Block Out the Sun
While sunlight can add picturesque natural lighting to certain areas of your home, it also stands to increase indoors temps, especially during the summer months. Needless to say, the hotter your home gets, the harder your air conditioning has to work – and the harder your AC has to work, the more you can expect to pay in utility costs. With this in mind, you should take active measures to keep indoor sunlight to a minimum. Fortunately, there are a number of easy – and cost-effective – ways to go about this.
For starters, you can outfit your windows with thermal curtains. Also known as “blackout curtains,” these curtains are composed of much thicker materials than standard window dressings. This ensures that they’re well-equipped to block out sunlight and seal in cool air. As an added bonus, thermal curtains can also prove convenient during the frosty winter months, when they can help seal in warm air and keep cool air at bay. In other words, thermal curtains are far from a seasonal investment.
If you’re not keen on the idea of replacing your current window dressings, look into purchasing blackout screens. Per the name, these screens are designed to block out sunlight. Additionally, most blackout screens can be effortlessly applied to windows and are affordable on even the tightest budget. However, while they tend to be slightly less expensive than thermal curtains, blackout screens are unlikely to last nearly as long. Although some screens may last as long as several years, most of them aren’t designed to last forever – particularly the stick-on variety. Speaking of which, if this is the type of screen you purchase, just know that once you’ve removed it from its respective window, you probably won’t be able to reapply it.
Install High-Quality Ceiling Fans
Good ceiling fans can be a tremendous boon to your summertime cooling efforts. Not only can they work in tandem with your central air conditioning system, they can also function as useful cooling aids in their own right. To truly get the most out of your ceiling fans, make sure to install at least one fan in every area of your home, as this will help ensure even distribution of cool air. You can also enable your fans to produce a downward-flowing cool breeze by setting their blades to rotate counterclockwise.
When searching for the right ceiling fans, just remember that not all fans are equally obliging. To ensure that you don’t wind up with the wrong fans, limit your options to fans that have received positive consumer reviews, feature a variety of user-friendly settings and can be installed and adjusted with ease.
Take Advantage of Nighttime Temps
If the temperatures in your neck of the woods tend to get much cooler overnight, you should consider using this to your advantage. Once the sun goes down and the temp starts to drop, switch off your AC, open some windows and allow your ceiling fans to distribute the cool air throughout your home. In addition to giving your air conditioning a break, this will enable you to enjoy your evenings in comfort without having to worry about how much such comfort stands to cost you.
You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t love summer. Optimal travel conditions, ample opportunities for outdoor recreation and family gatherings are just a few of the great things the season has to offer. However, by the sake token, you’d be equally hard-pressed to find someone who relished the exorbitant home cooling costs that summertime brings. So, if running your air conditioning 24/7 is no longer financially tenable, put the previously discussed pointers to good use.
