Tired of sitting in the smoldering heat instead of being comfortable in your own home? Afraid of turning on the central air for fear of that dreaded jump in energy costs that will be showing up at your house before the month is up? Worry no more! By following a few simple steps and using some affordable cooling methods, you can reduce the temperature or your house without blowing all your money away!
Use your Fans
You remember those box fans your mom used to use around the house when you were little? It’s time to pull them out of the basement and clean them up. And that ceiling fan in the living room? Guess what? It has a setting specifically for cooling your home. Let’s start with the box fans. Begin by opening windows on opposite ends of your home. For instance, if you want to open a window to your front yard, then open the opposite window to your backyard. If you can avoid it, try not to use windows that are in direct sun.
Windows that are shaded will produce the best cooling affect. Once you have chosen your windows, then place a box fan or window fan in front of the coolest window and point it so that it is blowing air into your home. Then, in the opposite window, position another fan pulling air out. This will create an air flow in your house that will begin lowering the temperature. As for your ceiling fan, turn it on using the setting that pushes air downwards. If you can feel the air blowing down on you, your fan is on the correct setting. This will also help to circulate air through your home.
Turn off Unused Appliances
All electrical appliances generate some amounts of heat, thus if you leave these appliances on at all times, it is going to up the heat in your home, even when you do not want it to. Plus, many appliances such as computers and newer televisions will still generate energy and heat even when they are turned off. Thus, turning off and even unplugging electrical items such as televisions, computers and lamps can help to cool your home a few degrees at a time.
Save the Hot Stuff for the Evening Hours
We all know that appliances such as dryers and ovens can produce vast amounts of heat, thus use of these kinds of items should be avoided until the evening or even night hours when the heat outdoors lessens and cooler air moves in. During the day, try hanging cloths outside to dry and avoid stove use by using the microwave. Also, if you can avoid taking hot showers during the day you can also cut down on the muggy heat that invades your house minutes after you shower has concluded.
Keep it Constant
For those terribly hot days when you just cannot help but turning on the air, keep the temperature constant. Once you decide on a comfortable temperature, leave the air alone until you are ready to turn it off again. Fluctuations in the temperature of your air, especially extreme fluctuations, use more energy as your air conditioning unit tries to keep up with rising and lowering of the temperature. If you change your setting in the morning hours, then in the early afternoon, then again when you go to bed, your air had do catch up with three fluctuations, pushing it harder than if you just set the air on a comfortable but not incredibly chilly setting.
With the use of these money saving tips, you should be completely capable of not only cooling your home, but of doing so affordably.