Heat gain is one of those things that will happen every year no matter what. People all over the world struggle with minimizing heat gain during the warmer months. Think about all the times you ran your AC unit but never got the room as cool as you wanted it to be.
Finding the balance between letting in the beautiful spring sunshine and trying not to boil inside your home is a tricky balance to strike. Fortunately, there are things that you can do to minimize your house’s heat gain during the warmer months and save yourself some money in the process. Here are some tried and true methods:
Treat Your Roof
Heat gain is the heat that builds up from solar radiation (plain old sunlight) within your house. If you’ve ever felt like you stepped into a sauna even though your AC is running, you’ve experienced it. Your roof is susceptible to heat gain because it is the part of your home that is consistently exposed to direct sunlight. Applying a reflexive coating to your roof goes a long way toward reducing heat gain. You can also install a radiant barrier that will repel solar radiation. This barrier can be installed on the underside of the roof.
Paint Your Exterior Wall
With both clothing and paint, light colors absorb less heat than dark ones. Painting the exterior walls of your home a light color or using insulating paint will help to reduce heat gain.
Coat Your Windows
Looking out at a perfect day has some drawbacks. That beautifully sunny day will cause heat to build up in your home, and you may soon find it as hot inside as it is outside. Add a treated reflexive coating to the windows to help avoid this situation. The reflexive coating is added to the interior of the window and will also minimize sun damage to your furniture, carpet, or paintings.
Check Your Insulation
The purpose of insulation isn’t just to keep heat in during the winter months. It also blocks heat gain during warmer months. Beef up your insulation to protect your house from within.
Image via Flickr by DaveLawler
Block the Sunlight
Adding window treatments is a great way to reduce heat gain. Blinds, shutters, drapes, outdoor awnings – all of these tools can keep direct sunlight from streaming through your windows and causing heat to build up in your home. Tall hedges and trees can also assist in blocking the sunlight.
When you notice your home is warmer than usual, don’t assume there is something wrong with your AC. If left your windows open to showcase the beautiful day outside or if your home has a large window with a shade, heat gain is a more likely culprit than a faulty AC unit. Reducing heat gain means you won’t have to leave the AC on as long to cool the space. That will, in turn, save you money.
