Summer is going to be here soon, and believe it or not, it’s going to get HOT! Keeping your home cool costs energy as well as money, and here are a few things you can do in the span of a weekend to help keep your home cooler during the dog days of summer. Follow these 3 tips and you are guaranteed to save big bucks on your summer cooling bill. You have the power to choose lower energy costs.
1. Caulk your Windows
The cool air you pump into your home, be it from central air or window air conditioners, will find air passageways in your home and escape. The biggest places it escapes from are doors and windows. By caulking your windows you are closing off an avenue of escape. Caulk is very inexpensive to buy, and if you aren?t using it you are just throwing money away.
2. Buy sun blocking blinds.
The rays of the sun travel through the glass in your window, and they will heat your home no matter what time of the year it is. These rays will also pass through cloth curtain and Venetian blinds. In the winter, the sun shining through a window will cut down on your heating costs, but in the summer it can make your home miserably hot. Sun blocking blinds are inexpensive and easy to install, and they do a marvelous job of blocking out the suns rays. If you have curtains, the sun blocking blinds can be installed to hang underneath them. When you close these blinds during the times when the angle of the sun is at it’s highest, you will be amazed at how much cooler your home will be and how much less energy you will need to use.
3. Add insulation to your attic.
The attic is one hot place, especially where I live – Texas. The hotter it is the more heat will escape into your home that is why you need insulation to keep the cool air inside your home. By adding insulation you can not only lower the temperature in your attic but also your home where the money/ air is escaping.
In each one of these cases, the amount of money you spend versus the amount of money you save in energy costs will put you at a plus every single time. Installing blinds, caulking your windows, and adding insulation are all things that can be done in a single weekend, and in some cases a single day. There is no reason not to do them, and there are some very good (and green) reasons for doing them.
