cooking to the outdoors by BBQing as often as you can.
5: Keep lights off or use LED or other high efficiency lighting
The old light bulbs (Incandescent) can raise the temperature in a small room by as much as 11 degrees per hour. Keep these lights off or change them to high efficiency bulbs such as LEDs which remain much cooler.
6: Use bathroom and kitchen fans to get rid of hot air
After taking a hot shower, run the bathroom fan to get all the hot humid air out of the house. Likewise, if you do cook indoors, turn the kitchen fan/vent on to get the hot air from cooking out of the house. In either case, do not open the window as you will just draw more hot air in. Use the fan to push the hot air out and keep your house cool.
7: Dry your clothes on a clothes line, not the dryer
A clothes dryer uses heat to dry your clothes, but even if you put it on low temp the dryer itself still produces heat during its operation. Instead, take advantage of the heat outside and hang your clothes on a clothes line.
8: Wash your laundry at night to keep your house cool in the day
Let’s face it, you can’t stop doing laundry just because it is hot outside. So if you have to do laundry, do it at night when you can open the windows and take advantage of the cool air outside.
9: Replace the weather guards on all your doors
A significant amount of cool air is lost through the cracks around your doors. Hot air rises and cool air sinks down to where most gaps are found on doors. Weather guards are inexpensive and installing them is easy. By sealing the gaps around all your doors you notice a significant reduction in lost air.
By following these 9 tips and tricks, you can keep your house cool during these hot summer days. To increase the effectiveness of all your cooling efforts, you can check your insulation in the attic and keep up with the maintenance of your AC unit.
If your home is not suiting your needs and you are thinking of buying or selling, please contact Ryan Ligeza.
