With summer right around the corner (and sweltering temperatures already here in some areas), I am sure you are not looking forward to the potentially high cooling bills that come with it. Cooling your house or apartment can get pretty expensive but with a few changes here and there you can actually save a nice amount on your cooling cost.
Here are some tips which will assist you in reducing the load on your cooling systems in order for them not to work as hard, leading to further reductions in your cooling costs. These same tips will also be effective for the winter to come.
Insulation and Sealing
The attic is the first level of defense between your house’s direct sunlight and living space. You may need to add insulation to the attic to give your home that second layer of protection. You can purchase weatherization kits, and if needed, seal the windows with plastic. Additionally, you should replace any screens that need and add weather stripping to doors or cover the screens with plastic.
Attic Ventilation
Throughout the summer, your attic crawl space may easily exceed 130 degree temperatures. Simple improvements like installing a vent for venting might be helpful in letting the heat in the highest degree of the attic to readily escape.
Check to be certain your attic has proper airflow and that none of your eaves are blocked if you’d chosen to add insulation to your attic space. Another ventilation tip is to set up a solar-powered exhaust vent that uses the energy of sunlight to offer this ventilation which automatically turns on at high temperatures. A handyperson or any carpenter may install this kind of vent since there’s no wiring needed.
Exhaust Systems
Your bathroom fan, oven fan, and clothes dryers are items that exhaust the warm air in your home to the outside, allowing air to be drawn in from the outside, leading to hot humid air or cold freezing air being sucked into your home when you don’t want it.
So don’t use your dryer on days with extreme temperatures, like summer days at 90 degrees and beyond or even on winter days in 20 degrees or lower.
Similarly in the winter months, if the night temperatures can become frigid and go down into the single digits then you will want to only run your dryer throughout the mid-day and early evening when the atmosphere is the hottest of the day.
For your bathroom exhaust fans, replace the simple on\/off switch with a timed switching device of no more than 60 minutes.
Natural Cooling
Depending upon your geographical location and the direction your home faces, you may want to take advantage of windows and drapes to add or block heat, depending upon the time of year. Simply turn the unit off, open your windows and allow the home to cool down naturally, with only a little help from one central fan.
Temperature Settings
By setting your cooling system to a comfortable temperature when you are at home and using a programmable thermostat to increase the temperature when you are away, you could save 10% a month on your cooling bill. Instead of setting your temperature to 72, it is recommended to set it to 78 degrees Fahrenheit and then use a ceiling or circular fan instead.
Conclusion
No one wants to be miserable in the summer, but reducing your cooling cost doesn’t mean you have to be. With the right adjustments you can still be comfortable and keep money in your pockets.
We would love to hear from you: What is the hardest reason to save on cooling costs? What advice would you give to someone trying to save money this summer?