Twenty-three Tips for Keeping the House Cool

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Twenty-three Tips for Keeping the House Cool

More Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Solutions

Adapted from Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings, by Alex Wilson,

Jennifer Thorne, and John Morrill.

Puzzling out how to keep your house as cool as possible during these

hot summer months? Trying to remember the conventional wisdom but

not quite sure how it goes? Those window fans, for example, should

they be placed to draw air in or out? Upwind or downwind of the

dwelling? And what about windows, shades, and awnings? Are windows

on the North side of the house better left closed or open during the

day? Are awnings better than shades?

 

Find out the answers to these questions and more, right here:

 

Simple Solution:

The recent heat spell on the East coast dredged these questions up

for me, and I am sure these questions are seasonal for many of us.

Efficient cooling saves money, energy, and the quality of our lives.

 

Turning to Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings by Alex Wilson,

Jennifer Thorne, and John Morrill of the American Council for an

Eneryg-Efficient Economy has provided a wealth of answers to just

these questions and more. I've compiled 23 tricks about how to keep

a house cool to reduce the need for air conditioning from this book,

as well as a few from The Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook. These

tips are really useful.

 

Tricks for keeping the house cool. Adapted from Consumer Guide to

Home Energy Savings by Alex Wilson, Jennifer Thorne, and John

Morrill.

 

1. Reduce the cooling load by employing cost-effective conservation

measures. Provide effective shade for east and west windows. When

possible, delay heat-generating activities such as dishwashing until

evening on hot days.

 

2. Over most of the cooling season, keep the house closed tight

during the day. Don't let in unwanted heat and humidity. Ventilate

at night either naturally or with fans.

 

3. You can help get rid of unwanted heat through ventilation if the

temperature of the incoming air is 77 F or lower. (This strategy

works most effectively at night and on cooler days.) Window fans for

ventilation are a good option if used properly. They should be

located on the downwind side of the house facing out. A window

should be open in each room. Interior doors must remain open to

allow air flow.

 

4. Use ceiling fans to increase comfort levels at higher thermostat

settings. The standard human comfort range for light clothing in the

summer is between 72 F and 78 F. To extend the comfort range to 82

F, you need a breeze of about 2.5 ft/sec or 1.7 mph. A sow-turning

ceiling-mounted paddle fan can easily provide this air flow.

 

5. In hot climates, plant shade trees around the house. Don't plant

trees on the South if you want to benefit from passive solar heating

in the winter.

 

6. If you have an older central air conditioner, consider replacing

the outdoor compressor with a modern, high-efficiency unit. Make

sure that it is properly matched to the indoor unit.

 

7. If buying a new air conditioner, be sure that it is properly

sized. Get assistance from an energy auditor or air conditioning

contractor.

 

8. Buy a high-efficiency air conditioner: for room air conditioners,

the energy efficiency ratio (EER) rating should be above 10; for

central air conditioners, look for a seasonal energy efficiency

ratio (SEER) rating above 12.

 

9. In hot, humid climates, make sure that the air conditioner you

buy will adequately get rid of high humidity. Models with variable

or multi-speed blowers are generally best. Try to keep moisture

sources out of the house.

 

10. Try not to use a dehumidifier at the same time your air

conditioner is operating. The dehumidifier will increase the cooling

load and force the air conditioner to work harder.

 

11. Seal all air conditioner ducts, and insulate ducts that run

through unheated basements, crawl spaces, and attics.

 

12. Keep the thermostat set at 78 degrees F - or higher if using

ceiling fans. Don't air-condition unused rooms.

 

13. Maintain your air conditioners properly to maximize efficiency.

 

Additional tips from the Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook edited

by Doug Pratt and the Real Goods staff.

 

Warm Weather Window Solutions

14. Install white window shades or mini-blinds. Mini-blinds can

reduce solar heat gain by 40-50 percent.

 

15. Close south and west-facing curtains during the day for any

window that gets direct sunlight. Keep these windows closed, too.

 

16. Install awnings on south-facing windows, where there's

insufficient roof overhang to provide shade.

 

17. Hang tightly woven screens or bamboo shades outside the window

during the summer to stop 60 to 80 percent of the sun's heat from

getting to the windows.

 

18. Apply low-e films.

 

19. Consider exotic infills in your windows, a new technology that

fills the space between panes with krypton or argon, gasses that

have lower conductivity than air, and which boost R-values.

 

Tips for your A/C

19. Provide shade for your room A/C, or the outside half of your

central A/C if at all possible. This will increase the unit's

efficiency by 5 percent to 10 percent.

 

20. Clean your A/C's air filter every month during cooling season.

Normal dust build-up can reduce air flow by 1 percent per week.

 

22. Turn off your A/C when you leave for more than an hour.

 

23. Several studies have found that most central air conditioning

systems are oversized by 50 percent or more.