With temperatures in the 80s coupled with high relative humidity, you might already be using air conditioning at home.
As a rule of thumb, though, you should use your air conditioners as little as possible, because cooling your house generally costs more than heating it. Getting the most out of the money you spend on air conditioning requires many of the same measures you use to increase your home’s energy efficiency in winter.
– Getting the house in summer mode. Start at the top. Attic spaces can become stiflingly hot as the sun beats down on the roof. Insulation on the attic floor or in the frames of upper-floor bedrooms in story-and-a-half homes will help keep that heat out of your living spaces.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s recommended attic insulation for Midwestern climate is R-38. R-value is a measure of an insulating material’s resistance to heat transmission: The higher the value, the more effective the insulation.
An R-38 rating requires about 13 inches of fiberglass insulation or 11 inches of loose cellulose. Before the most intense heat of summer kicks in, this is a good time for upgrading attic insulation to recommended standards.
– Also check out your attic ventilation. Air should have vents to circulate through your attic so some of the heated air can flow out and be replaced with cooler fresh air from outside.
Walt Hibner, manager of the Dayton Power and Light Co. Energy Resource Center, said that if you have replacement windows with storm windows that open and close, keep them closed all over the house when your central air-conditioning system is running.
– Have your central air-conditioning system professionally serviced at the intervals suggested in the system’s owner’s manual.
– Between professional servicing, keep the area near the system’s outside condenser open. Trim nearby shrubs, high grass and other plants and clean the grates with a soft brush occasionally.
Air conditioning works most efficiently when air flow through the system is unobstructed. That means that, in addition to keeping the condenser clear, you should change or clean the filter on your furnace at recommended intervals during the cooling season.
– The filters on window air conditioners also should be cleaned on a regular basis. Most units have a filter of foam rubber or some other material behind a removable plastic grate at the front of the window unit.
Often the filter can be washed and replaced. Clean the plastic grate over the filter with a vacuum cleaner.
– Be sure your window air conditioner fits snugly in the window or wall opening where it is installed. If there are gaps around the air conditioner or around any windows in rooms where it is used, they should be filled.
Check the display where weather-stripping is sold in your favorite home store; you probably will find something that will make your rooms more airtight.
– Make sure other appliances are set for summer. Turn off your humidifier. Set your clothes dryer to vent outdoors, and be sure the vent cover is working properly.
– Close the fireplace damper. Hibner said another way to keep your house cooler is to avoid turning on the kitchen range. When possible, use a microwave or small cooking appliance that cools down more quickly than a full-size range or oven.
– Take advantage of fans, shade. You should also provide shade on the south and west sides of the house to keep out direct sunlight, Hibner said.
Shade can be outside in the form of retractable awnings or trees that shed their leaves in winter. Or shade can be indoors in the form of blinds, shades or drapes that can be drawn when the sun is strongest.
Fans use only a fraction of the energy of air conditioners, and they’re often all you need to keep cool.
Hibner said homeowners should remember to adjust their ceiling fans to blow down in summer. In summer, ceiling fans create a breeze across the skin.
