It sure has been hot lately!
I don’t know about where you live, but here in Southern Oregon, it is HOT. Not only is it hot, but the smoke from the California Wildfires is blowing in, and we’ve been having occasional thunderstorms, so it’s been humid as well.
During times like these, my family spends a lot of time indoors with the air conditioner running (we have a wall unit). Since running the a/c can get expensive, I look for ways to keep the house cool, so I don’t have to run the a/c around the clock. These are some of the things I do.
Open the Windows in the Morning
In the morning the air is nice and cool, so I open the windows to let the cool air in as soon as I wake up. The cool morning air allows me to keep the a/c off until noon.
Don’t Use the Oven
Summer is a time where we grill outside, grill inside, use the crockpot…everything but use the oven. Turning the oven on heats up our small house in an instant, and once it’s hot, it’s hard to cool down.
Keep the Lights Off
Turning all the lights off during the day keeps the house cool, too. Fortunately we get enough sunlight through the windows that we don’t have to turn the lights on at all during the day.
Shut the Blinds on Sun-Facing Windows
Fortunately almost all of our windows are North/South facing, so we don’t have to worry about getting lots of heat from the sun. Our bedroom window faces east, though, so I keep the drapes closed in the morning.
Right now we don’t have any west-facing windows, but when my husband and I were first married, almost all the windows in our apartment faced west. Keeping the blinds closed in the afternoons helped cool things down a bit.
Use Fans to Circulate Air
Ceiling fans work great, as do free-standing fans. If you have a window or wall a/c, strategically placing fans throughout the house can circulate the cool air all the way through the house, so it’s not hot on one end and freezing on the other.
Shut the Doors to Rooms Not in Use
This works really well if you have a window or wall a/c unit. During the day, I close the doors to all the bedrooms and the bathrooms. The a/c only has to cool the living areas of the house, saving energy…and money.
When It Gets Too Hot…Leave
When it’s just too hot to handle around here, I just get out of the house. I go to the air conditioned library to read, browse a bookstore (if I’m fairly confident I can leave without buying something), or head to a restaurant to buy a cold drink. On a Tuesday or Wednesday morning, I might head to the dollar movies with the kids.
That’s how I stay cool without spending a lot of money. What about you? Do you have any tips for keeping the house cool without paying a fortune?
Photo by Zanastardust.
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July 3rd, 2008 at 5:24 am
i can’t do the open window thing — some of my family is allergic to outside stuff, so we stay pretty sealed up. and it’s hot here in the south! so we do run the central AC fulltime, but this year i’ve been inching up the programmable thermostat. i figure we shouldn’t be chilly, just cool. no one’s complaining yet.
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:53 am
I always open the windows whenever we can - I just love the fresh air and it is FREE!! During the day if it going to be hotter we just turn the thermostat up to about 85 and then lower a bit when we come home in the evening…
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:15 am
I have found something that is working to help keep my air conditioner off for longer periods. I use a dehumidifier. It pulls the dampness out of the air and as long as the air is dry we can take warmer temperatures. At around 78 degrees I have the air on but at other times it is very comfortable with the dehumidifer and a fan. I hope this helps someone else.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:46 am
I live in NE Illinois, and we have yet to use an air conditioner this year! Whoo-hoo! There was one really uncomfortable day the first weekend in June, but I just hung out in the basement.
We do run a dehumidifier in the basement, and have ceiling fans going in most rooms. Our house is made of lannon stone (concrete) so that helps a LOT. We also have metal ventilated awnings over the east, south and west windows. We work and are at day camp during the day, but our four cats haven’t complained yet
I saw this really neat idea in a Dollar Stretcher column (www.stretcher.com):
Save money by reflecting sun away from windows
“When you are faced with unwanted heat coming through windows, yes, you can buy lots of different things on the market to keep the heat out. But if you go to the camping section at your discount store, for approximately $1.98 you can buy a solar camping blanket, all folded up.
One blanket will do three typical windows and reduces heat by 40 percent or more, making the house dramatically cooler. If you use air conditioning, this makes it work less hard. I did put a piece on the exterior of my window air conditioner to repel the heat, and that helped it work without so much effort.
http://www.bankrate.com/dls/ne.....lar_a1.asp
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:09 am
Good tips! I just wrote a post about this. One tip that I use, which only really works in hot, dry climates, is to hang wet laundry (or towels or sheets) in front of an open window. If you can do this in front of windows that create a cross breeze, that’s even better. The laundry dries quickly, and the cool air coming through it is so refreshing! But again, not a tip in high humidity areas!
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:04 am
Most of these don’t work in the Arizona desert. The low for the night might be 85 or 90 degrees. Opening the windows wouldn’t work for us!
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:12 am
We’ve been really really lucky this year in Madrid. Goldilocks weather this year. Very nice during the day and cool at night. Last year August was freezing cold and rainy, the year before roasting hot, well in the to 100s every day.
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:01 pm
If sunlight is still coming in the window area, then heat probably is too. Outside overhands to shade the window help. Trees on the sunny side help, even vines like grapes and kiwi or flowers.
I used to put heavy dark blankets up over the drapes also - keeps the light and the heat out.
If you can’t get the solar blankets, the old tin foil taped in the window will also work… of course, the neighbors will wonder what you’re up too!
Fans all over. Lightweight loose cotton clothing. And yes, my fav - hang out in the reading section of the library!
If you have youngsters, swimsuits and in and out of the bathtub or shower helps also… of course, they can only be in a certain waterproof area afterwards
Make it a fake beach picnic day in the house.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
I wish there were dollar movies near where I live. If you or anyone else knows a website that lists movie theaters by area that have dollar movies or even just cheap matinées. Matinées near my house are $7.50-9.00!
July 4th, 2008 at 8:16 am
Even though it requires a bit of money upfront, investing in some top-quality insualtion for your home is really worth the expense. It will pay for itself over the following years in the money you’ll save in heating and cooling costs. We did this last year and I’ve not regretted it once, the difference is really noticable.
July 5th, 2008 at 8:43 am
I think we do all of these, but the last one is my favorite.
We head to the mall and make a few laps…I always figure it prolongs the need for A.C. a little longer.
Bonnie, this guy wrote a post about free kids movies. http://www.raising4boys.com/20.....8-edition/
We just went to one in our area on Thursday morning. It was my kids’s first movie and they did great! And it was absolutely free….great.
July 6th, 2008 at 3:37 am
I live in Egypt,I am an American and I married an Egyptian and it is up to me to try and save as much money as possible living on one income. It is very hot here during the day my bedroom door is always closed and is very dark with my curtain pulled shut and stays cold all day and when we go to bed at night we turn the AC walmount on.I also have a AC walmount in the tv room and have accordian doors on both entrances and the Drapes are pulled shut it is really comfortable.as for the rest of the home it gets hot even with the windows closed and my bamboo shades pulled shut.I have 2 fans one in the computer room and one in the sitting room for when guests come for a short time to say hello and catch up on the latest gossip…lol.I leave off all the lights during the day,unfortunately my husband seems to think he needs a light on in the kitchen anytime he is in there during the day,I get so frustrated at times…lol.I have change one light bulb to florecent and that was because he bought it on a good day that he listened to me…lol…it is hard to change the way of thinking over here.I would even try to grow my own veggies if I could find a good plant food recipe for SAND…LOL…Sand,sand every where…GRRRRRR!…lol..I can’t find anything in the stores but peat most for dirt which is ok to start plants but there is no black dirt anywheres.OHHHHHH what to do to save money no seeds to be found for herbs I want to grow my own in the kitchen,and grow a lemon,orange trees.Any sujestions? Thank you for listening. Tammy in Egypt
July 9th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Tammy in Egypt - we’ve grown lemon and orange trees from the seeds that come out of the fruit. Believe it or not, they did well even here in Chicago! I would also suggest starting to compost the veg you eat now, to get the absolute best growing medium anywhere. Once you get a respectable amount of compost, add it to the peat moss available, and you should be able to grow just about anything, especially herbs (which aren’t especially picky, anyway).
My suggestion for keeping cool: use your double-hung windows the way they were intended. They were made to open from the top in hot weather, to siphon out all the hot air that collects at the ceiling. Since most windows are built with some overhang, the hottest sunshine comes in at the bottom. Keep your curtains closed on the lower half, put the screens in the top half, and run the ceiling fans the proper way (pulling hot air UP). You’ll be astonished at how quickly your rooms will cool. We’ve even put our box fans in the uppers on hot nights, facing out. These days, double-hung windows are all painted shut and made useless; too bad, because they are a brilliant design.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:55 am
Great tips. I’m putting together a list of my own energy saving tips:
http://www.energyefficientnation.org/
April 17th, 2009 at 8:36 am
Instead of using the air conditioner during the heat and humidity of summer, use ceiling fans and/or use a table top fan and put a dishpan of ice near the fan to “cool” the air.