How to Keep the Temperature in Your Home within Pleasant Boundaries in the Summer
Is your icebox one of the most often visited spots in your house during the summer months? Is the temperature in your house so intolerably high that the only place you want to be is Iceland? Every year in summer, this is a problem affecting millions of not only Toronto homeowners. Before the next hot summer arrives, let’s go through a few tips on how to get ready for it.
The easiest option: Air-conditioners
The internal temperature of our homes can be reduced by several ways, let’s take a brief look at them. The common air-conditioner is probably the most effective, but also the most expensive option. If you feel this is the way to go for you, we can give you some useful advice to make sure you get the best value possible from your AC machine. First, choose a machine of the right size according to the size of your house or apartment. A 5,000 btu AC should be enough to cool a common two-bedroom family house. Ideally, the machine should be placed in a window on the wall that faces north, if that is possible. This will keep the machine cooler and running more efficiently. Clean the internal filters at least once every month to prevent house dust from building up and having a negative effect on its operation. For cases when you are leaving your home for a period longer than an hour, it is better to switch the AC off and then when you return, switch it on again and re-cool the rooms.
Solutions for green-thinking people
But what to do if you think more “green” and don’t want to use precious energy for these power-hungry machines? Well, there are several options to decrease the internal temperature without adding to global warming by excessive and unnecessary use of CO2 producing fossil fuels. We will begin with the top of your home and work downwards step by step.
Roof
It is a commonly known fact that heat transfers more easily through some materials than others. Tiles, shingles or other types of roofing materials are a great example of this. It is necessary to have the attic space insulated with good quality material and if you use 12 inch instead of 3 inch, you could potentially reduce the cost of cooling your house by up to 10 percent.
To read the rest of the story, please read the Keeping your Toronto home cool article.
