3 Tips For Cooling Your House For Free

Posted on Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

Turning up the air conditioning isn’t always an option. Energy bills already cost a small fortune every month. Most of us would rather sweat it out until fall rolls around and it cools off outside. Fortunately, there are some shortcuts you can take to reduce your cooling needs this summer without spending a dime. Here are 3 tips for cooling your house for free:

1. Reduce Your Cooling Load

Household items produce more heat than you might expect. While appliances and electronics are becoming more efficient every year, a large percentage of the energy they consume is turned into heat. Your TV, fridge, and computer produce enough heat that your air conditioning has to work harder to counteract the effects. Instead of leaving your electronics on, turn off lights, TVs, computers and any other electronic device that does not need to be turned on. Don’t blow dry your hair, run the dishwasher, or wash your clothes in the middle of the day, they produce loads of heat.

2. Increase Air Flow

In light clothing, most of us can comfortably tolerate temperatures between 72 F and 78 F, but there is a caveat. You can actually tolerate higher temperatures as long as there is a breeze. Turn down the thermostat and turn on ceiling fans. You will find 80 F can be comfortable as long as there is some air flow. Proper air conditioner maintenance will also boost the cooling output of your current unit.

3. Increase Shading

Planting trees and tightly spaced plants on the south side of your house to shade windows and an air conditioning unit will boost the overall cooling efficiency of your house. You can still receive daylight and have cooling benefits without shading the inside of your windows. Even when you shade the inside of your windows, heat will still be able to enter your house. New windows can block most of the heating properties of the sun but shading from the outside will always beat internal shading.

It’s worthwhile to make a monetary investment every year to improve the energy efficiency of your home, but no one is working with an unlimited budget to do everything at once. An energy efficient fridge is enough for one year, a laptop instead of a desktop can be purchased another year down the line. Finding the most cost effective, efficient ways to cool your house will provide you the savings necessary for future investments in home improvement. It doesn’t take a fortune to cool your house, with the right mix, you can cool your house for free.

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