Keep Your Cool (and Save Money) This Summer
Sustainability Quotes
from local businesses
There are a several strategies you could employ to reduce the heat in your house this summer.
The three crucial concepts are:
- Avoid sun and heat penetration
- Maximise Passive Cooling Potential
- Store 'coolness' to moderate temperatures
You can achieve this by:
- Insulating your home starting with the ceiling and roof space and if accessible, the walls and under the floor.
- Providing natural cross flow ventilation wherever possible. Louvre and casement style windows are great for encouraging air flow as they have a 100% opening area. Awning style windows are least preferable, because they tend to limit the amount of breezes into the home. Try to open windows opposite each other to get maximal cross flow effects.
- Installing external awnings (either fixed or adjustable) is a good way to prevent summer sun penetrating your home. Horizontal awnings are appropriate for windows that face approximately north, while vertical awnings or blinds are best for east and west facing windows. The larger the airspace between your window and the awning the better as this will prevent the space heating up and radiating into your house. If installing a fixed awning to shade your North facing windows, try to make it extend about half the distance there is from the base of the window to the awning. This will block the hot summer sun, while still allowing winter sun to warm the house during the colder months.
- Using existing (or installing) heavy curtains with a white or foil backing and drawing them during the day to reduce heat gain.
- Plant deciduous trees to the North, East and West to block undesirable sun penetration, whilst still allowing solar gain in winter. Also consider planting low-lying shrubs around the house to prevent the surrounding soil heating up. It is also possible to plant shrubs in a manner that funnels cool prevailing winds into the house to maximise cross flow ventilation.
- Installing high performance windows (such as double glazed or tinted) to reduce heat transfer and solar access respectively.
- Consider using aluminium foil for a good, temporary, solution to prevent sun penetration. It is both simple and cheap to apply. Simply spray glass with water and roll the foil onto the wet glass, smoothing out air bubbles and gaps. It is best to install the foil on the outside of the window, but if you'd like it to last longer and be protected from the weather it is also ok to put it on the inside.
- Turning off halogen down lights. If you have an array of down lights recessed into the ceiling, consider turning them off as much as possible, especially in summer. This style of light produces a lot of heat, and when commonly installed en masse, they can have a significant impact on the heat of the home.
- Opening up the house at night. Once ambient outdoor temperatures have dropped it can help to open up the house and let cooling breezes through. If you have a concrete floor or bricks internally, these elements will cool down and help to reduce the cooling requirements the next day.
- Install a pool or water feature upwind of prevailing cool breezes. The evaporative effect of the water will help to cool your house further, while the psychological effects of having water nearby will also help you feel cooler. You can also take a dip which will reduce your body temperature and significantly affect your comfort.
- Spending evenings outdoors. The cooling outdoor environment on a summer's evening will lower your body temperature and help you feel more comfortable until the house has had a chance to cool down.
- If all else fails, the sun is obviously pretty intense in your area. Consider installing solar photovoltaic cells to generate electricity out of all those rays. The electricity you generate may offset your air conditioner use!
By following these tips you will notice more manageable temperatures in you home during summer which will hopefully mean you don't have to use your expensive air conditioner as much! Now you can start looking forward to a more comfortable and more fiscal summer!
If you do use the air conditioner, try setting the thermostat to a higher temperature in summer (and a lower temperature in winter) to reduce its cooling load. Around 24-26°C is a reasonable and tolerable temperature in summer to take the edge off an otherwise hot room. This small adjustment could reduce your air conditioner's electricity use by up to 50%!
Sustainability Quotes
from local businesses
