When the temperature rises, you want to be comfortable, but you do not want to significantly enhance your energy bills. It is all about balance and knowing when to use simpler means so that you can temporarily turn off your AC or take advantage of swamp cooler shut down. With the right mixture of methods and timing everything right, you can be confident that no matter how hot it is outside, you and your family will be comfortable when spending time at home.
Utilize Your Swamp Cooler
This is one of the handiest devices for helping to keep your home cooler. However, you need to make sure that you are taking care of it to prevent premature swamp cooler shutdown. First, ensure that it is clean on its exterior. A damp cloth is generally sufficient. As long as you wipe it down regularly, debris and impurities will not be able to build up.
Next, you want to check the cooling pads and replace them as needed. When you use this unit regularly, changing the pads at the beginning of summer and toward the middle of the season is generally adequate. Other important maintenance tasks include ensuring proper water levels at all times, cleaning the water tank regularly and using the right water treatment tablets.
Use Your Ceiling Fans
If you have these fans in your home, the hot summer months are the perfect time to take advantage of them. These fans help to improve the overall airflow which can pull the cool air from your AC throughout your home. This allows for a better balance of temperature. A breeze of just 1.7 miles per hour is often enough to make a noticeable difference in your home’s internal temperature.
Use a Dehumidifier
When your home is hot, it is often the humidity and not the direct heat that makes you feel so miserable. A dehumidifier can help to pull the moisture out of the air, making it feel a lot more comfortable. This is generally not something that you have to worry about in dry climates, but elsewhere, alleviating humidity can make a big difference in your overall comfort when you are at home. It can also make it easier to breathe.
Close the Blinds in Your Home
Your blinds and curtains can play a major role in how comfortable your home is during the warm summer months. Remember that the sunlight penetrates your windows and this result in heat getting into your home. When you keep your blinds closed during the daylight hours, you can reduce unwanted heat by as much as 30 percent and this has the potential to decrease the overall internal temperature by up to 20 degrees.
Turn Off the Lights
Every light that you have on in your home is contributing to an increase in temperature. A light bulb in a lamp might not seem like a lot, but if you get close enough to it, you can feel the heat radiating from it. So, turn off those lights, at least during the day, and consider LED light bulbs because not only are they the more efficient choice for illuminating your home, but they also contribute less heat when they are running to keep your home more comfortable.
It is best to use a mixture of these methods because this will bring down the internal temperature the most and keep it down. If you have air conditioning, do not be shy about taking advantage of it when necessary. You can still use these techniques with your air conditioner so that you do not have to turn the thermostat as low. This will still allow you to save some energy without sacrificing your comfort.
