Tricks to Cut AC Use and Keep your Home Cool
New Jersey folks have seen some sweltering temperatures already this summer. And when the mercury’s tipping past 100, that AC dial sure starts to look like the best solution. You’re in good company! But with the high price of energy rates this season, that’s really going to sting your wallet. So we’ve ferreted out four simple ways to cut AC use whilst keeping your home cool. Here’s how you can put them into practice.
#1: Use your Ceiling Fan Wisely!
Firstly: for summer, make sure to set your fan to counterclockwise. In this direction, the tilt of the fan blades means it’ll be pushing air down from the ceiling onto you below. This speeds up what’s called the evaporative cooling process, which is when heat is removed from your body as sweat evaporates off your skin. It’s the same reason that a breeze feels cool even on a hot day – and you can recreate that by getting your fan dial right!
#2: Ventilate, ventilate, ventilate
Taking hot showers and running laundry loads will release warm vapour into the air. And this can really crank up the heat in your home. To combat this, use your ventilation fans! They’ll whip that warm vapour straight outside, which will ease the strain on your AC. Also, make sure you’ve closed the doors on those rooms when the faucets and machines are running – and where possible, run that water cold!
#3: Cover Up your Windows!
Over three quarters of the sunlight hitting your average double-glazed window gets transferred into your home in the form of heat. But you can drastically reduce this by covering them in the right materials. To do this most effectively, get online and find curtains or drapes in a pale colour, backed in white plastic. These lighter colors are better at reflecting heat, as is plastic.
Make sure they’re fully closed too, and overlap the inner edges if there’s enough fabric. And if possible, seal the outer edges to the wall when you put them up. You can do on the cheap with some stickyback velcro strips. This is because that gap between the fabric and the pane is going to get real toasty. And you want to stop that air leaking into your home.
#4 Leverage Those Cooler Nights
One small mercy is that these scorching temperatures don’t stick around 24/7. And once outside temperatures start to cool in the evening, you can give your AC a rest by pulling that air into your home.
It’s called cross-ventilation. A fancy term, but it basically involves opening multiple doors and windows on opposite sides of your house so that wind passes in one side and out the other. The result? A nice breeze of cool outside air, and a chance to give your power-hungry AC a break!
Cut AC Use Now for Summer Savings!
So stay safe out there folks! It might be tempting to crank that AC. But if you can avoid doing so, you’ll save yourself a pretty penny when it comes to bill day. While these are just four simple solutions that cut AC use, there’s other ways to save energy, too. And if you want more summer savings advice, stay tuned with www.NJenergyratings.com!