After our lengthy, brutal winter in the upper Midwest, Twin Cities homeowners were certainly relieved by summer’s arrival. However, summer can bring its own high bills, with cooling costs rising as the weather gets warmer. One of the main ways you can reduce cooling bills in the summer is to take measures to prevent heat gain in your home. There are many simple ways to cool down your home and reduce the load on your air conditioner. Here are a few tips to get you started with reducing heat gain:
- Keep heat from entering through your windows. Make sure your windows are sealed well, and consider coating them with reflective film to block heat. Install awnings, shutters or overhangs to shade the windows from the sun, and use blinds, shades or draperies to block solar heat gain even further.
- Change your landscaping. Though a plain lawn may be easy to maintain, trees and large shrubs, when strategically placed, will more than make up for their maintenance requirements as they shade your house from the sun and
reduce your cooling costs. Some cities will even allow rooftop gardens on buildings with flat or low-slope roofs, which could absorb a lot of extra heat before it enters your home, and may even produce some vegetables for your kitchen. - Find and seal air leaks in your home’s envelope. Any gaps or cracks can let the cool air from the A/C out and warm air inside, so be sure to find all air leaks and seal them properly.
- Pay attention to when the windows are open. If you plan to cool your house by opening the windows, be sure the A/C is turned off when windows are open, and only open windows at night or early morning, when the air is cooler. You may still feel a breeze through windows that are open in the afternoon, but all that warm air will quickly heat up your home.
For more information on reducing heat gain this summer in your Twin Cities home, please contact us at Marsh Heating & Air Conditioning today.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about reducing heat gain and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Bildagentur-Zoonar-GmbH/Shutterstock”