While many homeowners dread the inevitable post-winter energy bills, there’s no denying that summer can also be expensive when it comes to your utilities. From running the air con to heating your pool, it’s easy to rack up a big electric or gas bill, so it’s essential to look at ways to bring the cost down. Here’s how you can reduce your summer energy bills, while still enjoying your home.
Insulate your home
Homeowners may think that insulation is only useful in winter, so if they live in a warmer state, they may not bother checking whether their home is insulated. However, insulation can also cool your home in summer, as it reflects heat away from your property, keeping a low temperature inside. This means you can run your air conditioning less and save money.
Some areas that need insulating include:
- Walls
- Roofs
- Attics
- Basements
Even if your home is already insulated, if it tends to overheat in the summer, it may be worth checking whether the insulation is thick enough, or whether you could benefit from an extra layer.
Get your air conditioning unit serviced
A regular air conditioning service is an excellent way to ensure your unit is running efficiently. Your unit will be cleaned, and parts such as filters replaced, which means it’ll cool your home faster, create more airflow, and generally work better. This makes it cheaper to run, so it’s worth ensuring you get your unit serviced once a year, preferably before the summer rush.
Get a cooling breeze through the house
Before the sun is up, and once it starts setting in the evening, you can take advantage of the cool breeze outside to lower your home’s temperature naturally. Crack open windows on opposite sides of the house, ideally at the top, and your home will naturally feel cooler. Avoid opening your windows during the hottest part of the day; otherwise, you let the heat in instead of keeping it out.
Keep the stove off
When the house is hot, and you’re spending money cooling it, the last thing you want is to turn the stove on and then have to spend even more running these appliances. Look for no-cook summer recipes that you can make without switching the stove on. Summer brings lots of delicious seasonal produce anyway, so keep things simple.
Keep drapes and blinds closed
Rooms heat up so much faster in direct sunlight, which means you have to keep turning up the AC to get to a comfortable temperature. When you step into a room in the morning that has had the drapes closed all night, it’s so much cooler, so if a room is south facing or gets overheated, keep it shady and cool until the sun passes over.
Nobody wants to go into fall with a big energy bill to pay. Follow the above tips, and you can keep your home cool and comfortable without burning cash.