Category: Cooling

Cooling Tips for Hot Homes You Can Do Today

Keeping your home cool in the summer can be challenging with the high temperatures of the outdoors. It is a constant battle to stay comfortable in the summer when your natural surroundings just keep getting warmer and warmer. Taking advantage of some of the cooling tips for hot homes below will help minimize the heat flow in your home so that you can retain as much cool air as you can.

Cooling Tips for Hot Homes

Keep the air flowing.

Utilizing the fans that you already have in your home can also help you stay cool. Using your ceiling fan – and making sure that it is rotating counter-clockwise – will allow for a cool breeze throughout the room. Another fan that is often forgotten on hot days is the bathroom fan. By turning on the bathroom fan, you are allowing the hot air that rises to the ceiling to escape through the vents. By drawing the warmest air out of the house, only the coolest air will remain. This will help keep the house at the most comfortable temperature.

Cook outdoors.

It only makes sense to keep the oven off during the summer months. You can move the kitchen outdoors to the grill to keep the heat out of the house. When you’re struggling to stay cool, don’t allow yourself to turn the oven on, only to trap more heat inside your space. It’s a fact that the 400° temperature in the oven is bound to make a difference in the room as you open the oven door to take your food out. Just keep the oven off for the summer, and work on becoming a grill master.

Scrap the hot lights.

The use of incandescent lights is going to increase the temperature of your home. This is exactly the opposite of what you want during the hot summer months. Not only are these incandescent lights a source of heat, but also a waste of energy. By using a different type of bulb, you can lower the electric bill and keep your home cooler.

Keep the doors closed.

When it is particularly hot, be aware of how often and for how long your doors to the outside are open. The cool air from inside your home will escape rapidly if there is any opening to the outside. To prevent your air conditioning unit from having to work harder, keep the doors closed as much as possible to help the cool air from escaping the house.

The extreme heat of the summer can really take a toll on the internal temperature of your home. In order to keep it as cool as possible, it is wise to take some practical steps to help maximize the retention of the cool air. These cooling tips for hot homes provided will work alongside one another to assist your working air conditioning unit, or to prevent extra heat from getting into the house if you don’t have a cooling system in place already. These are just a handful of tips that you can use to help keep your home comfortable in the warm season.

The Real History of Air Conditioners

Americans frequently use air conditioners to combat dangerous heat levels and maintain a healthy balance of moisture in their homes during the summer months. While air conditioning is today regarded as a common convenience, the development of this cooling device has a long and storied history. Read on to discover more about he real history of air conditioners.

The Real History of Air Conditioners

Before Modern Air Conditioning

Prior to the invention of the air conditioner, people dealt with hot and muggy weather in many original and creative ways that go far beyond what one might consider. Attempts to regulate cooler air in hot climates have existed for a very long time, but only recently become fairly standard in American homes.

Ancient Romans are noted for using the famous aqueduct systems of their city to circulate cold water throughout the walls of their homes. The emperor Elagabalus built a mountain of snow into his garden to keep himself cooled off during the hot summer months.

The 1800s

As the Roman empire declined, these type of extravagances were non-existent and the concept of air conditioning wasn’t revisited again until around the 1800s by engineers in the United States. In the time periods between the fall of the Roman empire and the advancement of America, people used common cooling devices, such as fans, palms and eventually electric and rotary fans. Homes were built in order to face away from the heat of the sun and reduce the enormous amount of heat that would build up within houses and buildings during these time periods.

The invention of electricity truly spearheaded the advancement of air conditioning. It allowed for rotating and oscillating fans, and spurred the imagination of engineers across America.

1900s

Willis Carrier is credited with inventing the very first air-conditioning system in 1902.
His unit utilized water-cooled coils to send cold air throughout spaces, for the purpose of controlling humidity at a printing plant where he was employed.

Carrier continued to tinker and toil with modifications to this unit, and finally invented an air conditioner that greatly reduced the size of the air conditioning unit in 1922. Businesses were the primary purchasers of these units, and patrons would frequently visit those places on humid and hot days in order to seek reprieve from oppressive heat.

Today’s Air Conditioning:

During the 1930s, air conditioning was quite standard to stores and offices. Home air conditioning units didn’t really begin to be utilized until the 1990s, and by 2010, it was approximated that 85% of homes in the United States had some type of air conditioning unit in their houses. The real history of air conditioners, as we know them today, is really limited to the last 150 years.

How to Maintain Air Conditioners During Summer

If you have an air conditioning unit, the chances are you will have it on full blast during a hot summer. Maintaining your air conditioning unit is vital if you want to keep it in full working order. That’s without mentioning that regular maintenance will make your unit last for much longer. Learn all about how to maintain air conditioners during summer and enjoy the hot season just a little more.

How To Maintain Air Conditioners During Summer

Check your filters.

If you want to keep your unit in full working order during a hot summer, then you should first check the filters. Filters can often get clogged, dirty and blocked over time and this can reduce the airflow that is going through the system. You should try to do this as early as possible if you are expecting a hot summer because dirty filters can blow dirt throughout your home and this is something you want to avoid if you plan to have your air conditioning on for long periods of time.

Clean your coils.

Your air conditioner will have an evaporator coil. This can collect dirt if it has not been cleaned properly for a long period of time. The dirt will insulate the coil and prevent it from absorbing heat efficiently. For this reason, you should clean your coil if you want it to work properly in the summer.

Clean your drains.

Another thing you should do if you want to keep your air conditioner in full working order is to pass a stiff wire or prong through the plastic grid. This will help dislodge any dirt that may be trapped in the channel, not to mention that a clogged drain can increase the humidity in your home. This is obviously something that you want to avoid at all times during a hot summer. Excessive moisture may also discolor your walls so keeping your unit clean has more benefits than one.