Far be it for us to suggest other ways besides your air conditioner to keep cool. We are, after all, Fort Worth and North Texas’s premier HVAC company! Don’t get us wrong, your fully-functioning, tuned up air conditioner is your best bet for cool, summer comfort. But, what if you could take measures to make it easier for your air conditioner to perform at its best, while you stayed even cooler in the process? Yes, please! It’s always smart to diversify! Of course, doing all you can to maintain the health of your AC and IAQ solutions should be number one on your list, but here are some helpful tips and tricks to support those systems and the comfort of your home this summer.
Draw The Drapes
Or close the shutters or blinds. It’s time to pull a Count Dracula and go dark in the daytime. We’re not suggesting you drown out all the sunshine, but during peak hours, where your home is absorbing the most sun, using your home’s window treatments wisely will help you keep about 25% more summer heat outside, where it belongs. You’ll also give your AC a little break, too. We like that.
Turn, Turn, Turn- Counter Clockwise
Your ceiling fan, that is! This ceiling feature isn’t just for basic air-circulation, it can actually circulate your air in a smart way! By setting the rotation so that it turns counter-clockwise (as you look up at it), the air will be pushed downward and cool the space more effectively.
Shut The Inside Doors
You really want every room to be cool, but the priority is for sure the room(s) you’re actually in. By closing the doors inside your home, the result will actually be cooler rooms throughout, regardless of if anyone’s in them. And again your AC won’t have to work so hard.
Tossing and turning on a hot pillow isn’t any fun. There’s nothing like a nice, cool pillow to give you that sense of ahhhhh. Pillow scientists have been hard at work devising solutions now garnering rave reviews among hot sleepers. There are high tech cooling gels and ventilation techniques, and even feather down options to help you travel to dreamland on a fluffy cloud of cool.
Dry It Out
Oh those steamy north Texas summers. You step out of the shower, into a steam room. We know. Harness the moisture, but keep it out of your house, by investing in a dehumidifier. Look for a unit that saves energy by turning itself off when the humidity drops below the targeted level, and enjoy the much cooler, drier air. The even cooler thing is you can use the moisture extracted from your environment to water your greenery.
Strip
We don’t mean take your clothes off, though that can help, too. We’re referring instead to weather stripping. In not much more than an hour, and for pennies on the dollar, you can seal your doors and keep the hot air out in the summer, and the cold air out in the winter. Your HVAC system will be able to cool and heat far more efficiently, so you’ll see savings for years to come. Put it on! Put it all on!
Get Spicy
Surprisingly, eating spicy foods helps you cool down. The reason is that capsaicin, a compound found in chiles, heats up your face, and causes it to perspire ever so slightly. Perspiration is the body’s way of cooling itself down. So, feel free to go for an extra helping of that Tex-Mex this summer. The salsa is your culinary AC.
Thanks for making NextGen Air your HVAC and Solar Power Systems specialists. We think you’re cool! And we’re here to help you stay that way.
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