If you live in a place that’s hot and humid all year round, you understand how great of a struggle it can be to keep your house cool.
It’s not just the heat that makes it tough—it’s also the constant battle with mosquitoes and other bugs. And if you’re trying to save money on your electric bill, this can be a serious challenge.
The air conditioning is great. It’s why we have it in our cars, offices, and of course, our homes. But there’s a whole world out there that doesn’t have air conditioning, and they manage to survive just fine. So why not you?
In this article, we’ve got some great tips for you on how to keep your home cool without AC and what can be the ideal temperature setting for AC in Summer.
Don’t Have AC? Learn Keeping Your Home Cool Tips
We all know that the summer can get a little hot, and sometimes you just don’t have the money to run your air conditioner all day long. Luckily, there are some really easy ways to keep your house cool without spending a lot of money on electricity. Here are our top ten tips for how to keep your house cool in the summer without air conditioning:
- Close Your Curtains at Night
If you leave your curtains open during the day, they’ll absorb heat from the sun and hold onto it all night long. That means that if you close them before bedtime, you’ll be able to sleep more comfortably in your cool room!
- Open Your Windows During Early Morning Hours
This one may seem counterintuitive at first, but think about it—the outside air is cooler than the inside air right now! So if you open up some windows in the early morning hours (when no one else is around), you’re letting that nice cool air into your house without using any electricity!
- Use Fans Strategically
Don’t place a fan directly in front of a window; the breeze will push the hot air back into your room. Instead, position fans at an angle so that they blow air away from the window. If you have an AC unit in your window, you can use this technique to get a little extra cooling power from it as well.
- Shut and Insulate Your Doors
This is perhaps one of the simplest ways to save energy—and money—in your home. By sealing up cracks around doors, windows, and other openings with weather stripping or foam insulation, you’ll prevent much of the heat from escaping through these areas during summer months when it’s too warm outside for comfort (or even survival). It’s also important to make sure that all doors are properly closed at night when temperatures are cooler outside than inside; otherwise, warm air will escape into colder areas of your home while you sleep.
- Minimize Heat Sources
Air conditioning works by cooling down the air in your home. When you have a lot of people and appliances generating heat, it’s even harder for your AC to keep things cool. So consider turning off or unplugging any appliances that aren’t necessary for keeping your home running smoothly. If you need to leave an appliance on for other reasons, consider putting it in a room where the AC doesn’t have to work as hard to cool down that space.
- Create Shade
If there isn’t already some form of shade outside your windows, consider adding some by planting trees or installing window screens or blinds. This will help keep sunlight from heating up the interior of your home during the day—and also keep it cooler at night if you’re working with a window unit (which typically only runs when there is sunlight). Shade also helps minimize heat transfer through glass windows, which can help reduce cooling costs throughout the year since less energy will be needed to maintain comfortable temperatures inside your home.
- Maximize Airflow
When you step into a room that’s too hot, you first want to open up all the windows—and that’s exactly what we mean by “maximizing airflow.” If you have high ceilings and plenty of windows, you can let in a lot of fresh air without having to worry about it getting stale. If your house has low ceilings or few windows, consider installing a ceiling fan—they’re cheap and easy to install, and they’ll help keep the air moving around the room so it doesn’t stagnate in one spot.
- Use Cool Materials
The best way to keep your house cool is to use materials that reflect heat rather than absorb it. Materials like stone, metal, or glass all work well because they reflect sunlight away from the building instead of absorbing its energy like wood or fabric would do. If you’re using wood for flooring or cabinets (or anything else), consider replacing them with stone or metal instead.
- Create A DIY Swamp Cooler
Swamp coolers use evaporation to reduce the air temperature in your house. They’re pretty easy to make and can be made out of materials that you probably already have lying around the house.
- Swap Your Light Bulbs
You can swap out light bulbs for ones that give off less heat, which will help keep your home chilled during those hot summer days.
What is the best temperature setting for AC in Summer?
The best temperature setting for AC in Summer is… hot.
Just kidding, but don’t you want to be cool and comfortable in the summertime? The best temperature setting for AC in Summer is the one that keeps your home at a comfortable level. If you’re too cold, you may have to make adjustments.
If you don’t have an accurate thermostat, it can be hard to know what temperature your home is actually reaching. You might also have to adjust your thermostat based on what kind of air conditioner you have and the size of your home. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recommends the following thermostat temperatures for your air conditioner in the summer:
- Set your thermostat to 78 degrees while you’re at home and adjust it according to how hot it is outside.
- If you’re going to be gone for several hours, set your thermostat at a higher temperature—like 80 or 85 degrees. Just make sure to lower it again before your return.
10 Tips for Helping Your Air Conditioner and Thermostat Settings
Air conditioning and heating are a must for the long, hot summer days. But if you’re not careful about adjusting your settings, your air conditioner may overwork itself and wear out prematurely. Here are ten tips for helping your air conditioner and thermostat settings:
- Thermostat settings
Don’t set your thermostat to a single temperature all day long. Instead, set it to automatically turn on and off at different times throughout the day. For example, if you’re leaving town for a while, set it to turn off after 8 pm but turn it back on at 7 am before you get home from work.
- Do not use AC during peak hours
Try not to use your air conditioner as much during peak hours (3-6 pm). This will help keep energy costs down and also reduce stress on your system overall by reducing how much time it spends running nonstop.
- Change filters regularly
According to the EPA, a dirty filter can reduce airflow by as much as 25%. If you’re using a programmable thermostat like Nest or Ecobee, set reminders for yourself so it’s easier to remember when it’s time for a new filter.
- Control humidity levels
Humidity is one of the biggest factors in controlling the temperature in your home. If there’s too much moisture in the air, it will feel warmer than normal. By using a dehumidifier, you can reduce this effect.
- Clean the coils
The coils on your air conditioner are what allow the unit to cool your home. If they’re dirty, it can decrease the efficiency of your AC and force you to use more energy to get the same results. To clean them, turn off the power to the unit and remove the front panel. Use a vacuum hose with a brush attachment to clean off dust and debris from all parts of the coils. If you notice any mold or mildew growth, use a mixture of bleach and water in a spray bottle to wipe down those areas.
- Check for leaks
If your house has an older HVAC system, it may be leaking coolant through worn parts and causing damage over time. You can check for leaks using a leak detector product available online or at most hardware stores, or ask an air conditioning repair and replacement technician in Calgary.
- Clean the coils
Cleaning your air conditioning coils can help make them more efficient at cooling your home. If you have a central air system, cleaning the coils is not difficult, but you will need to turn off the power to the unit before doing so. If you have a window unit, there’s no need for this step—just clean the filter regularly (which reduces friction) and ensure that any vents are unobstructed by furniture or other items.
- Clean or replace batteries in your thermostat
This one’s pretty simple: if your thermostat doesn’t update when you change the temperature, then it could be out of batteries! If that’s the case, just pop open the back of your thermostat and replace them with new ones—but don’t forget to put them in correctly!
- Maintain proper airflow
If there’s a lot of stuff piled up around your HVAC system (like furniture), then air isn’t going to flow properly through vents and into rooms where people need cooling or heating. So keep an eye on how much space is being taken up by furniture and other stuff near vents before making any big changes to how much heat or cool.
- Inspect your AC unit regularly
Make sure everything looks ok and check for leaks around where water would leak onto it if they were present (usually at the base where it meets the ground outside). If there are any leaks or damage, call an HVAC professional right away so they can fix it before any severe damage occurs.
Call Professional AC Installation and Maintenance Expert in Calgary!
If you love the heat but hate the hassle of keeping your AC running, we can help! We’re ClearView Services, and we offer professional AC installation and maintenance services in Calgary. We’ll make sure that your AC works when you need it to—and that it doesn’t work when you don’t.
As a full-service AC installation and maintenance company in Calgary, we have been serving Calgary for over 30 years. We offer a wide range of services, including:
- AC installation
- AC maintenance
- AC repair
- AC replacement
- Air duct cleaning
- Get Pro Tips on Air Conditioners in Calgary
Our team is dedicated to providing our clients with superior service and exceptional value. We’ll work with you to design a custom solution that fits your needs and budget, and we’ll always keep the environment in mind by using environmentally friendly products whenever possible.
You can also rely on us if your current AC unit breaks down unexpectedly—we’ll be there as soon as possible with all the equipment needed to get things running again so that you don’t need to suffer through another hot summer night without AC.
For more information about our services or to schedule an appointment for a free estimate, Call 587-912-1413 to reach us.