Keeping your House Cool in Hot Weather:

When summer weather hits it can be extremely hot in some parts of the country. Nevada and Arizona consistently see temperatures above 100 degrees from June to August and many other regions like Palm Springs and the central valley of California see temps around triple digits during the summer. Using your air conditioning can be expensive and it's not good for the environment to run it all the time. Keeping a home cool in the warmer months without using your AC unit can be a tough task, but there are plenty of ways to keep the usage to a minimum. Heat rises, so two story homes can be a bad choice if you are considering living in one of these hot parts of the country. Many homes built in Las Vegas or Phoenix were single level for the last 2 decades, but with the runup in home prices and builders trying to stretch usable land, more homes are being built with 2 stories on smaller lots making them harder to cool off in the summertime. On a day were the temperature is 100 outside, you may be able to keep your lower level at a reasonable 85, but the upper floor will probably be at least 7 degrees warmer and not the place you want to be during the peak temperature of the day.

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Air conditioning is a convenient way for many of us to cool our homes, but some people go overboard and try keeping the temperature at around 70 degrees even in places where the outside temps are 100 or more. This puts an immense strain on your AC unit plus it doesn't help the environment at all. A more reasonable temperature is closer to 78 or 80 inside. You can acclimate to it over time, raise the temperature on your air conditioner each day a degree or two until you reach the 78 degree level. It's the opposite of using your furnace in the winter when you can easily set your temperature at night to be 65 degrees or lower (not the 68 or 70 that some people choose). I grew up in California and we had no air conditioner in our house, so my father became quite inventive on how to keep the house cool. We were lucky that we had lots of huge oak trees in our yard to help shade the house at varying times of the day, but when the heat waves came (they always do), it was much tougher to keep the house livable. In many articles I read in newspapers or online websites there is one telling point that really hits home. Most rooms in your house go unused most of the day, so using your air conditioner to cool off rooms that are not being used is silly and a waste of energy. Many experts recommend getting a portable AC unit, one that sits in your window or similar. Some of the newer models are energy efficient and do a great job of cooling off smaller rooms where perhaps the family is most of the day. I live in a neighborhood with 2 story homes and many of my immediate neighbors work from home. During the summer months here in the Portland, OR region we get temperatures that are regularly 85 degrees or warmer and the upstairs in our houses can become quite hot without using AC. Since the kids are gone all day, I have no reason to cool off the whole house so I bought a room air conditioning system that only cools off my office (one of my neighbors does the same thing). I stay cool throughout the warm days and save on my energy usage. This is just one way to cut back on air conditioning and wasting energy during the warm weather. We found lots of tips and secrets on various websites and in newspaper articles. You can also visit your local gas or electric company website to get their expert advice on saving energy and using less air conditioning during the summer.

Interior Tips:

There are several useful tips on keeping your house cool that are simple to do. Firstly, keep all blinds and shades closed during the warm hours of the day. You can "cool" off your house or apartment naturally by using the cooler evening or early morning air that can circulate throughout your home if you leave the windows open during the night. Temperatures usually drop off by 20 degrees or more from the daytime temps at night, so it's a good idea to let that cool air inside your home and then in the morning close up the windows and shut the blinds to keep it inside your home while it heats up outside. We understand that not everyone lives in a safe neighborhood where it would be safe to leave windows open at night. In this case we suggest leaving 2nd story windows open to help a bit. I heard of several cases last year where thiefs look for homes to rob on warm evenings when they know that some homeowners will seek relief from the hot temps and leave windows open. Fans are another excellent way to keep air circulating and hopefully pushing warm air out and getting cooler air into your home. Ceiling fans can make a big difference and help create a breeze in your house. If you place fans in strategic places in your home you will notice a difference and at least keep the air circulating throughout. They are cheap to buy at about $15 while installing a ceiling fan may be a bit more expensive. Try to stay in your downstairs rooms on hot days and avoid the upstairs until the evening hours when you can open up windows and let the breeze cool off your house. Basements are great in the midwest since they stay much cooler naturally than the rest of the house.

Exterior Tips:

The biggest thing you can do is to plant a trees or larger bushes near your exterior windows to help keep shade on your house even when the sun is at its hottest. I notice as the sun moves across the front of our house from east to west each day, that by 2 PM or so the front of the house is baking. We have 2 trees that are growing that protect the front of the house from direct sunlight and over the last few years I see a big difference in how hot those rooms get near the front of the house. Of course, if you don't already have trees planted it could take years to get shade. Other solutions for immediate shade are things like awnings over exterior windows to get more shade. Awning can definitely help protect your windows from taking in a lot of heat. You can also get window film which goes on the window itself and helps block some of the heat that would normally come right into your house.

When to Use Air Conditioning:

There are times when using air conditioning is essential to your survival. The older population have a hard time when the interior room temperatures get too high and they quickly dehydrate. There have been cases in larger cities when a heat wave rolls through where dozens of elderly people die due to the heat. Animals and small children are also susceptible to the warmer conditions and so it is ok to use a room AC unit or go to the mall for a few hours to escape the heat if needed. Most heat waves don't last for weeks on end, so learn to adapt for the few days that the temperatures each 100+ and you should be ok. For those of you living in Las Vegas, Palm Springs or Phoenix, you will need air conditioning to survive.

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