Trying to beat the summer heat without beating up your bank account to cover that electricity bill? I am with you. And I’ve got some seriously simple tips to keep your home cool this summer in an energy efficient way.
I’ve got 10 really simple, energy efficient ways for you to beat the heat this summer while saving money.
1. Swap It Out
LED light bulbs produce light without generating heat unlike traditional incandescent bulbs. We have a bunch of recessed lighting in our kitchen and it really can feel HOT with regular bulbs. We use the LED bulbs in pretty much every light fixture in the house (and outside).
BONUS: They use up to 90% less energy and can last for more than 20 years, saving up to $80 over the bulb’s lifetime. PPL Electric Utilities customers can learn more about LEDS and get instant discounts at participating stores.
2. Fan Girl (or Boy)
We’ve been doing this and it seriously helps. This is the trick though: Fans cool rooms, not people. So turn it off when you leave the room! I keep reminding the kids. 🙂 You can feel such a difference in the temp when you run a fan (try to blow the cooler air to your face or feet for the best cool down!). We have a ceiling fan in the living room and have been using this Honeywell Tower Fan and I LOVE it. It’s very portable to move from room to room and cools at a range of temps. Highly recommend!
3. Procrastinate Like A Boss
This one I am so good at. Household tasks that generate heat and use energy (think laundry, dishwasher, baking, cooking, etc) are best put off until cooler hours like late afternoon and evening. Don’t add more heat to your house when it’s already hot enough outside. Put it off? Done. 😉
4. Windows, Blinds, & Curtains. Oh My!
Windows can let in a lot of sunshine and a lot of heat. The entire back of our house is one window after another, which I love for light, but it does heat things up when I open it up. Keep the blinds closed during the day or try insulated or blackout curtains to block that heat. When it’s cooler in the evening, open the windows to get a breeze flowing.
5. Change It Up
Keeping your air filter clean will improve how your air conditioner functions. You can find these at Lowe’s or Home Depot or even order online. The better it ‘breathes’, the more efficiently it works. We find that replacing them more often in the summer months helps with allergies too, which everyone in my house suffers with. Generally we change ours out every 3 months per the recommendation on the packaging, but changing out more frequently will keep your air conditioner operating even more efficiently.
TIP: Keep track of when you are due to get a new filter in there by taping a sheet of paper right to your furnace!
6. Get Down
Your home’s cool air sinks to the lowest level. For us, that’s the basement and it feels SO good down there in the hotter months. I’ll often take the kids down there and work on a little project just to get a break from the heat.
7. Set It And Forget It
Use a programmable thermostat to manage the temperature in your house and cool it when people are actually there. This is the same concept as turning off the fan when you leave the room. When no one is home, don’t use the energy (or money) to cool an empty house. If you have pets, keep them in mind of course, but you can safely program your thermostat to a higher temperature when the house is empty. According to the US Department of Energy, that can save as much as 3% per degree!
TIP: Keep heat-generating appliances like the TV or lamps away from your thermostat.
8. Where the Wind Blows
Walk around your house and check your air vents. Are they clear? Remove any furniture or toys (why are there always toys near the vents?!) that are blocking the flow of air. In my daughter’s room, the vent is right below her window and curtain and the air flows right behind the curtain which doesn’t do much to cool her room. A simple vent deflector solved this problem and is making a huge difference in keeping her room comfortable.
9. Fire Up The Grill
This is a big one for us. We grill as much as possible in the summertime. You can find my favorite grilling recipes here! I’m not going to lie: I don’t want to wash the dishes and this solves that problem for me. We also much prefer grilled food, and, it keeps all the heat of cooking outside of the house and doesn’t use any electricity. S’mores over the fire pit also save energy. (You’re welcome for that excuse to eat more of them.)
10. Seal It Up
Just as we did in the wintertime to keep the drafts out, take a peek at your windows and doors and make sure you seal up any cracks and gaps. Keep the warm air where it belongs: outside!
Want to print out some of these ideas and put them on the fridge? Maybe your kids are like mine and need about 50 reminders to turn the fan off. 😉
Lily de Grey says
Hey, Lindsay. Thanks for writing this informative article. I’m always trying to find ways to lower our heating bill and increase our home’s cooling efficiency. I’ll follow your suggestion and check my HVAC’s air filter today; hopefully it’s not too dirty! Do you know what the ideal house temperature is?
Lily de Grey |
Lindsay Frank says
Thanks Lily! That’s a really good question and I’m not sure of the answer. We keep our thermostat around 76 and then use these tips (definitely the fans and keeping the blinds/curtains closed during the day) to keep it cool in the house.
PPL Electric says
Hi Lily. We might be able to help you with the ideal house temp. The U.S. Department of Energy offers the following advice http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/thermostats
Lindsay Frank says
Thanks for that info, PPL!
Veronica Marks says
I learned the hard way that it’s a bad idea to turn on the oven during a hot summer afternoon! Tip number three is probably the most useful for me to keep in mind. I forget to think about things like time of day when I have things I need to get done. I will have to make a more concerted effort to wait til dark to do my laundry and cooking.
Aaron says
I laughed at your Procrastinate Like A Boss point – I think we’re all good at that.
I think a really good point is to set your heating / air con on a timer. There is a common myth that you save energy and money by running them constantly but at a low level. This was proved to be untrue by a study performed by the Energy Saving Trust in the UK.
Hazel Owens says
I like your tip to change out the air filter on your air conditioning regularly. If your filter is all gunked up, it won’t run as efficiently. Replacing it every few months will help your AC provide the best cooling it can, which means you’ll spend less energy to get the same result. Thanks for the tips.
Silas Knight says
Saving money on the heating and cooling bill would be great. You have a lot of great tips to do just that, I will have to start putting off chores until later at night! I also need to remember to change the filter on the HVAC unit, good advice.
Sarah Anderson says
Indeed, getting good shades on your windows is a great way to prevent heat from coming in. The more light your letting in, the more heat that is coming with it. You want to be careful with which sort of shades you get though. If you get a dark shade of certain materials then they actually catch and trap heat. I would suggest looking up which materials don’t do that.
Clark Pacis says
Thanks for sharing. I always try to find ways to lower the costs of our utilities and buy things that could help us save up in general. I guess it’s time to take out my old grill since our stoves use up to much power. Cheers!
electrichelping says
Informative post.
Thanks for sharing the wonderful post with us. Your tips are really beneficial for everyone. I will definitely share it with my friends.
Keep sharing!!
Brian says
These are great tips for staying cool in the summer time! I really liked the info graphic here. Thanks for sharing!