If there is something you cannot avoid in summer is the sound of whining air conditioners as they cool homes to give homeowners a comfortable indoor environment. While the end result may be good, most of these ACs guzzle kilowatts making them unaffordable both in the short and long run.
What many homeowners are still not aware of is the fact that a bigger percentage of the air conditioning load can be lifted off by just doing simple things most of which were common before the advent of ACs in America. Below are some of the best ideas to help you keep the heat out of your home in summer.
Use of Awnings
According to the Department of Energy, awnings can help reduce solar heat gain by as much as 65% on windows. These goes without saying that reduced solar heat gain will also lengthen the lifespan of your furniture. The use of awnings can translate into a cooling saving of about 26% in hot climates and approximately 33% in temperate climates. In some places, awnings alone are sufficient to take the place of ACs.
Tuning Windows
It is a high time you changed the perspective you have on your windows and consider the more as part of a complex ventilation machine. Long ago, homeowners used to tune windows so as to get the best ventilation but in the age we live in where thermostats are the go to pieces of equipment, many people seem to have forgotten the potency of tuning windows.
Since heat rises and cold air replaces it, if you have high windows in your house and open them when it is hot inside, hot air will escape out through these windows leaving cool air to come in. If you have double hung windows, open the bottom section of the upwind side of your home and the upper section of the downwind side. This will make the low pressure to suck in air from the outside into your home. The outlet openings should be a little bit larger than the inlet opening so as to increase the draft.
A Ceiling Fan
Because ceiling fans cost a fraction of your AC units to operate, they can save you a lot of money. For maximum effectiveness, pair them with your AC. Ceiling fans use the principle that moving air evaporates moisture from your skin to cool you off.
Installing an Attic Fan
When the sun bakes your house the entire day, chances are you will still be running your AC at night when it is cool outside. This can dent your energy bill making you pay more when in fact an attic fan could have saved your day. This fan helps in moving the air trapped inside your home thus giving you a good ventilation to eliminate the need for a constantly running AC.
Apart from the above low cost methods, you can also install external blinds and operable shutters as well as paint your roof to reflect instead of absorbing UV rays.
