The Warm Weather is Fast Approaching – How to Stay Cool In Your Home

Buying a new home for sale in Mission, TX will change your life.

There is no need for the summer heat to get you down.  Here are some clever and affordable options to reduce your cooling bills and stay comfortable in summer.

Use Natural Light and High-Efficiency Lighting
Take advantage of daylight.  Don’t flip that switch; think, can you get by with natural sunlight? If you do need to turn on a light, can you use energy-efficient light bulbs in your high-use areas?  Think it through because a traditional 100 watt light bulb can increase the heat by 11 degrees in a small room.

Plant Shade
While plants do take some time to establish, a little bit of planning goes a long way with win-win results. A tree in full bloom can block 70% of solar radiation from entering your home. Sun-loving, shade-providing plants, trees, and shrubs in front of windows cool your home and add beauty to your life.  Heat tolerant plants that provide lovely shade include:

• Palms
• Cannas
• Dwarf Fig tree
• Lemon Grass
• Crape Myrtle Tree
• Mimosa tree

Dehumidify
A dehumidifier helps remove excess moisture from the air which leaves you feeling cooler even in hot temperatures. Warm, moist air passes into the dehumidifier and then crosses refrigerant cooling coils, causing the moisture in the air to condense on coils within the machine. A dehumidifier lowers energy costs as it helps your air conditioner run more efficiently. When the air in your home is more humid, the A/C must do the function of cooling the air and removing moisture, which means it has to work harder. This also causes your A/C to wear out sooner, which means you will need to replace and repair it more often.  You can find a dehumidifier at most big box stores or online.

Don’t Cook
Try not to cook inside the house, during the heat of the day during the summer months. Pre-plan meals so that you don’t need to use the oven when it’s hot.  You know the summer months are made for grilling anyway! Try using the grill, or put your crockpot or electric pressure cooker on the back porch for the duration of cooking time.  Either way, you are not heating the house with the residual heat of the appliance.  If you have to use the oven, try to cook your meal before noon or very late in the day.

Use Ceiling Fans – The Right Way
Did you know there is a right way and a wrong way to use your ceiling fan? The base of your ceiling has a small switch that changes the direction of the air flow. During the summer months, your ceiling fan should blow forward in a counter-clockwise direction, forcing air down and making you feel cooler. During the winter months, your ceiling fan should blow in a clockwise direction circulating the air through the room without blowing directly on you.

Unplug
Everything plugged into a socket produces heat. Unplug all unnecessary appliances or electronics when not in use. Those little red glowing lights drain energy and produce heat. Unplugging is best.  Turning something off is not enough.

South Texas is warm in the summertime, but there is no need to be uncomfortable.