Reduce A/C Usage with Tips to Beat the Summer Heat You Might Not Have Tried Before
As the mercury rises, many people rely on their air conditioners to keep their homes comfortable. However, they are soon greeted by stunningly high energy bills, clearly showing that this default to temperature control comes with a significant financial burden.
Luckily, there are ways to keep cooler during these hot summer months without having to kick on the A/C or, at least, without having to turn it up as high. Here are a few ways to beat the summer heat that won’t do significant damage to your monthly utility budget.
Quick tip: Apply for short or long term financial subsidies – see how to get discounts or help paying utility bills here.
Change Your Bedding
If your cooking every night under your sheets and comforter, you might experience instant relief from the high temperatures by simply changing your bedding. Dense comforters, heavy blankets, and even certain sheets are more effective at trapping heat, amplifying the air temperature by keeping your body heat against you and holding moisture from the air and even sweat in the bedding.
Instead of sweltering under the layers, change out your comforter for an option with less fill or switch to a loosely woven cotton blanket. Ditch higher thread count sheets in favor of thinner cotton ones. Lighter materials let air pass through more easily, allowing moisture and heat to escape. Natural materials are also more breathable, making them preferable over synthetics.
Avoid the Oven
When your oven is running, it’s heating up your kitchen. This is even truer for older ones that may not seal as well as a newer model would. Instead of baking something for hours or relying on the broiler feature, look for alternative cooking methods that won’t heat up the space.
Slow cookers can be used for a range of meals and won’t increase the ambient temperature even when used for hours. Stove tops generally won’t throw off the same amount of heat, so they are a solid alternative as well. A microwave typically won’t heat the room at all. Or, if you want to enjoy the outdoors, consider grilling your meal. You can also choose options that don’t require any cooking, like a nice salad or sandwich, eliminating the issue entirely.
Use the Dryer Wisely
Another appliance that is notorious for heating a space is a clothes dryer. These machines typically rely on heat to dry your clothing, and they will increase the temperature in your home. While the easiest way to prevent this problem is to dry clothes on a line, this may not be an option depending on where you live.
In those cases, do your best only to dry your clothes at night, when temperatures are naturally lower. For times when drying during the day is unavoidable, see if your dryer has a low- or no-heat setting. Lower temperature drying may take extra time, but it won’t add the same amount of heat to the space, and no-heat drying uses unheated air and shouldn’t increase your need for air conditioning.
The tips above are just a few ways you can keep yourself and your home cooler, helping to reduce your A/C needs. Give them a try and see if you can’t keep your energy costs down during these warm summer months.
