The summer’s heat makes Americans $11 billion poorer, and the money we spend on AC units releases 100 million tons of CO2 into the air annually. That’s two tons for every home that has one. We all want to be kept cool in hot times, but some green tips – like turning off your lights or not using a dryer when you can -help us stay cost-efficient, while saving our resources. In the middle of a heatwave, it can be challenging to keep cool. Do you have to give up on your green efforts? Absolutely not!
Here are five ways that will help make sure your home stays at an optimal temperature without costing too much money or harming the environment in any way.
1. Ventilate
When the days get hot, it’s essential to take all necessary precautions. Ventilation is one such precaution that will keep your home cool and comfortable during those long summer months. To properly ventilate a house when its temperature starts to rise too high, simply open windows at night once you notice that temperatures have cooled off during the evening hours. The warm air from inside of your home needs somewhere else to go instead of gathering throughout different rooms in small pockets, causing things like mould growth, or an increase in energy bills due to additional cooling being needed consistently; because there isn’t enough circulation within the walls and ceiling space as well.
2. Don’t use heat-producing appliances
Your electronic appliances generate a lot of heat, and although most don’t produce much when used, some do. To avoid warming up your home even more during the day, try not to use these three hot potato appliances: ovens, clothes dryers, or dishwashers. These devices rely on generating heat which makes them very effective, but increases the temperature inside your house. If possible, you should only use these machines at night or early in the morning hours – this way it will be cooler outside too! In addition, always wash dishes by hand and hang dry clothing instead of using high-energy using dryers that make things hotter than necessary indoors.
3. Landscape for shades
We all have the right to enjoy a cool living area in our homes without the hassle of expensive air conditioning bills. With just some simple changes to your landscaping, you can reduce direct sunlight and save money on energy! Planting tall shrubbery along east-facing sides or west-facing windows will help cut down exposure by 10 degrees which means less heat for humans too. If this is not an option, then at least make sure there are bushy low-lying plants around your outdoor AC unit so it does not get as warm while running constantly throughout summer days.
4. Use quality blinds or curtains
The heat of the summer is enough to suck all your energy without ultraviolet rays. A great way to keep those pesky UVs out, primarily through windows in west-facing rooms, is by installing window blinds that block 99% or more of light, and stay put thanks to magnets. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight can be dangerous because it causes skin cancer and other health problems like sunburned eyes. If you spend time indoors during the day with lots of southern exposure, using a shade solution may help reduce these risks while still letting natural light into your home.
5. Turn on fans
Ventilation is essential to keep your house cool and environmentally friendly during the summer. The tip above is excellent, but there’s a way you can kick it up another notch: ceiling and pedestal fans!
When outdoor temperatures begin to drop at night, open windows on both sides of the house with an east-west orientation (pulling air in from one side while pushing air out on the other) or use two different types of fans for each room. Ceiling Fans work better than regular ones because they circulate cooler nighttime winds to expedite the ventilation process.
Wrap-up
Plant some trees! Trees not only provide shade in the summer; they also help to cool and moisten the air. Planting deciduous trees around our houses – such as maple or ash – west of your home will block the sunlight during the summer but let it through during wintertime.
The process called evapotranspiration is responsible for cooling down a place by releasing water vapor into our atmosphere from leaves and other plant surfaces – this can make you feel cooler when next near those plants because its evaporating moisture creates an “air conditioning” effect on us too!
