Summer is almost here, and the focus has rapidly shifted from keeping your home warm in the winter to keeping it cool for the sweltering summer months ahead. Interestingly, this can be just as expensive, as air conditioning comes at a significant cost.
This article offers five suggestions to help you save money with regard to keeping cool this summer, but the first overarching principle is to keep the cost of your energy down as low as possible; there are many ways to do that such as using less energy, but often a more practical solution is to simply switch energy providers in order to find the best possible deal.
You could also embrace the power of the summer sun to provide solar energy to your home.
- TURN UP THE THERMOSTAT
There’s often no need to live in a fridge like environment, even though it’s hot outside, so turn up the thermostat to a comfortable ambient temperature that takes less energy to keep cool. The instinct, when you’ve come from the hot outdoor temperature is to set the temperature extremely low in order to instantly cool down, but it’s much more efficient to keep it at a sustainable temperature rather than demanding short blasts of cold air each time you come back in.
A further tip is to keep your doors and windows shut in order to keep the cool air in, and keep the temperature at a constant rather than keep turning it up and down.
- MAKE USE OF A TIMER
The majority of modern thermostats come with a timer – meaning the cooling system will kick in just before you get home, as there’s no point keeping your house cool all day if you’re not even going to be there.
- LIMIT THE NUMBER OF ROOMS YOU COOL
Similarly, you probably don’t need to air condition every room in your house. There will be a number of rooms in which you spend most of your time; so focus on these – and keep the doors closed.
- INSULATE
Insulation is known for keeping the heat in, yet it can also help keep the heat out of your property too.
- WEAR LESS CLOTHES
Whilst this sounds incredibly simplistic, it’s akin to the idea that people heat their houses in winter so that they can be comfortable in just a pair of shorts and t-shirt. In fact, many of us will have the air conditioning so low that we will need to dive under the covers, as we turn our bedrooms into ice boxes in the summer months.
That said, there’s no need to become a naturist, as it’s just about keeping a healthy level of awareness and mindfulness about not wearing too many clothes, in order to naturally stay cooler.
The other thing you’ll want to consider, as the majority of us tend to get very hot in the night in summer months, is to adapt your bedding to summer sheets, so that it’s more suitable for the hot temperatures at night. This way, you can save on the air conditioning and hopefully with a good supply of fresh air will remain comfortable.
