Beat the Summer Heat

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Babette's Environmental Tip

Beat the Summer Heat

Here are some ways to beat the heat at home without sending your energy bill through the roof.
  • Replace your traditional incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs or LED bulbs. Energy saving light bulbs use up to 75% less energy, last longer, and generate less heat. Energy-efficient light bulbs are included in a no-cost home energy assessment, by the way
  • Take shorter, cooler showers. After a long and sweaty day outdoors, jump into a cool shower. It’s refreshing and reduces the amount of hot water you use on a daily basis.
  • Plant trees around your home. Spend the day outdoors planting trees and shrubs around your home and air conditioning units. Trees will shade your home and AC units, keeping them cooler on hot sunny days.
  • Turn off appliances. This may seem basic, but they can do a surprising amount to reduce your energy costs. Even the most basic appliances use small amounts of energy when not in use. Turn lights off when you’re not in the room and connect your electronic devices (TV, DVR box, stereo, gaming console) to a single power strip and turn it off when the devices aren’t in use.
  • Open your windows. If it’s cool at night, open your windows before you go to bed and close them when you wake up to trap the cooler air inside your home (remember to turn the AC off when the windows are open).
  • Close the blinds and curtains in parts of the house that face the sun, especially during the hottest part of the day. Direct sunlight can cause up to a 40% increase in heat inside your house and will make it harder to cool your home.
  • Grill outdoors when you can (it is summer after all!). Grilling outdoors uses less energy and doesn’t create heat inside your home.
  • If you have one, utilize your ceiling fan. A ceiling fan will allow you to increase the temperature on your thermostat (which means using less energy), and can lower the temperature in your home by up to 10 degrees. A fan will also help to circulate and distribute the cold air.
Posted: 6/21/2016 9:19:45 AM | with 0 comments


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