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Cool Your Home NaturallyThere are inexpensive ways to reduce the build up of heat in your home and to cool your home naturally. They minimize the need for air conditioners and reduce residential cooling costs.Air conditioners use 17% of US electricity, 16% for the air conditioner, 1% for the furnace fan. 
Click for a larger image Reduce heat build up in your home - reduce residential cooling costs. The most effective method to reduce heat build up in your house and to reduce residential cooling energy use is to keep the heat from building up in the first place. The primary source of heat in most homes is the sunlight absorbed through the roof, walls, windows and doors. Secondary sources are heat-generating appliances in the home and air leakage. Specific methods to prevent heat build up include: insulating your home, reflecting heat (i.e., sunlight) away from your house, blocking the heat from your home, and reducing or eliminating heat-generating sources. Heat from the sun can be prevented from getting into your house by adequate levels of attic and wall insulation, and by reflecting the heat outwards on glazed areas using closed light externally colored blinds, shades or other reflective materials. The suns heat can also be prevented from heating your home by adding awnings over sunny windows and by planting tall deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves in winter) to shade sunny windows, walls and roof areas. Cool your home naturally - residential cooling energy use. Generally air temperatures reach their minimum around dawn. Weather forecasted temperatures are generally quite accurate, you can use these as a guide to plan your home cooling strategy. 
Click for a larger image When nights are going to be cool open some windows, let the heat escape and cool your home naturally. If you have windows or doors on more than one level or on more than one side of your home some combinations of open windows and doors will have a greater cooling effect than others. Wind strength and direction are also a factor. The best combination of open doors and windows is the one that draws through the coolest air at the fastest rate. Remember that warmer air is less dense and rises. While you cool your home naturally, open the doors to all rooms that you will be using during the hot part of the day so they all cool down. Before the outside air temperature rises close external windows and doors, and the shades and blinds on sunny sides of your home. A good way to determine air flow is to use an air flowometer, unroll a few feet of paper from a hand held toilet roll and hold this in the airflow, the higher the airflow the more the paper deviates from the vertical. An infrared thermometer will quickly and accurately indicate residential temperatures around your home showing you the coolest side of your home and the temperature difference between inside and outside surfaces. The larger this temperature difference is, the faster your home will cool. Be aware however that relative humidity should also be considered. Very damp air feels less comfortable than drier air, this because the body is usually cooled by evaporation. If the cooler outside air is very damp letting it into your home may not have a cooling effect. Air can be most efficiently dried using a dehumidifier. Air conditioning units also dry the air however they use large amounts of electrical energy so should not be used as a dehumidifier. Whole house fans are a far more energy efficient way to cool homes. If you have an air conditioner use it as sparingly as possible, be energy frugal. 
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