Hot days; How to manage your home’s energy output

‘God, when will the heat be over?’ is a silent prayer we are all muttering these days. Apart from the heat, these are the craziest days for the weather with it being everywhere. Storm watches, possible forest fires, and even a time when home fires are most likely.

This newsletter, however, is not about what is going on outside, it is about what is going on in your home. What happens outside of course has implications on what happens inside; for example in the winter, we spend more on energy to keep our home warm, and now, we spend on the energy to keep our homes cool.

What does this mean for you though? Apart from the obvious that your energy bills look rather aggressive, your appliances work even harder to keep up which still rings back to your pocket.

I am going to be suggesting efficient ways to keep the home cool these hot days while making sure you don’t burn through your energy budget.

Here are a few tips for you:

• White Interior: More than give your home a radiant look, a white interior gives your home much-needed respite on warmer days. White reflects light, this means the amount of radiation retained by the walls of your home would be minimal, keeping your interior cool. As much of an aesthetic flex a white interior or exterior is, it is even a much bigger energy flex.  Give your air conditioning system less to do, provide the help through simple sustainable solutions which sometimes require only a repaint job.

Led bulbs are a good idea: It is no news that led light bulbs are an energy-efficient alternative to traditional bulbs, little wonder it is number two on this list.  Led bulbs use 75% less energy, lasts 25 times longer and, emit much less heat than an incandescent bulb. What better deal is there? You save the cost of energy, giving your air conditioning system much less to do by making sure your bulbs aren’t turning your home into an expensive microwave, and you save cost.  So, take a walk through your home today, check for any non-led light sources, switch to led lights and be all the better for it.

When last was your A.C serviced?: Your air conditioning system needs routine service to function optimally through its service span. Neglecting routine maintenance comes with avoidable baggage. Your A.C performs much less efficiently, having to work twice as hard for the same results as when optimally functional, this means your energy system suffers too.  When is the best time to keep your A.C than when you require it to do the most work? hot days! Make sure you get your system checked out and serviced – reduce cost, and at least get the optimal result from your ventilation system.

You have windows and doors, yes?: Windows and doors serve more than the conventional aesthetic purposes for a home. They are also there for ventilation and lighting. Use them. Crank open your windows to let in all that natural air and light. This means, you do not need your lights on in the daytime, you have a better alternative and you let your house breathe a bit to keep it cool and fresh. Interconnecting doors through your house should be left open too. It is one thing for the fresh air and light to pour in through the windows, it is another to distribute them around every other part of the house.

Use fans: Yeap. Sometimes, your ventilation system could use a little rest, and what other electronic alternative is better than fans?  Fans can provide localized ventilation for your rooms without gulping as much energy as a ventilation system would. They are simple, efficient, and decently functional to get the job done. So, not every day may require your hand twisting your thermostat, make some days ‘fan’ days.