The air conditioner in your home is fantastic at keeping your home cool, but it can also keep your electric bill high. Read the following recommendations on keeping your home consistently cool despite hot outside temperatures and sporadically using your air conditioner.
Follow these tips to keep your home cool.
Keep Your Upper Level(s) Cool
If your home has an upper level, those areas are likely warmer than others. During a hot summer day, rooms upstairs in your home can be anywhere from 20-30 degrees warmer than the lower levels of your home. To prevent this from happening, you can initially focus on your windows. Start with this idea: insulate, cover, and close.
You have the option of using window film to insulate your windows. Insulation can help reduce your energy bill, protect your home by lowering infrared heat, and reduce imbalanced temperature throughout your home.
You can also either cover the inside or outside of your windows. From the outside, you can do so by installing shutters or awnings. Both are great options for shielding your home from the sun. You can also use shades to keep your windows covered. Finally, keeping your windows close keeps hot outside air from entering your home. It’s recommended only to keep your windows open if the outdoor breeze is cool enough.
Use These Tactics to Keep Other Bedrooms Cool
During the summer, many people also use fans to beat the heat. Ceiling fans cool a room by providing consistently cool air that flows downward. Experts recommend setting ceiling fans to rotate in a counterclockwise direction.
You can also use freestanding fans that oscillate back and forth. Box fans are another option to place in a window like an air conditioner.
Keeping activities to a minimum is also ideal for keeping additional rooms cool. When your body is constantly moving, the temperature is sure to increase. Another option is to unplug electronics and appliances that emit heat.
Don’t Forget About These Other Methods
We previously suggested that you should consider insulating your windows. Now, we recommend doing the same for the doors in your home. You can apply this method with cost-effective weather strips to any door with gaps at the bottom. Restricting usage of your stove is another way to keep cool without constantly running your air conditioner. Ovens reach as high as 500 degrees, and gas and electric burners produce fire.
By monitoring your thermostat, you can also control how long and how often it is on. Finally, using different lightbulbs is another way to cool your home. Incandescent light bulbs emit the most heat by wasting high amounts of energy. Using LED light bulbs can also lower the temperature in your home and your electricity bill.
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