Summer is finally here and as temperatures rise here are 10 tips on keeping your energy bills low and your house cool. The best ideas are those that keep the heat out of your home in the first place, rather than paying to pump it out after it gets in. We have captured some great ideas from LOHAS monthly e-newsletter - stay cool and enjoy the energy savings!
1. Use awnings - According to the Washington Post, The Department of Energy estimates that awnings can reduce solar heat gain-the amount temperature rises because of sunshine-by as much as 65% on windows with southern exposures and 77% on those with western exposures. Your furniture will last longer, too.
2. Plant A Tree - Many of us don't have air conditioning units in Steamboat; however we do have lots of great trees shading our homes. Our neighbor's house has giant blue spruce that eliminates beaming rays in the late afternoon sun and our front yard boasts a great maple keeping temperatures cool throughout the day. A tree is as sophisticated as any electronic device around; it lets the sun through in winter and grows leaves in summer to block it. Make sure and do your homework prior to planting to ensure proper tree placement for the most benefits!
3. Plant Vines - Vines such as ivy, Russian-vine and Virgina creeper grow quickly and have an immediate effect; according to Livingroofs.org. Climbers can dramatically reduce the maximum temperatures of a building by shading walls from the sun, the daily temperature fluctuation being reduced by as much as 50%. Together with the insulation effect, temperature fluctuations at the wall surface can be reduced from between -10°/14°F to 60°C/140°F to between 5°C/41°F and 30°/86°F. Vines also cool your home through envirotranspiration, by acting a "second skin" to your home.
4. Tune your Windows - This is not a new concept - windows on your home are not just holes in the wall that you open or close, they are actually part of a sophisticated ventilation machine. Be strategic in the times of day and windows in which you open. One tip we found was in regards to double hung windows - when air passes over your home, it works the same way as it does over an airplane wing: the Bernoulli effect causes the air on top and on the downwind side of the house to be at a lower pressure than on the upwind side. So if you have double hung windows, you can open the bottom section of the upwind side of the house and the upper section of the downwind side, and the low pressure will suck the air through your house. Make the outlet openings larger than the inlet opening, it increases the draft.
5. Get a Ceiling Fan - Did you know that moving air evaporates moisture from your skin and keeps you cooler? Plus, ceiling fans can save you some cash since they operate at a fraction of central and window air-conditioning units (and they can work great in tandem with your A/C if global warming has you sweating it out). As Energy Star reminds us, ceiling fans help keep you cool, rather than cooling the entire room.
6. Paint Your Roof - In much the same way that ice/snow reflects UV rays instead of absorbing the heat the way the oceans do, cities are now giving white roofs a second look as a way to cool cities and fight climate change. The Los Angeles Times reports that the Climate Change Research Conference, held this week, advised that if buildings and road surfaces in 100 of the largest cities in the US were covered with lighter and heat-reflective surfaces the savings could be massive.
7. Install Operable Shutters or External Blinds - The best way to deal with unwanted solar gain is to keep it out in the first place. One can do that with properly designed overhangs or bris soleil, which keep out the sun in summer but are designed to let it in during winter. However this is not very flexible. Another option is the exterior blind, quite common in Europe or Australia but expensive and hard to find in North America, where upfront cost always loses out to operating cost. Shutters really are the most amazing overlooked technology. They provide ventilation, security, shading and storm protection in one simple device.
8. Get an Attic Fan - A lot of people run expensive air conditioning when it is actually pretty cool out- after the sun has been baking a California house all day it can be cool in the evening but the house is still holding a couple of hundred thousand BTUs of heat. In more temperate parts of the country, just moving the air and having good ventilation could eliminate the need for AC much of the time.
9. Don't Cook Hot Food Inside - There is a reason our ancestors built summer kitchens; those stoves put out a lot of heat and you didn't want them in your house in summer. Outside summer kitchens are all the rage in the luxury house/ mcmansion set as well. It really makes no sense to run a stove inside, just to then spend money to run air conditioning to remove the heat again. So get a gas barbecue and grill your vegetables, take advantage of farmers markets to get fresh stuff, and eat lots of salad.
10. Be Smart Where You Put Your Money and Energy - John's graph from the Florida Solar Energy Center says it all. When the weatherization contractors come to get you to insulate your house, (the most expensive thing you can do to save energy) you can show them that this makes no sense, only 7% of the cooling load is coming through the walls. A couple of hours with a caulking gun to reduce infiltration would do more.
When they tell you that you need to install expensive new low-e tinted windows, remember that an awning or a shutter is more sophisticated and flexible; you have the choice whether to let the sun in or not.
Tape up your ducts, turn off your computers and save your money. The simple, low-tech tried and true methods cost less, save more energy and work forever.
If you are looking for instant gratification, hit the road and head up to Steamboat Lake for a summer outing on one of their great boats and take a dip at the swim beach...can't get much cooler than that!
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