The temperatures are mild right now, but things will start heating up as soon as summer arrives. When that does happen, you'll want to be ready to keep your home as cool as possible. Don't get left with an unbearably hot home. Here are some simple tips that will help you maintain a cool, comfortable home this summer.
Service Your Air Conditioner
If you want to stay cool this summer, service your air conditioner before the temperatures start to rise. Waiting too long or avoiding the service call altogether could create some serious complications this summer. First, air conditioner service technicians tend to get busy as soon as summer arrives, which means you might wait longer for your appointment. Second, delays in service could leave you without cool air, especially if your system breaks down once you start using it this summer. Be ready for the heat by servicing your air conditioner early.
Adjust Your Ceiling Fans
If you have ceiling fans that you use to circulate the air in your home, be sure to adjust them before summer arrives. Leaving them on the winter settings will keep your home warmer than it should be. During the winter, the clockwise motion pulls cool air up towards the ceiling so that warm air can be pushed down towards the floor. Once summer arrives, you need to adjust your ceiling fan to the opposite position, which will pull warm air towards the ceiling so that cool air can get pushed into the room.
Get Your Windows Ready
If you haven't prepped your windows for summer, now's the time to get that taken care of. Unprotected windows can interfere with energy efficiency during the summer. The first thing you should do is have your windows tinted. That way, the sun doesn't get absorbed through the glass. Second, if you have ordinary screens on your windows, have them replaced with solar screens. The combination of window tinting and solar screens will help keep your home cooler during the summer, which means your air conditioner won't need to work as hard.
Install Garden Misters
If you have exterior walls that are exposed to direct sun during the hottest part of the day, install garden misters. The heat that's absorbed through those walls could elevate the temperature inside your home. Garden misters help cool down the temperature of the exterior walls so your home stays cooler.
Share7 April 2019
Every summer, I agonized over energy bills that would shoot into the stratosphere as a result of my efforts to keep cool in the heat. Every time I turned the temperature down, my bills increased. This summer, I decided to take some of the control over my energy bill back. I installed reflective film on my windows that reduced the amount of light and heat coming into the house. I started serving more cold meals or asking my husband to barbecue outside, so that my air conditioner didn't have to compete with the hot stove, and I started doing laundry at night to reduce appliance heat in the house at peak times. I also had ceiling fans installed. So far, the difference in my bill has been tremendous. This blog is a way for me to explore other ways to reduce energy drain during the summer months.