Your home is a place of safety and comfort, a space where you can unwind and relax after a long day at work (or school, for the kids). However, come summertime, your supposed safe haven turns into an oven, either forcing you to go out and stay somewhere cooler or have you overwork your cooling system — either way, trying to find reprieve from the heat can be costly and inconvenient. So, to minimize cost, and keep your home comfortable during the summer heat, here are a few practical questions you’ll need to address:
Have You Had an HVAC Tuneup?
Your home’s HVAC or cooling system is your main tool against the summer heat. A poorly-maintained HVAC or cooling system won’t only be inefficient (and cost more energy than needed), but it also has an increased risk of breaking down — and the last thing you’d want during the summer is having a broken cooling system. To ensure that the HVAC system in your Overland Park home is optimized, you’ll also want to include air duct cleaning and HVAC filter replacement in your tuneup checklist. Cleaned air ducts and new filters also help minimize the risk of respiratory ailments, allergies, and asthma and improve overall air quality in your home.
Do You Have a Dehumidifier?
Summertime is when humidity is at its highest, and high humidity won’t only affect your home (through moisture-related issues), but it can also affect everyone’s health and comfort at home. High humidity in your home during the summer can result in discomfort, dehydration, fatigue, and even a heat stroke. That said, you may consider having a dehumidifier add-on to your HVAC system, or make use of a stand-alone one — they may be costly at first, but the potential damage that humidity and moisture can do to your health and your home’s structure (as well as furniture and appliance) are way bigger.
Are Your Windows Shielded?
The sun’s heat can directly enter your home through your windows (and glass doors), and can significantly increase the temperature inside your house — which will cause your HVAC/cooling system to work harder (and cost more energy) just to keep the temperature down. One efficient and effective way to deal with this if by installing awnings on the exterior of your windows to prevent/minimize sunlight.
How’s Your Home Insulation?
For the sake of practicality and energy-efficiency, not all rooms have air-conditioning (or is included in the HVAC system’s network of air ducts). However, you’ll need to put extra insulation in these areas in order to keep the temperature down. Additionally, you’ll also want to consider ventilating your attic through vents or an attic fan to prevent a buildup of hot air.
Are Your Appliances Placed Away from Your Thermostat?
Consider this one more of a life-hack that not everyone’s aware of. If you place heat-generating appliances such as your TV, or even just a lamp, near a thermostat, it may misread the overall temperature in your house; the heat from your appliances may have it read a higher temperature, and have it work harder than it should, and causing unnecessary and avoidable spikes in your energy usage.
The Takeaway
As with all seasons of the year, proper preparations need to be done at home in order to make it a comfortable place to stay in. So make sure you ask yourself these questions to help you prep your house for the long hot season ahead of you.
