Saving Money and Staying Cool
Posted by Lee Cameron on Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 at 9:29am.
Whew, it's nice to get back into the air conditioning. I don't know about you, but during summers like this I just love to come back to the comfortable oasis of a constantly chugging A/C. Of course, that's a luxury that we really have to pay for, isn't it?
It's estimated that Americans spend more that $22 billion a year just to run their A/Cs and cool their homes. How much was your electric bill last month? If it was anything like mine it probably feels like you contributed a big chunk to that $22 billion. But don't worry. There are ways you can reduce those costs without sacrificing your comfort.
Ceiling Fans
A Central Florida staple since the mid-1800s (when running water was used to power the spinning blades instead of electricity), ceiling fans can be found in just about every home on the market. Not only are they effective and efficient, they're cheap to run. Generally, it costs less than a penny per hour to keep them spinning.
Aside from helping to circulate the otherwise warm, stagnant air, ceiling fans work best by cooling the perspiration on your skin, just like a cool breeze on a hot day. Because of this, ceiling fans only work when you're in the room to feel the effects. That means you can save a little extra money and energy by turning them off whenever you leave the room.
Sealing Your Home
I've talked about it so many times on my website that you just may be sick of it by now, but making sure that your doors and windows are properly sealed from the outside world provides a big difference in your energy efficiency and your cooling costs. Cold air easily escapes through even the smallest of cracks, making your A/C work that much harder to keep your home cool. Use weather stripping for your doors and caulking for your windows. Also, look out for those often overlooked spots where air escapes, like the space around where the pipes under your sink go into the wall.
Keep Out of Direct Sun
The sun is hot - really hot. This is obvious to anyone who ever went to elementary school, and to anyone who happens to step outside in Central Florida during the summer. But a lot of people don't realize that our homes get just as hot in direct sunlight as we do. Living in a home with large trees that provide shade on the house will automatically make it that much easier to cool. But even if you can't live under a canopy of leaves, there are other ways to shade your home.
It's nice to let the sunlight stream in through our windows and light up our homes, but you're not going to keep the heat out just by keeping your windows closed and your A/C running. Remember, it's the sunlight that warms the earth. If your blinds are open and you're allowing direct sunlight into your home, the temperature of that room can get raised by 10-20 degrees! That could be 20 more degrees you're paying to cool! Use blinds and drapes to keep the direct sunlight out, especially at peak times during the day.
You might also want to consider investing in solar screening or reflective films for your windows. Solar screening is a specially designed window screen that reflects much of the sunlight that hits it, blocking 60%-70% of the heat from the sun. Similarly, you can get reflective film on your windows that blocks 40%-60% of the heat from the sun, without impeding the light. Whatever you do, make sure that you don't make your windows too dark! If you have to run every light in your house all day just to be able to see, you're defeating the purpose.
Turn Off the Lights
Speaking of lighting, did you know that much of the excess heat in your home comes from the lightbulbs you are using to light it? Keeping lights on all the time will not only use more electricity, it will make the room hotter, requiring more energy to cool it and...using more electricity. Turn off your lights whenever you leave the room. Additionally, invest in CFL (compact fluorescent) bulbs. Normal lightbulbs, in general, give off 10% light and 90% heat! CFLs, however, are the opposite, giving off 90% light and 10% heat.
Procrastinate
Yes, you heard right, I'm promoting procrastination. But only temporarily! Consider postponing some of your chores until later in the day. Your large appliances - your washer and dryer, your dishwasher - not only use a great deal of energy, but they give off a lot of heat when they're running. Consider doing these chores at night and your A/C won't have to work as hard against your appliances to cool your home.
Run Your A/C Less
Ok, this one's obvious, but I have to include it for the sake of completion. Frankly, the best way to save money on running your A/C is the run it less. One of the most effective ways of doing this is to get a programmable thermostat that allows you to program your A/C to shut off or increase the temperature during set times when you'll be out of the house. Also, setting your A/C to a lower temperature won't cool your home any faster, it will just use more energy. Set it to a comfortable temperature and leave if there when you're home.
Apply some (or all!) of these tips and you should be seeing savings in no time. And remember, when it gets too hot out there, a cold shower and a good ceiling fan will cool you off faster than a constantly chugging A/C ever will. Stay cool out there!
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Great Article/Blog! Great Reminders too! I'm about to turn off my kitchen lights and turn on the fan!
Posted on Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 at 12:55pm.