- Raise your thermostat to 78ยบ. This is the number one way to conserve energy.
- When you are away from home for more than eight hours, raise the thermostat setting and you can expect to see a 1% savings for each degree of setback. This will reduce the amount of energy used to cool your home while you're away.
- Keep shades closed when the air conditioner is on. Sunny windows account for 40 percent of unwanted heat and can make your air conditioner work two to three times harder.
For more ways to beat the heat, see our top ten summer tips.
7 comments:
I've been keeping the shades closed during this hot spell and it has really helped. The house has stayed cool without the a/c running non-stop!
I'd also recommend keeping unnessecary appliances unplugged. Appliances use energy and generate this heat. Even if the appliance is off but plugged in, it is still using energy and generating some form of heat.
To keep my swimming pool clean I used to run the filter pump motor around the clock. Now I run the motor overnight from 7 pm to 7 am resulting in 50% saving and the pool water is still clear and clean.
Lesson: Question own habitual use of energy. One can save big by challenging routine practices.
Consider purchasing a programmable thermostat. I did. The savings on my electric bill paid for the thermostat and then some.
You can save energy and keep your home more comfortable by making a box cover for your attic stairway or access opening. Simply duct tape pieces of insulated sheathing, available at building supply stores, together to form a five sided box that sits over your attic opening. The insulated box will rest on the attic floor above the opening and keep hot air from entering your home.
My attic is pretty well insulated but it's been hot up there ever since the first day we've had temps above 90. I have soffit vents too but the air does not seem to be moving up there. Consequently, our bedroom (which has cathedral ceiling) is also warmer than it should be. Do you recommend an attic fan? I heard it's possible attic fans can actually draw conditioned air out of the living space, so wondering your opinion.
Nira, just as you allude to, there are pros and cons to an attic fan. The few arguments in favor of attic fans are driven by the fact they can reduce temperature in an upstairs room by 3-4 degrees in the summer. In addition, they have a “spot cooling effect” that allows the homeowner to keep the thermostat higher for all other rooms in the house and achieve a comfortable upstairs temperature.
However, arguments against attic fans take majority. An attic vent fan can be used to exhaust hot air from the attic, but it is not recommended. The energy saved by exhausting the hot air is about the same energy it takes to run the fan. Besides, attic fans have a tendency to pull conditioned air from the house into the attic. From a mathematical standpoint, a 1/3 horsepower attic fan costs a homeowner about $7.20 per month (running 8 hrs/day) – quickly adding onto the electricity bill. As one last point, attic fans and roof turbines are mainly used in existing structures as a last resort to ventilation.
Enjoy!
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