Home Cooling Mistakes to Avoid This Summer

Maintaining a consistently cool residence is a big priority for many homeowners throughout the summer months. Although this is often accomplished through running AC systems around the clock, such an approach can lead to massively depleted finances. Fortunately, turning your home into a refreshing oasis from the heat and preserving your finances don’t have to be mutually exclusive. By avoiding a number of all-too-common home cooling mistakes, you can set the stage for comfortable summer and incredible savings. If this strikes you as an appealing process, make an effort to steer clear of the following blunders this summer.

Not Putting Your Ceiling Fans to Proper Use 

There’s no denying that when it comes to home cooling solutions, AC is king. A solid central air conditioning system can effectively cool a residence in a timely and efficient manner. As a result, many households develop an overreliance on AC, which is subsequently reflected in exorbitant summertime utility bills. In some instances, air conditioning is viewed as a household’s sole cooling solution, often resulting in ceiling fans being completely overlooked. 

While it’s true that ceiling fans lack the high-tech cooling prowess of high-end air conditioners, they can make excellent additions to any home cooling setup. For one thing, modern ceiling fans can circulate the cool air produced by your AC system throughout the entire house, thereby relieving your air conditioner of some of its burden. Furthermore, when temperatures drop overnight, you can turn off your AC, open some windows and rely on your ceiling fans to distribute the naturally cool air. Your ceiling fans can even produce their own downward-flowing cool breezes when their blades are adjusted to rotate counterclockwise. 

Letting Too Much Sunlight into Your Home 

Even if you’re a fan of natural lighting, the intensely hot summer sun is liable to make you reconsider. Given how early it rises and how brightly it shines, it can make comfortably sleeping through the early morning hours a cumbersome chore. In addition, if you regularly leave your curtains and/or blinds open during the day, the excessive sunlight can raise indoor temperatures to a noticeable degree. If this strikes you as an unappealing prospect, you should take active measures to minimize the amount of sunlight you allow into your home.  

This is where high-quality blackout curtains can come in handy. The thick thermal materials these curtains are composed of make them well-equipped to block sunlight and seal in cool air. As an added bonus, during the chilly winter months, these same curtains can be used to seal in warm air and keep cold air at bay. 

Using Your Oven During the Day 

An oven is an essential tool for most at-home chefs. Since many of us use our ovens to prepare a variety of entrees, sides and desserts, the prospect of not using it for an extended period may strike you as unthinkable. However, using your oven during daytime hours throughout the summer stands to make your kitchen and any rooms in the immediate vicinity much hotter. As such, it’s recommended that you place strict limits on oven use during the summertime. If you must use the oven, do so after the sun has gone down and use your kitchen’s exhaust fan to get rid of the resultant warmth. Furthermore, you may be surprised by how many incredible recipes don’t require the use of an oven. 

Refusing to Use Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs 

There are a multitude of reasons to ditch traditional incandescent light bulbs once and for all. Among other notable perks, they’re better for the environment and have considerably longer lifespans than their incandescent counterparts. In addition, they generate less heat than traditional bulbs, which can help prevent parts of your home from becoming excessively warm.  

As is the case with warming a home during the frigid winter months, cooling a home during the blazing-hot summer months stands to leave a sizable hole in your finances. In fact, if you hail from an area that’s known for brutal summer temperatures, you’re liable to be faced with exorbitant utility bills every month throughout the summer season. While there’s no definitive end-all solution to unreasonable cooling costs, there are numerous ways you can help bring these costs down without compromising indoor comfort levels. Actively avoiding the mistakes discussed above can be a boon to your summertime utility bills and help turn your home into a refreshing haven from the relentless summer heat.