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Loading...14 Ways to Keep Cool in Your Home Without Air Conditioning
- Becky Striepe
- June 27, 2012
- 5:35 pm
- 592 comments
Here in the South, the weather has definitely taken a turn toward the sweltering. There have been some unseasonably warm days already, with highs in the 90s, and the temptation to flick the switch on that A/C unit to “on” is very strong. Before using the air conditioner, consider this: home cooling accounts for 5 percent of the energy we consume in the U.S. each year. That’s about 140 million tons of CO2 emissions annually! Here are some ways to fight that urge by keeping your house cooler naturally.
1. Keep the shades drawn during the day. When sunlight streams through the windows, it creates a miniature greenhouse effect in your home.
Related: Cool Curtains: Non-Toxic and Eco-Friendly
2. Reflect the heat. If you do want to open the windows, consider investing in some reflective window film to help keep the heat outside where you want it to be.
3. Let the cool evening air in. If temperatures are on the chilly side after the sun goes down, crack a few windows open to let a breeze come through and cool the house. Just be sure to close them before the temperature starts to rise again!
4. Insulate! You want to keep cool air inside, so grab that caulk gun and seal off anywhere that air might be escaping. A handy draft dodger can help seal up those tricky leaks at the bottoms of doors and windows.
5. Get rid of incandescent lights. Not only do those suckers use more energy, they generate a lot more heat than CFL or LED light bulbs.
Up next: more ways to keep cool without A/C!
Read more: Conservation, Green, Home, conservation, cooling, energy, heating, home, home energy
Becky Striepe
Becky Striepe is a freelance writer and vegan crafter living in Atlanta, Georgia. Her life’s mission is to make green crafting and vegan food accessible to everyone! Like this article? You can follow Becky on Twitter or find her on Facebook!
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
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592 comments
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Thank you!
planting a tree is my favourite
Thanks
It also depends on the direction of the windows in your house
Great tips,thanks for sharing
Thanks.
I did not know about the counter clockwise fan blades... thank you. I will no doubt save money and stop wasting unnecessary energy. Great advice.
Free Air Conditioning advise in London
woops forgot to add website http://www.zerodegreeac.com
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