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Tips for Saving Money on Your Home Cooling Bills!

“Baby, it’s hot outside!” These words are like music to lots of ears around the Denver-Boulder metro area – until they’re not. We urge all of our readers to get outside and enjoy the warm weather! When you finally retreat back into your home when you’re done having fun, or if you work at home, or work inside on household projects during the day – the list goes on – running the AC at this time of year often comes with the territory.

In this post, we’d like to revisit lots of ways that you can help control your cooling bills and also improve your comfort during the cooling season. We hope there’s some things here that you may not have already thought of!

For Starters: Dress Wisely and Stay Hydrated!

This might not be the first thing you think of when it comes to saving money on your AC bill – but dressing lightly indoors and drinking plenty of fluids allows your body to operate comfortably at slightly warmer temperatures, meaning you can up your thermostat a degree or two without feeling too much of a difference. Worth giving a try.

Keep the Heat Outside

During the summer, homeowners often want to open the blinds and take advantage of that natural light, but this isn’t necessarily the best way to minimize AC costs. Do your best to limit direct solar heat gain in the especially sunny or less used areas of your home by closing your blinds, curtains, or insulated shades.

Consider which window coverings you should open and close throughout the day. Here’s a general rule of thumb, as a starting point: East-facing window coverings should be closed in the morning, while south and west sides are often closed later in the day. Track when and where sunlight is shining directly on your home and make adjustments accordingly as the day goes by. Balance those decisions with the amount of natural light you desire. Keep in mind that when it’s scorching outside, your best strategy my include closing virtually all window coverings during the hottest time of day.

Some homeowners also choose to install an outdoor awning/s on the sunniest sides of the house, and this may be an option worth exploring. Our team at Save Home Heat does not provide this service.

Speaking of keeping out the heat, air infiltration of hot outside air thru gaps in windows and doors can also add to the load on your AC system and impact your cooling bills. A nice benefit of identifying and correcting these issues is that they’ll also reap you savings on your heating bills during the winter. Many homeowners handle this sort of thing, themselves, and there are also local specialty contractors who’d be glad to help out.

Good Ventilation Helps, Too!

Proper ventilation of your attic space is now written into building code, but even so, during hot summer days acceptable attic ventilation can still trap excessive heat above your living space, causing heat to radiate downward. Of course, this will have a negative impact on your air conditioning bills.

Are There Enough Passive Vents In Your Attic?

Here’s a quick overview of standard, passive attic vents, which are normally installed when your house is built:

• There should be plenty of metal soffit grilles, also known as eave vents, attached to the underside of the overhanging eave around the lower edges of the roof. 8” x 16” is a common size.
• Up near the peak of the roof, there should be numerous round or square metal roof vents installed in the roof. 10” round or square is a common size.
• Rectangular metal gable vents installed in vertical exterior walls at the ends of the attic space, if possible, are often the last piece of the attic vent puzzle. Gable end vents are available in a variety of sizes to best match the framing in the attic. 12” x 18” is one of several common sizes for retrofits, but ornate designs made of wood, including round shapes, are becoming increasingly common.

For installation of roof, eave, and gable vents, the best place to start is a reputable local roofing contractor.

Consider Increasing Attic Ventilation with Solar Attic Ventilators

Solar-powered attic exhaust fans are a great complement to existing passive vents, for those times when an additional exhaust boost will help keep unwanted heat in the attic from impacting your living space. Our team at Save Home Heat installs solar attic ventilators. In the Boulder-Denver area, please give us a call for a free install quote.

Circulate Air With Ceiling & Whole-House Fans!

Ceiling fans (think Casablanca, propeller style) can help keep air moving throughout your home, even when the AC isn’t running. This often improves indoor comfort levels and may enable homeowners to increase the thermostat setting by a degree or two. Our electrical team at Save Home Heat Company installs plenty of owner-supplied ceiling fans, and we also supply fans from our sources, as well. Note, these products also provide year-round benefits.

If simply turning off the AC and opening windows at night doesn’t quite get enough cool, outdoor air into your home, a whole-house fan is another fan option worth knowing about. This assumes that you have an appropriate attic space in which to install one. A power-assist from a modern whole-house fan – much quieter than their predecessors – might be just the boost that mother nature needs to cool your home at night thru much of the summer. Keep in mind that during the peak heat of summer, installation teams like ours cannot work safely in an attic, and our policy is not to perform this work under those conditions.

Reduce the Heat You Produce!

Minimize indoor activities that will produce undesirable heat during the hotter times of the day. For example, grille outdoors instead of turning on the oven (it’s kabobs and wing season!). You can also adjust your routine to run the dishwasher or do laundry in the evening instead of during the day. Other heat-producing culprits include leaving lights on that aren’t being used, keeping the TV running in the background, or leaving a computer on when it’s not in use.

Another simple way you can cut back on indoor heat production is to replace some of your older-style incandescent lighting with cooler-running options such as LED lighting, budget permitting. Be aware that there are LED bulbs made to fit conventional incandescent fixtures, and there are also cooler, 100% LED technology fixtures with incorporated, long life lamps. Like many products that our team installs, we recommend taking your time, doing your research, and asking lots of questions. Our team at Save Home Heat Company installs permanent LED lighting for homeowners in the Boulder-Denver area for both indoor and outdoor locations.

Lastly, make sure to operate ventilating fans in the bathroom when showering or in the kitchen when cooking to help exhaust that extra heat directly to the outdoors.

Make Long-Term Planting Plans

If you’re planning to be in your home for a longer period of time, consider planting some well-chosen and wisely located shade trees around your home. This can help reduce direct solar gain and thus, help control your cooling bills. If you choose to go this route, consult a reputable local tree farm or nursery, and before you dig, make sure to confirm where any underground electrical, water, or sewer pipes are located. Local utilities are normally available to assist, and it may also help to consult a trusted local contractor like our team at Save Home Heat.

Please contact me to schedule a service call, or to provide an install quote!