25 cheap ways to keep your house cooler, Part 3
June 14th, 2006 | by mbhunter |With the summer temperatures already here off and on, cool is definitely on our minds. This article on MSN.com, 25 cheap ways to keep your house cooler, will help to tame the heat waves without a monster utilities bill.
Today we continue a five-part series with some little cool things that add up to a lot!
- Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents; they produce the same light but use a fifth the energy and heat. A filament in an incandescent bulb gets up to about 2000 degrees Fahrenheit — white-hot! Most of the extra output above and beyond a CF bulb goes out as heat! Before you replace all of your bulbs, though, be aware that CF’s don’t work with some dimmers, and some CFs will not fit in all fixtures.
- Air-dry dishes instead of using your dishwasher’s drying cycle. It just takes a little longer.
- Use a microwave oven instead of a conventional electric range or oven. Or at least use a toaster over instead of the big one.
- Turn off your computer and monitor when not in use. Computers put out a huge amount of heat because of the chips. Cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitors put out a lot more heat and consume a lot more energy than flat-panel monitors.
- Plug home electronics, such as TVs and VCRs, into power strips and turn power strips off when equipment is not in use. VCRs and other electronics aren’t really “off” because you need to supply energy to the device to be able to turn it on with a remote.
- Lower the thermostat on your hot water heater; 115° is comfortable for most uses. (And after you do that to your hot water heater, enter your PIN number at the ATM machine.
) Heating up a given volume of water one degree takes more energy than for just about any other material. Water has a huge specific heat. - Take showers instead of baths to reduce hot water use. But this won’t work if the showers are really, really long!
- Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes. And use a solar clothes dryer, known as a clothesline, if you’re able!
That’s it for part 3! Tomorrow: Plug up those leaks!
3 Responses to “25 cheap ways to keep your house cooler, Part 3”
By Nick on Jun 14, 2006 | Reply
Take showers instead of baths to reduce hot water use.
And take them with a friend for extra savings!
By John M on Jun 14, 2006 | Reply
Do you dishes while taking your shower for extra savings
By Jen on Jun 14, 2006 | Reply
Great post. I am getting ready to read the first couple of parts right now.