Hot Summer, Cool House

This post was originally written for GenGreen, but you can never be too prepared for next years heat wave.

Not much is worse than a stuffy, over heated house in the summer time. You can’t sleep, you can’t move, you can’t think. Modern cities exist just as much because of air conditioning as they do because of the automobile. With A/C you can build the same house from coast to coast, from the Mexican border to a Canadian crossing—all you have to do is press a button and, presto, no more heat! It is easy and the equipment is relatively cheap, at least until the electric bill arrives.

A/C takes a lot of power. When I mean a lot, I mean that your utility is desperate to make enough energy with all those A/C units humming all afternoon. Your utility is paying dollars per kilowatt hour even though you are paying maybe a dime. They are cranking out a lot of carbon to boot. (Wind energy is at its lowest in the summer so “buying” wind power is not the solution.)

This is called the long tail pipe, when what you do at your home affects what goes into the air hundreds of miles away. With this in mind, not to mention the endless drone of an A/C and the monthly bill, let‘s look at other ways to keep cool.

First off, don’t build or buy a “stupid” house. In this case, a “stupid” house is one with BIG windows facing east and west (read Dude, tune your windows). Even with air conditioning you won’t keep cool, and indoor shades are like locking the doors when the burglar is already inside.

Keeping lights, computers and other heat producing products off can help keep your home cooler.

Ceiling fans are an obvious choice, just remember that they cool not by pushing hot air up but creating a breeze across your skin.

Next is investigating overhangs for the outside of your windows. This can get more involved but can make a big difference on the southern side.

Skylights are a big culprit so shading them also helps.

Think about shade plants for the east and west sides and a big tree or two on the south side, just don’t block all that sunshine in the winter time.

If you still need a button to press, here are a few options:

Evaporative coolers are very cost effective in low humidity areas. Coolerado is a new generation of evaporative coolers that uses a heat exchanger. (Night cooling works in low humidity areas too.)

A well sealed whole house fan gets rid of the built up hot air from the day and replaces it with cool evening air.

Take a peek into your attic and see if the insulation is at least 12 inches thick and uniform.

Air infiltration in the summer can take its toll too so hire an energy rater to test your house for air leaks.

If you are in a muggy climate and need air conditioning, look for a high SEER (seasonal energy efficiency rating) and, just as importantly, do not over size the unit for the space. The AC will never get enough air across its coil to remove the humidity.

Have an older unit checked for its refrigerant charge and condition. Your local utility may even do this for free.

Really cool, eco friendly stuff is out there (pun intended) like green roofs, ground source heat pumps, reflective barriers, low SRI (solar reflective index) roofing, and thermal mass implementation.

Last, but not least, relax and cool down with your favorite beer knowing that your long tail pipe just got a lot smaller.