San Antonio summers can be brutally hot, seemingly endless, and costly for home maintenance. Keeping your home cool can cost thousands a year. While Green Energy of SA offers some comprehensive solutions for improving your home's energy efficiency, here's a few do-it-yourself improvement ideas for your home.
Block window heat with Blackout Blinds
Keeping direct sunlight out of your home during the warmest hours of the day is essential to minimizing your energy bills in the summer. For the rooms in your home that have the most light, install blackout blinds to further block heat from entering your home. Blocking the heat from the windows with quality blinds will reduce the stress on your air conditioning and keep your house more naturally cool.
Clean all air vents regularly
Your air conditioner pumps precious cooled air throughout your home, but air vents that aren't cleaned regularly will make your AC unit work harder, costing you more. Air filters are very cheap ($1-5) and should be replaced every few months, along with monthly air vent cleans to make sure your HVAC system doesn't have to work overtime.
Caulk and fill all gaps around your windows and doors
Unless you have energy efficient windows installed in your home already, you may have some air leaks around your windows and doors. Air leaks can easily run your energy bills up astronomically. For an easy fix, fill any gaps in your windows or doors with caulking, and you can see a quick and dramatic decrease in your energy bills.
Unplug the big electronics
Not only are larger electronics potentially energy wasters when not in use, they can also heat up small spaces unnecessarily if left on. Home theater receivers, video game consoles, sound bars with subwoofers and plasma TVs can both heat your media room and waste lots of energy, even when they're not in use. Invest in a power strip you can easily turn off and on, and keep the high-powered electronics unplugged when not in use.
Replace the Lightbulbs
Energy efficient light bulbs not only save you money by using less electricity, but they also run cooler than traditional bulbs, which can be very helpful for those larger kitchen and bathroom bulbs. Make sure your lighting fixtures have energy efficient bulbs attached to them, and start seeing the small savings add up.
Set your thermostat
During the hot summer months, you'll want to keep your home cooled, but you can save on costs when you're not home. Smart thermostats are easily programmable with your schedule to keep your home cooler when you're home, and use your air conditioning less when your home is empty. Should you decide to take a family vacation this summer, don't forget to change your thermostat to save you money while you're enjoying your time on vacation.
For the best energy efficient techniques for your home, call Green Energy of SA today, and start saving on energy immediately.
