If you’re based in an area that receives warm weather year-round or is known for brutally hot summers, staying cool is likely among your foremost priorities. However, as most homeowners can attest, keeping a home consistently cool when faced with relentlessly hot weather can be a very expensive undertaking. Fortunately, while creating a comfortably cool home can be a bit of a challenge, it needn’t prove particularly daunting, time-consuming or expensive. Homeowners looking for effective – and cost-effective – ways to defend their residences against uncomfortably warm temperatures can benefit from the following pointers.
Install Dependable Ceiling Fans
Ceiling fans can be among your most valuable summertime cooling aids – provided, of course, they’re properly utilized. Although many people tend to view them as second-tier alternatives to air conditioning, this couldn’t be further from the truth. For starters, reliable ceiling fans can effectively complement the efforts of your central air conditioning system. By installing high-quality ceiling fans in key areas of your home, you can efficiently circulate the cool air produced by your AC, thereby relieving your air conditioning system of some of its burden.
Additionally, even without the help of AC, ceiling fans can produce refreshingly cool breezes. Simply adjust your fans’ blades to rotate counterclockwise to enjoy a downward-flowing breeze that will help you beat the heat. For maximum cooling, every area of your home should be outfitted with at least one ceiling fan. Furthermore, when searching for the right fans, it’s important to remember that not all ceiling fans are created equal. To ensure that you wind up with the ideal fans for your home, look for ones that feature a variety of rotation speeds, have garnered a wide range of positive reviews and come with convenient manufacturer guarantees.
Have Your AC Regularly Serviced
There’s no denying that constantly running your air conditioning throughout the summer months can cost a pretty penny. However, this isn’t to say that AC should never be utilized. In fact, depending on where you’re based, a good central air conditioning system may be nothing short of a necessity.
By having your air conditioning system serviced at least once a year, you stand to save yourself a tremendous amount of time, money and hassle. An experienced heating and cooling technician will be able to spot and remedy small problems before they have a chance to become larger, costlier issues. In addition, they’ll swap out any old parts and administer a thorough cleaning to your system, which will keep it running at peak efficiency all summer long. The more worn-down certain components become, the harder your system has to work – and the harder your system has to work, the more energy it expends, which generally results in heightened utility costs. So, in the interest of saving yourself some dough and preserving your AC system for years to come, commit to annual service visits.
Upgrade to Energy-Efficient Doors and Windows
Unbeknownst to many homeowners, a fair amount of air escapes through doors and windows. In addition to being inconvenient, this often contributes to high heating costs during the winter and high cooling costs during the summer. One way to nip this problem in the bud is upgrading to energy-efficient doors and windows. As the name suggests, these doors and windows tend to be much thicker than their standard-grade counterparts, which can prove tremendously beneficial to keeping energy costs under control.
Many of us are hesitant to make the jump to energy-efficient doors and windows because of the upfront cost. While it’s true that they’ll run you more than traditional doors and windows, the amount you’ll save in utility costs means that they’ll practically pay for themselves over time.
Even if you live in an area that receives bitterly cold winters, excessively hot summers aren’t likely to prove much more comfortable. In addition to causing such serious ailments as exhaustion, dehydration and heatstroke, intense summertime heat can also be downright uncomfortable. This can be particularly frustrating for homeowners, as many of them struggle to keep their residences sufficiently cool throughout the sweltering summer months. Even if your home features a high-quality central air conditioning system, running around the clock is liable to bleed your finances dry. So, if a comfy, cool home is what you’re after, put the measures discussed above to good use.