MakeHeat

There are many ways to keep your home cooler in the summer. Simple ways to keep your home cooler so you don’t have to dread the utility bill (as much).

Keeping your home cooler this summer can be broken down into three basic categories:

1. Modify your home
2. Modify your landcape
3. Modify your lifestyle (learn new habits)

We’ll tackle the biggest first – modifying your home

When it comes to modifying your home, big ticket items can take some time to recoup.  Figuring you’re either planning on staying in your home for more than seven years, or that the modifications are needed anyway, the three main modifications are roof, windows and insulation.  White (or light) Roofs are often the most expensive modifications. The best solutions are metal roofs (light colored, of course), next would be the asphalt shingled. In the north, some sales “experts” may tell you to go with a dark colored roof because “you spend more heating than cooling, right? So why not let that big ol’ roof of yours heat your house by using dark colored shingles?” Well, “professor asphalt”, unless you’re actively storing the heat from those fancy dark shingles you can’t get rid of for love or money into your cellar for the heating season, you’re just wasting the energy trying to cool that heat gain that’d be pushing it’s way through my ceiling – sorry went off on a rant, back to more creative energy saving…

Energy-efficient windows such as those insulated with a Low-E or glazed coating can reduce heat and cool transfer from outdoors to the inside of your home. home owners can not only expect lower gas and electric bills with insulated windows, they are also eligible for a tax credit refund from the government.

Heat pumps and energy efficient air conditioners

Shades – inside AND outside
We have a porch that gets sun from about 1:30pm on into the evening. Those few hours heat that cement slab and that side of the house considerably. By installing a roll up shade on the eves just behind the gutter, we can still let in the light during the day, and roll it down in the afternoon to block the heat.

Indoors, using solar shades and any other type of shades can block out sunlight and keep heat from entering the home. During the day, try keeping all of the blinds and shades in your home closed to keep the house cool. Don’t want to keep the shades drawn all day? Close the shades in rooms when direct sunlight is hitting it.

Landscaping

Friends of ours grow hops. Not for shade, but for beer. So why hops? Hops grow best in direct sunlight, they can grow up to one foot per day. Seehttp://www.brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue2.3/montell.html for more information. Morning glories, moonflowers, even tomatoes or vining peas and other annual vining plants can also be used to keep a single story cooler during the summer. Using strings or a structure you can take down when the summer’s done will keep your house looking tidier during the non-summer months. If you don’t mind the vines, you can also plant seedless grapes. Himrod is one variety that you can cut back in the winter (not completely, but at least to fence level) that will grow again the next year and give you fruit to boot! A more traditional method is strategically planting trees, bushes, and shrubs around your home that can help block out sunlight and keep the house cool during the summer months. It is important to carefully plan out where each plant should go in order for this method to be effective.

Habits
The ol’ fashioned way of keeping cool, but it’s effective and only requires five minute’s time. In the evening, open all the windows and let the cool air in. Let it circulate throughout the house. In the morning, close up all the windows, draw the shades and keep that coolness in.