One way or another, we all ushered in summer on June 21. What's the season change mean for managing home energy use? Many of the best summer tips to save energy involve keeping your home comfortable without cranking up the air conditioning. A few of my favorites are below:
Chill out on the air conditioning. A programmable thermostat can cut back on air conditioning when you’re out of the house and have everything comfortable by the time you’re home. Or you can turn off the air conditioning altogether and save energy by using ceiling fans or floor fans. For those whose climates make air conditioning a must, try switching to fans only at night as the mercury drops a bit. Just remember: fans cool people, not rooms, so leaving a ceiling fan on while you’re away will use energy and probably won’t make an appreciable difference to the temperature of your home.
Sunlight creeps in; temperatures creep up. Keeping the sun (and all that solar heat that comes with it) out of your home can help you save energy by preventing interior temperatures from soaring. Consider using landscaping to save energy: trees or a trellis with climbing vines can provide shading to windows. Or put up curtains or blinds and keep them closed during daylight hours to block direct sunlight.
There’s a reason Thanksgiving is in November. And if you’ve ever turned your kitchen into a sweatbox trying to cook a turkey in July, you know what that reason is. So turn off the oven when the temperatures start to rise, and consider using other kitchen appliances that save energy, give off less heat, and don’t increase the burden on your air conditioner (like your microwave or slow cooker). Or shift the whole cooking process outside to your grill.
The Department of Energy’s Stay Cool, Save Money has more suggestions to help you do just that. You might also want to visit the website for your state’s energy office, as many sites offer energy saving tips that are more tailored to the state’s seasonal weather. And, of course, Hohm has a host of energy-saving tips that can boost your home's energy efficiency no matter the season.
Image: nikcname via Flickr
Amy Foster Parish is on staff with the Washington State University Extension Energy Program. In her spare time, she enjoys roaming the countryside hunting for that most elusive of Washington prey: a sunny day.