Summers in Wheat Ridge, Colorado are hot. You will use your air conditioner a lot in summer, but there are other ways, and things you can do, to work with your AC to keep your house cool. You want to keep cold, but you also don’t want to have a huge energy bill.
1. Maintain Your Air Conditioner
Cleaning your air conditioner regularly helps to keep it running efficiently. If it’s running efficiently, then it will be better at keeping your home, and you cool. Change your filters every four to six weeks, and make sure that your thermostat is set properly. Make sure that you home doesn’t have any air leaks, and seal up any that you find. If your unit is damaged, then you should have a repair specialist look at it, and if necessary look for an AC replacement. You could try looking for a wholesale air conditioner, as it can keep the costs down.
2. Close Your Blinds
While you might want to keep your blinds open and enjoy the Wheat Ridge summer, having them closed stops heat from getting into your home. It’s estimated that windows let in about 30% extra heat, and once it gets in, it becomes trapped in your home. This makes your AC work harder.
3. Fans
You can use your fans to help move the cool air throughout your home. Most ceiling fans have a switch that can change the direction of the circulation. You should make sure that it is set to counter clockwise to help cool the room more effectively.
4. Unused Rooms
If you have rooms in your home that are never, or rarely used, then you might want to close the vents and ducts that cool these rooms. This means that your air conditioner is sending more airflow to the rooms that are in use, and reduces your costs, because it has less area to cool.
5. Change Your Bed Sheets
Changing your bed sheets to ones made from cotton. Cotton doesn’t trap the heat like other fabrics, so you should feel more comfortable at night. If you’re more comfortable in bed, then you will be able to sleep better.
6. Appliances
Your appliances can create more heat in your home than you may realize. If you can, you should do your laundry at night. The washing machine runs hot water, and your drier uses hot air. Heat can escape from the machines, and it will have an effect on the temperature in your home. It’s cooler at night, so doing the laundry at night can help keep your house cool. If your dishwasher is quiet, then you could try starting it when you’re going to bed. If you’re using your oven, then make sure that you have your fan on, and that the vents to the outside are clear and free from blockages.
These are all small changes that are easy to do, but putting them into practice can help keep you cool. They can also help keep your AC running smoothly, and efficiently.