Wish you could lower your summer electric bill?
If you feel like the heat seems to be getting worse each year, you’re not the only one. You’re also not the only one with high electric bills resulting from trying to stay cool indoors. Staying indoors to keep cool is getting expensive. It’s too hot to leave the windows open and AC off and its too hot for the AC to keep up with the heat and keep us cool. The harder the AC works the higher the electric bills get. The good news is there are some surprisingly inexpensive
items that can help you reduce your summer cooling
bill.
For your convenience, I have added links to the products below so that you can learn more about them (we may earn a small commission of you buy using our link). I’ve listed them from the less expensive to the more expensive options you may want to consider.
1. Lower Your Bill with Reflective Solar Curtains
Reflective solar curtains
allow you to see outside but no one can see in. These curtains also
keep your air conditioning and heating costs down by prevent heat loss
and reflect heat back into the room. The inexpensive curtains are made
of metalized polyethylene.
2. Lower Your Bill with Reusable Air Filters
One
of the most important things you can do to keep your AC running
efficiently (an efficient running AC lowers your cooling bill) is
changing the air filters, but replaceable air filters can become
expensive, especially if you live in an older home with irregular sized
air filter spaces. To save on replacement filter cost consider buying a reusable air filter to use over and over again.
3. Lower Your Bill with Insulating or Radiant Barrier Paint
Radiant heat accounts for 93% of the heat gain in your home according to Acoolerhouse.com. Using LO/MIT paint spray blocks at least 76% of the radiant heat trying to enter your attic. Walls that get hit with the sun in summer can also rapidly heat a house. A cooler attic and walls means a cooler house. A cooler house means less work for the AC and this means a lower electric bill. You can make any paint insulating paint by using a simple insulating paint mix. Even painting small areas that get hit the hardest by the sun can make a big impact on your homes comfort and your cooling bill.
4. Lower Your Bill with Solar Shades/Screens
Whether you have a home with large windows or small windows installing solar screens can
help eliminate bugs from coming in when you open your windows, as well
as block UV rays and heat from entering your home through the windows.
Other benefits to solar screens are: they help reduce glare in the room,
help reduce fading of furniture and carpet, keep rooms warmer in
winter, and increases your privacy. I installed solar shades on the windows hardest hit by the sun in our home and it’s made a dramatic difference. Our kitchen has a wall of southwest facing windows. It used to be the hottest room in the house in the summer and now it is the coldest room. I can’t recommend solar shaeds enough.
6. Lower Your Bill with a Skylight Cover
If you have a skylight in your home and it’s bring in heat into your home consider using a skylight cover. A skylight cover will block up to 80% of the heat generated from your skylight while letting light through your skylight. It isn’t permanent though. You can still use your skylight when you want. For example, a skylight cover can be easily removed during the wintertime allowing the solar heat to come in when you need it.
7. Lower Your Bill with an Attic Tent
An attic tent creates an airtight barrier between your attic and your home, reducing energy loss year round. How? The Attic Tent has been proven to reduce air transfer by at least 71% according to the Attictent.com. It also stops transfer of humidity, dust and blown insulation particles. The Attic Tent should pay for itself in one year!
8. Lower Your Bill with a Swimming Pool Heater
Summer is a great time to cool off in the swimming pool, but sometimes the pool can be a bit cold. Instead of investing in a pool heater that uses electricity or expensive solar panels, consider investing in a solar pool heater. They are surprisingly affordable and will likely return back your investment within a year or two. This solar pool heater gets some decent reviews and may be worth considering. There are a few other solar pool heaters with reviews from Amazon here and a much larger selection from Walmart here.
9. Lower Your Bill with a Solar Fridge
Keep a second fridge in the garage without the guilt of using up a lot of electricity. How? Use a solar powered fridge. This solar powered fridge keeps your food cold with the power of the sun. It operates 24 hours per day seven days a week. Store your picnic food and cold drinks here and eliminate walking in and out of your home constantly allowing cold AC air to escape.
10. Lower Your Bill with a Solar Attic Fan
Start
at the top. If you’ve visited your attic this summer you know how hot
it can get. You can go up dry, but come back down after a few minutes
drenched in sweat. In the summer, your attic is a solar heat trap. It
traps the heat, absorbs it and stores it in the attic. That attic heat
contributes to the household heat and makes the AC work harder to cool
the house. Help your AC take it easier by installing a solar attic fan like this one
. Unlike a regular attic fan that requires electricity to run a solar
attic fan is powered by the sun free of charge. It removes heat and
moisture from your attic and helps bring in cooler air.
10. Lower Your Bill with Green Roofs
Consider
investing in green roofs also known as rooftop gardens. Green roofs are
quickly growing in popularity these days because of their cooling
benefit on homes and business buildings. The benefits of green roof are
many. The two most beneficial benefits are: green roofs reduce roof
storm water runoff and in keep the rooftop cooler which in turn keeps
homes cooler and helps to reduce the heat-island effect.
Maybe one day we will have solar powered air conditioners to install in our homes, but until then the options above are few ways you can keep your cooling cost down. Yes, the initial investment is high, but paying that high electric bill month after month will cost a lot more in the long run.You can increase the return on your investment by being strategic and just focusing on spots in your house that get hit the hardest by the sun. Remember that you don’t need to do everything all at once. Focusing on the hot spots in your house can provide high impact savings for surprisingly little invested in cooling your house.
