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Home Maintenance & Renovation
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3 min read
Is your air conditioner working overtime trying to keep your house cool in the summer? For many people, summer means BBQs, beach volleyball, and dips in the pool. With 100-degree days becoming the new norm for much of the country, a hot and miserable home can take the fun right out of summer.
Your AC unit doesn’t need to be the only tool in your arsenal to keep your home cooler. Check out these tips that will help you and your house stay cool, save money, and help reduce your carbon footprint.
1. Blinds and Blackout Curtains
Even though bright sunny days will have you wanting to have all the blinds open, it may be one of the reasons why your home is having a hard time staying cool. Keep blinds shut during the hottest parts of the day or during times when the sun is shining directly into your windows.
You can also invest in some blackout or thermal curtains. These curtains will provide an extra shield to your home to protect you from that harsh summer sun. In fact, these curtains are shown to block heat transferred by windows by up to 24%!
2. Change Your Bedding
Switching out your sheets not only freshens up your bedroom, but it also can be a great way to keep cool. Flannel sheets are great for the winter, but for the summer months, switch it up and use cotton sheets. Cotton breathes easier than flannel so you don’t have to lower the AC so much at night. You may even sleep better with lighter bedding, allowing you to stay cool and ease into a deep slumber without overheating!
3. Seal Off Doors and Windows
This seems obvious, but unseen small cracks in doors and windows can act as a vacuum and rob your home of cool air without you even knowing it! Before the temperatures get too high, spend time looking at each window and door in your home to be sure weather stripping is securely installed and windows are closing properly.
4. Avoid Cooking Indoors
Cooking dinner in the backyard or at the park may be a cooler alternative to being in a steamy kitchen. When you use a hot stove and oven during dinner time it can raise temperatures inside your home, causing your air conditioning unit to have to work harder. It’s time to bust out that grill to avoid overheating your home by cooking outside.
Grilling dinner outside will not only be beneficial to your air conditioning unit, it also cuts electricity costs and creates a fun dinner time routine for the family! You can also prepare meals in a crock pot or slow cooker. Not only will this save you from having to use your oven, but it can be a huge time saver—put dinner in the slow cooker before you leave for work in the morning and come home to a fully cooked meal and a cool home!
5. Change Your Air Filters
If you haven’t already, set a 30-day reminder to check and change your air filters. Even if you have a more durable filter, you should still have a reminder to check in and be sure everything is running efficiently. Dirty filters can cause many issues, including higher energy bills—which is exactly what you should be trying to avoid this summer!
6. Keep Yourself Cool
Can you think back to a time when air conditioning didn’t exist? We’re not saying you should go AC free all summer, but there was a simpler time when people stayed cool year after year without the air conditioning. But, if things get really tough (or if your unit goes out) you can use simple techniques like placing a cold cloth on your neck, sipping ice cold water, or taking a cold shower to cool your body. Also, stick with lightweight fabrics around the house like thin cottons and linens that are super breathable and help cool your body.
A hot and miserable home can take the fun right out of summer. We hope you can put some of these tips to use to help you stay cool in the coming months.
If any of your home-cooling or other projects require a major renovation, you don't have to have a lump of cash on hand or max out your credit cards to do them. There are renovation loan options available that allow you to refinance your home and add the cost of the kitchen (or any other) renovation to the loan balance.
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