Now that Memorial Day has come and gone, you’ve already likely dusted off your grill, gotten your backyard in order and are ready for summer fun. The weather is certainly warming up.
With the warmer weather and hot summer days just around the corner, now is the perfect time to be thinking about and preparing for ways to limit your energy use. Winter certainly isn’t the only time to be thinking about energy savings in your home. We’ve continued this blog post series with part 2 below, in which we continue to lay out some helpful tips to assist with limiting your overall energy consumption this summer.
- Set your air conditioning thermostat as high as comfortable in the summer. As is the case in the winter, your thermostat can be one of your best friends when it comes to energy efficiency and conservation during the hot summer months. Changing the settings even a few degrees can make a big difference in your overall consumption, not to mention in your monthly energy bill. Set the thermostat to a level that is as high as you can go and still be comfortable in your home. High 70s is a good target for the warmest summer months for your air conditioner thermostat. This will allow the unit to take a bit of a breather and not have to work in overtime, running almost constantly, if the weather becomes very hot inside and out. Remember, the fewer times your AC unit kicks on, the less you’ll have to shell out month over month in energy costs.
- Let your windows and blinds work for you. Your windows and window accessories can be huge factors in reducing the overall energy your home uses and can go a long way toward increasing your home’s performance. If there are moments of coolness outside during the winter (say, at night), open the windows and take advantage of that fresh air. It will also greatly increase the quality of air inside your home. Furthermore, using the window blinds and shades to your advantage can also be key. Shutting the shades during the day when the sun is at its hottest will limit the amount of heat entering the home. Opening them at night is also a great (and low cost!) way to keep your home cool.
- Think about fans. Fans are a great way to get around constantly running your air conditioning unit. If you can stick to only running your AC on very warm days and using ceiling, window or whole-house fans, you could find yourself saving a lot of energy this summer.
Summer is a time for fun in the sun. We should just make sure we’re keeping the heat outdoors where it belongs as much as possible if we don’t want to see our energy costs heat up. We’ll be following up with more summer energy tips shortly. Contact us directly if you’d like to chat about a personalized plan for your home when it comes to summer energy efficiency.
