Many thanks to Evelyn Long’s article, Beat the Heat With These Cooling Tips for Your Home, which comes just in time for July. Be sure to read Evelyn’s bio at the bottom.
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With climate change, the summer heat has gone from uncomfortable to dangerous. Although you can’t single-handedly slow global warming, you can control your house’s indoor temperature to stay cool and healthy throughout the season with these seven tips.
1. Right-Size Your Air Conditioner
An undersized AC can’t perform well enough to satisfy your cooling load. However, an oversized unit isn’t any better, either. It runs in short cycles, driving down air temperatures too quickly and shutting off before dehumidifying your spaces enough. The air is too moist when indoor relative humidity levels are too high, keeping sweat from evaporating and causing discomfort.
There’s a science behind determining the suitable AC size for your home. Determining its ideal cooling capacity involves measuring your space’s square footage, considering complex room shapes and adjusting the cooling load based on various factors. These include your local climate, room orientation, window count and number of occupants.
Doing this math can make your head spin. Thankfully, a qualified heating, ventilation and air conditioning technician can handle this task and ensure you buy a unit that can keep your indoor relative humidity from exceeding 50% to achieve and maintain desirable comfort levels.
2. Upgrade to Advanced Thermostats
You have two options — programmable and smart devices. Programmable thermostats allow you to set your temperature targets throughout the day. They help your AC efficiently operate when you’re at home, asleep and outside.
Smart thermostats study your AC usage history and auto-adjust air temperature levels based on your preferences. They use geofencing to know when you’re heading home and regulate your home’s indoor climate accordingly so you’re comfortable when you arrive. These devices support Wi-Fi connectivity, allowing you to remotely control them via an app and monitor your home energy use.
Either way, you can beat the heat at home and reduce your utility bill by 10% by setting your dial one degree higher for at least eight hours during the warmest months.
3. Seal Air Leaks
An airtight building envelope is vital to isolate your indoor climate from the outside world. The same logic applies when refrigerating food — you must close your fridge’s door to keep its compartments’ temperatures low enough to inhibit contamination.
An adequately sized AC regulated by a programmable or smart thermostat means nothing when you can’t trap your conditioned air inside. Cool air can escape through holes and cracks, and warm air uses them to infiltrate your space. They’re not always easy to spot, and without proper equipment and expertise, finding them all can be challenging.
Arrange an energy audit to uncover pockets of air leakage throughout your house. An assessor will conduct a blower door test to identify the areas you should cover, caulk or seal with weather strips.
Finishing sealed wall surfaces can be time-consuming. If you don’t have the time and energy to paint, use removable wallpaper instead. It’s a stylish placeholder, beautifying your space until you finish the problem area permanently. You can reroll this peel-and-stick product onto the backing sheet and save it for reuse.
Resource Image: Casart Coverings Crawfish Cotillion Designs
4. Ensure Adequate Insulation
Proper insulation slows conduction — the movement of heat between solid materials. Cooling a tightly sealed yet poorly insulated house on a scorching afternoon is impossible. The problem is an underinsulated space can go unnoticed for a long time. Here are tried-and-true ways to confirm whether you need new insulation:
- Check if your indoor temperatures fluctuate.
- Note when your utility bills are considerably high without changing your home lifestyle drastically.
- Touch your floors, walls and ceilings to see if they’re warm.
- Watch out for conditioned rooms that are hotter than others.
- Pay attention to signs of water leakage or moisture damage.
- Look for pest infestation because most vermin love warmth.
Schedule insulation replacement when you suspect your house insulates heat ineffectively
5. Dine Alfresco
Pleasant weather isn’t the only reason to cook and eat in your backyard in the summer. Preparing food outside also helps keep your indoor humidity levels low because any activity involving water adds more moisture to the air.
The downside of outdoor dining is that hot foods cool and cold beverages get warm more quickly. Use insulated containers and blankets to keep your freshly grilled goods hot and juicy. You can also utilize stainless wine chillers, a portable fridge, or a cooler to keep your drinks ice-cold for hours.
6. Switch Out Inefficient Windows
High-performance windows and glazed exterior doors are critical in keeping your home cool during the hottest months. They help insulate your rooms, block unwanted solar heat, bring outdoor breezes in when open and prevent air leakage when closed.
Get new ones if your windows are dated and fail to maximize the wall openings they cover for better air circulation. The ideal replacement windows vary by location since each region requires various minimum energy ratings for optimal comfort.
For example, if you generally experience hot, humid weather, buy products with a U-value of .35 or less and the lowest solar heat gain coefficient you can find to maintain your desired indoor climate with less energy.
Furthermore, replace fixed windows with operating units. Single-hung windows limit natural ventilation since only one of their panels opens. Picture windows are worse because they’re nothing more than a glass wall.
Upgrade your single-hung windows to casement units to render almost 100% of the wall opening available for ventilation. Use grilles to make them look like single- or double-hung windows and keep them aesthetically accurate for your house’s architecture.
You can turn picture windows into bay or bow windows. Either style can have multiple operating units. Alternatively, you can incorporate sliding, casement, double-hung and awning units into your picture windows to increase natural ventilation in your space.
7. Move Air with Fans
Ceiling fans help improve comfort throughout the summer by creating a wind chill effect. They increase air movement, which feels colder on your skin upon contact. It accelerates sweat evaporation and helps your body cool down more quickly. This phenomenon gives you the luxury of raising your thermostat setting by 4 degrees Fahrenheit to cut electricity usage without sacrificing comfort.
Moreover, window fans can expel warm indoor air to the outside. Installing them in wall openings opposite your house’s windward side while opening the windows facing the prevailing wind promises the best results. This setup increases cross-ventilation, allowing your space to cool itself using fresh breezes from outside.
Enjoy Cool Summers from Here on Out
The summer heat intensifies as climate change progresses. While this reality is inconvenient, you can keep your home’s indoor temperatures in check with these tips and comfortably weather the hot and muggy season.
Resource Image: Casart Coverings Casart Decor Cloudy Cumulus Clouds Design
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Additional posts & resources:
- Beat the Summer Heat with Cool Walcoverings
- Celebrating Summer with American Style All Year Long
- Commune with Nature with Nature Noticed Designs
- Bringing the Beach in Year Round
- Don’t Just Wave Summer Goodbye
Many thanks to Evelyn for her thoughtful article to keep your interior cool this summer.
About the author:
Evelyn Long is an interior design writer passionate about helping homeowners bring life and personality to their spaces.
She is the Editor-in-Chief of Renovated, where she provides interior design tips and guides.
She also contributes to sites like DecorMatters and National Association of Realtors.
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