Chill Out: Summer Home Cooling Hacks!

Summer is a time to head outdoors, enjoy the brilliant sunshine and participate in adventures with your family and friends. However, extremely high temperatures in the summer months can often keep you indoors for the hottest part of the day. Your home should be a comfortable and healthy place to escape the heat, so let’s look at some of the best summer methods for how to keep your home cool in summer that can minimize hot air in the home without having to open your doors and windows to let extremely hot and humid air inside.

Utilize Air Conditioning

Many homes are equipped with cooling equipment, such as an air conditioner. Air conditioners exist as stand-alone units that are installed in the window of your choosing. Central air systems are also installed as part of your HVAC system, providing home cooling benefits with the flip of a switch on your thermostat. Other options include a mini-split system and a heat pump.

If you have an air conditioner in your home, constantly running this equipment can be expensive. While air conditioners are effective, you’re probably considering ways to minimize costs. You can utilize solar panels to help offset your energy bills through the summer months and beyond.

Using Ceiling Fans

Ceiling fans are a cost-effective way to cool certain rooms in your home, but only when the heat isn’t oppressive. You can use your ceiling fans with your air conditioning equipment when temperatures rise. Fans will help circulate the cool air throughout your home, so you don’t have to overwork your HVAC system. Hot air rises, so installing fans in your upstairs bedrooms is a great place to start.

Just ensure you have adjusted your ceiling fans to blow rotating counterclockwise. This ensures that air will blow down from the ceiling, creating a cool breeze that will keep you comfortable.

Air Circulation

Even with an efficient air conditioning unit, most homes have hot spots during certain parts of the day. The rooms with south- and west-facing windows tend to be the warmest in the summer because of their exposure to the sun during the hottest parts of the day. Ideally, you keep air circulating throughout your home throughout the day. This can be done in a few ways.

-Use bathroom fans to keep air moving through various rooms of your home.

-Run ceiling fans to promote circulation.

-You can crack open windows during certain points of the day when the temperatures are relatively low. This may be late in the evening or first thing in the morning.

Keep Blinds Closed

Those south- and west-facing windows that receive a lot of sunlight should have good-quality blinds or shades that will block out the heat and sun during peak times of the day. Minimizing direct sunlight in these rooms can prevent a surprising amount of heat from accumulating. To let natural light in throughout the rest of the home, keep blinds and shades open in the rooms that aren’t receiving direct sunlight.

Raising Your Thermostat to Save Money

If cooling your home is becoming a financial burden, you can lower your home electric bill by raising your home's temperature by just one degree in the summer. That one degree isn’t going to make a huge difference in the overall comfort of your home, but it will substantially impact your bills. This can protect your HVAC equipment by preventing system strain on hot summer days.

Sealing Gaps and Cracks

All homes have gaps and cracks around windows, doors, foundations, etc. Even new buildings aren’t completely airtight. Going around your home every summer is a good idea, sealing up any gaps. These spaces can allow hot air to make its way into your home. It also allows your cool and conditioned air to escape, which results in energy bills that are higher than they need to be. Cracks and gaps are entry points for bugs and critters who want to enter.

Consider Changing Your Lightbulbs

It might sound silly, but did you know that incandescent lightbulbs can make your home hotter? These bulbs have started to phase out thanks to the arrival of LED lights, and this summer is a good time to switch to a more energy-efficient option that will also contribute to a cooler home.

Using Solar Panels During the Summer Months

If you’re concerned with your energy consumption during the summer but still want to come up with ways to keep your home cool in summer, it might be time to consider using the sun's power to help keep your home affordably cool. Solar panels are generally installed on the side of your house that receives the most direct sunlight. That energy will feed into your home’s power grid to help offset the cost of running things like your air conditioning unit and appliances.

Solar panels can be purchased and installed directly on your home, but there are also opportunities to lease panels if you’re not ready to make a permanent investment. Summer is the perfect time to consider this home upgrade, as it can make it much easier to keep your home comfortable and cool even during the hottest heat wave.

If you’re interested in lower your home electric bills in summer, and you should contact Ivan the Solar Guy. Solar panels on your home can help reduce your monthly energy bills. Ivan the Solar Guy can assist you with choosing the appropriate panels for your home, orchestrate the installation process and provide ongoing maintenance and support. With your expenses reduced, you won’t feel like you have to limit the use of your cooling equipment. Thanks to energy-efficient solar panels, keep your home cool all summer long, even during the hottest parts of the day. We can help you with energy-efficient ways to keep your home cool in summer without increasing energy bills.