One of the biggest draws on the electric bill for any home owner is the air conditioning in summer. While much of the solar radiation that heats the house can be dealt with by proper insulation, even well insulated homes are going to get pretty warm.
Air conditioners can use up more electricity than the rest of the house combined. The average home uses 2.5 kilowatts per hour, while a central air conditioning system can draw more than 6 kilowatts per hour.
There are effective ways to bring those numbers way down though. Understanding where the heat comes from can allow you to short circuit the build up of heat in your home, and thus reduce the load on your air conditioning. Also, you can create cool outdoor environments to spend time in during the hottest times, further reducing your need to stay indoors with the air con on.
No Need to Cool What Hasn’t Been Heated
Perhaps the most effective way to reduce your electric use on hot summer days is to make sure the sun isn’t heating up the house in the first place. Shade trees can be great for this, but can take decades to grow. Other solutions can be put into effect much more quickly.
Awnings for your windows, doors, and even for decks can be very effective at helping to reduce the amount of solar energy that heats your home. Because the awning intercepts the sunlight before it hits the house, that heat energy is dissipated into the air. This keeps the heat energy of direct sunlight from entering in through windows or open doors, or from heating up the siding of your house.
A similar and even more effective tactic can be by trellising leafy vines up the side of your house. Arbors such as these not only shade your home with the leafy canopy, but help the environment out in other ways as well. Sometimes these vines can produce flowers or fruits, offsetting the need for supplementing your diet or vases with outside sources.