The dog days of summer are here. If your home isn’t staying as cool as you’d like, you don’t have to swelter in the heat – or have a sky-high electric bill to avoid melting. Luckily, here’s how to keep your home cooler this summer.

 

Close the Curtains/Drapes/Shades

When it’s hot outside, closing your window coverings will help keep your room cooler. The Department of Energy says that using window treatments can decrease the amount of heat that enters a room by up to 77 percent. As a bonus, the same strategies also work in the winter to minimize heat loss through windows.
If you have louvered blinds or interior shutters, angle them upward. That makes it less likely that hot sun will creep in through gaps.

Turn Off the Lights When Not in Use

Incandescent bulbs – they’re still around for certain size and types of lamps and fixtures – give off a lot of heat so turn off the lights when not in use. Even if you have converted fully over to compact fluorescent, halogen or LED lighting, if the bulb gets hot after being on for 20 minutes, that heat is contributing to the room temperature.

Close the Doors in Unused Rooms

If you don’t have central air, closing the doors to rooms that don’t have their own air conditioning minimizes the space to be cooled. Just be careful because those closed-off rooms will get extra hot, which might lead to using your air conditioning more later to offset it. This tactic is best used carefully. Maybe just shut off the unused rooms to trap in cool air while sleeping when it’s somewhat cooler already.

Exhaust Fans

Use your kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans to draw out heat from cooking or showering so it doesn’t contribute to the overall temperature.

Consider Ductless Air Conditioning

If you use window units but they’re not keeping the whole house cool, talk to the experts at Tragar about adding ductless air conditioning, especially split units, to supplement. Ductless AC involves flexible installation and only a small hole drilled in the exterior wall. It can be a great addition to rooms that don’t or can’t have a window unit.

Try Heat-Reducing Film

One step up from using curtains, drapes, and blinds to keep out heat is using heat-reducing film on your windows. Radiant heat from sunlight through windows can significantly heat a room. Heat-reducing window film can decrease that and also help retain more warmth in the winter. You can still use blinds/curtains/drapes to further decrease the heat that can enter through windows and minimize the cold loss in the winter.

Invest in a Dehumidifiers

Part of what air conditioning does is pull humidity out of the air, making it feel cooler. A dedicated dehumidifier can assist your air conditioning, regardless of the type of cooling system you have, by efficiently removing excess water from the air.

Smart Thermostats Save Money

Adding a programmable thermostat or a smart thermostat can lower your overall cooling costs by keeping the house at a moderate temperature when you’re out. Additionally, you can program a smart thermostat to increase the air conditioning shortly before you get home. This will also benefit you in the winter by controlling when your heat comes on with more flexibility. For air conditioning, if you have window units, see if they have a timer or programmable function.

Keep Your Air Conditioner Filters Clean

Whether you have central air, window air conditioners or ductless air conditioning, they’ll have an air filter. The more those filters clog with dust, the longer and harder it is for your air conditioning to cool your house. Change your filters or, if they’re plastic permanent filters, wash them according to the pace the instructions indicate. Even if you replace the filters, the money you save by running your AC less will make up for the filter cost – and you’ll have less dirt, dust, and allergens enter your home.

Ceiling Fans

Used with air conditioning of any kind, ceiling fans can pull cool air into rooms that don’t have a dedicated unit and improve air-flow for better cooling. The blade direction can also be reversed in the winter to push warm air down from the ceiling, making you more comfortable.

Keep Cool with Tragar

Let Tragar help you stay cool this summer by keeping your cooling system well maintained and installing accessories, like a programmable thermostat, to enhance its results. Tragar and our HVAC experts take care of it. Contact us today.