Top 10 Tips For Energy-Efficient Cooling In The Summer

The summer is the time to allow your electricity account to go into credit to offset the increased costs of heating your home in the winter. This is achieved by continuing to pay the same amount for your energy over the summer months as you would in the winter, but using less energy.

Many people, however, fall into the trap of then cooling their home using inefficient means, which costs money and eats into that credit balance, therefore making the next winter more expensive. In this post, we will give you our top ten tips for cooling your home in an energy-efficient way through the summer so that you enter winter in a comfortable position.

1. Make the most of natural light.

Turn off lights in rooms you are not using. Very often, you will not need to artificially light the room you are in during daylight hours if sufficient natural light is allowed to penetrate the space. Open your curtains wide and embrace the free, natural sunlight that we are (sometimes!) treated to at this time of the year.

2. Wash at 30°C.

Unless your clothes are heavily stained, running a short 30°C cycle is a very efficient way of getting through the laundry and keeping your costs down. Most washing powders are effective at 30°C, and doing so will reduce your energy consumption by up to 40%.

3. Dry your clothes outdoors.

There are many benefits to drying your washing outside. It smells great, dries quickly, and if hung properly, is less likely to need ironing, UV light gets rid of many stains that washing alone does not, and it is free. Over the summer, try to give your tumble drier a break and make the most of the washing line to save money and keep your clothes in top condition.

4. Open doors and windows.

On a very hot day when you are at home, open your doors and windows and let the fresh air circulate throughout the home. The drafts created will cool the house very effectively and also reduce air pollution within the home.

5. Block out the sun.

As evening falls, close the curtains to block out the sunlight. Doing so will reduce the temperature within the home as the heat of the sun is not able to enter the space. This strategy also works very well on hot days when it is not possible to open doors and windows to let fresh air in.

6. Shower, rather than bath.

A cool shower on a hot day is really relaxing. It is also much cheaper to run an electric shower for four minutes than it is to fill a bathtub, so save the bath for a weekly treat and have a daily shower instead to reduce your energy consumption this summer.

7. Defrost your freezer.

Not only does getting rid of ice in your freezer make more space for ice lollies, but it also helps to keep your freezer working more efficiently. When frost builds up in your freezer, the system works harder and this increases its energy consumption. Defrosting the freezer as soon as you notice frost accumulating will keep it running in the most efficient manner.

8. Turn your heating off.

It’s amazing how many people forget to turn off their heating when summer rolls around, and then compensate for the increased heat in the home by opening doors and windows or running a fan. This is very inefficient, so if it is warm enough inside your home without the heating on, switch it off.

9. Service your boiler.

Servicing your boiler in the summer is not only a great way of spreading the costs of essential home maintenance across the year, but it is usually easier to get hold of a boiler engineer in the summer than in the autumn when they are in great demand. By making sure that your boiler is in the best possible condition in the summer, you can be confident that it will work effectively in the winter when you need it.

10. Top up your insulation.

Again, the summer is a great time to top up your home’s insulation. Spreading the costs of this maintenance throughout the year eases the burden on your bank account. Insulation not only helps to keep your home warm in the winter; it actually helps to cool it in the summer too, by slowing the heat flow.

We hope that these ten tips will help you to keep your home at a comfortable temperature this summer. For tailored advice or to book your insulation installation, please contact Next Energy today.