Next week I am going to put up links with groups that have asked to be linked to CES. So to finish out the week, here is the last list of how to keep your house cool. New list the same as the old list, as Henry the 8th would say.
http://pennypincherpersonalfinance.blogspot.com/2011/07/10-ways-to-keep-cool-without-air.html
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Anita Sands sent me this the other day. This article is repeated all over the Internet. I am not sure of the original place it appeared – if someone knows and tells me I’ll attribute it. Here’s Anita’s Frugal Roo Page
10 ways to keep cool at home without A/C
Save energy this summer. It’s easy to keep your house cool without air conditioning. Employing a few basic environmentally friendly principals will help keep you cool and will help you save money.
1. Hot Air Out, Cool Air In
The most basic thing you can do to keep your house cooler without air conditioning is to keep as much sunlight out as possible and let cooler air in at night. During the day, keep windows, drapes, blinds, or shades
closed, especially on the southern and western sides of your home. If you have a porch, you can put up large plastic or bamboo shades to cut down on sunlight. Or put awnings on south/ west sides Use saplings or
tree branches that are fairly straight. Set in coffee cans of cement six feet from house. canvas or shade cloth goes from eaves to these poles with a cross beam on it. Use staple gun. Costs nearly nothing.
2. Windows
Use white or light colored window dressings to reflect light. You can also apply reflective slicks to windows to further cut down on light. At night, leave cabinets open as well, as they will store heat.
3. Be a Fan of the Fan
Moving air is cooler air. At night, place fans in windows to bring more cool air in. Ceiling fans can also make a big difference. In terms of cooling, even a one-mile-per-hour breeze will make you feel three to four degrees cooler. In terms of energy savings, if you run a ceiling fan full-blast for 12 hours, you will only spend about $10 a month in electricity. Ceiling fans have two settings, one to pull air up (for winter use), and the other to push air down. Make sure your ceiling fan is blowing down.
4. Turn Your Fan Into an Air Conditioner
Another easy way to cool your home without air conditioning is to place a bowl of ice or a frozen milk jug With WATER! in front of one or more fans.
5. What’s Hot in Your Home?
It’s one thing to keep hot air and sunlight out; it’s another to identify the appliances in your home that generate heat. If you aren’t at home during the day, it is easier to simply shut off as many electric appliances as possible. If you spend more of your day at home, try to use heat-generating appliances only during the coolest part of the day.
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Go there and read more. It is a really informative blog for those that like to save money.
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More next week.
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While I do agree with many things in this article, there is one thing that is not taken into consideration, humidity (natural that is, not generated). The use of trees and shading of windows is a great idea. In fact I always suggest that to customers. Back to humidity, with fans you’ll still need to be in diret line of the airflow to feel the effects of cooling. Even with this the max cooling effect will only be the wet bulb temp (can be as low as 67 degs, but this is with 80 deg dry bulb and 50% relative humidity). The higher the humidity, the higher the WB. As to bowls of ice in front of a fan, this is not removing heat. When the ice melts, the heat is rereleased to the house again. Plus think of the costs of making the ice. Ceiling fans can be used to assist an AC unit, as they will help circulate the air in the house and help reduce stratification. Setting the t-stat higher can help, and for programmable t-stats, setting the temp 3-4 degs higher when the house is unoccupied is efficient. Higher settings is inefficient because it makes the AC work a little longer. A major common problem with AC systems is return air design. Leaky return ducts and a centrally located return grills is a real killer of efficiency. Each room should have a return and gaps in the duct should be filled. Sharp turns in the duct affect the airflow back to the unit.
As forgot to add, maintainence of the system. Changing filters every 3 months, using pleated filters, not the $2 pieces of junk. For air/air condensing (outdoor coil) units, spraying them down with water once a month is very helpful for heat expulsion efficency and helps take stress off the compressor. Having someone look at the evaporator coil (indoor) every 3 years to make sure that is clean is highly advisible. Unless you know 100% what you are doing with this coil, I would not suggest doing it yourself. Damaging the distributer tubes and metering device can occur.