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No one wants to spend a long, hot summer being uncomfortably warm in their own home. On the other hand, blasting the air conditioning day in and day out is bad for both the environment and your bank account. Instead, try these four creative and low energy ways to stay cool this summer:
Use the Power of Natural Ventilation
You can keep your home dramatically cooler by strategically using natural ventilation. At night when it’s cooler and breezier outside, open your blinds, windows, and even doors if you have screens. This will naturally cool down your home without the need for AC at night. In the morning when it starts to warm up, simply close your blinds and windows to keep the cool air inside and the warm sun out.
Minimize Appliance Usage
Appliances give off heat, so the less you use them in the summer, the better. Ovens in particular make the home much warmer, so try to avoid using the oven as much as possible in the summer and take advantage of the warm weather by cooking on an outdoor grill instead. Try to avoid running the dishwasher or using the washer and dryer until you have a full load, to reduce the amount of time per week that you use these appliances and to save energy.
Change Your AC Filters Regularly
There will definitely be days when you need to use your air conditioning system, but you can help it do its job more efficiently by changing the filters each month. If the filters are clean, your air conditioner doesn’t need to work nearly as hard to keep your home cool. This means you can set your thermostat to a higher temperature and still be quite comfortable.
Don’t Forget About Fans
Ceiling, table, and pedestal fans circulate the cool air from outside or from your AC to more effectively cool things down. Ceiling fans should be set to run counter-clockwise in the summer, in order to blow cool air back down into the room instead of letting it linger near the ceiling where it’s useless.
By following these simple tips you can help keep your home cool and comfortable all summer without excessive energy usage.[:]
