How To Prepare Your Home For The Summer

Are you prepared for the unbearable summer heat? If not, you need to pay attention to your clogged or out-dated air conditioning, leaky windows or inadequate insulation. If you are already suffering from the unbearable heat, then you may need to get professional repairs started right now, and this article will help you in taking the right course of action. Here are some tips to help you in coping with the summer heat:

Summer Heat and Your Home

Summer heat can make your door, and all other wood in or on your home swell. It is this change in the size of wood that loosens paint and makes it fail. During the summer heat there is a natural tendency for the air conditioning to work overtime and this causes the system to become clogged with dirt and dust. This makes the air conditioner work much harder than it should and cause your Ohio Edison bills to soar if your home is not properly insulated or if you have not properly maintained your AC unit. There are several things that are happening in the summer that cause the accumulation of dust in your rooms which contribute to the load on your AC unit.

Leaks around the Room

During the summer the windows and doors are opened frequently and many people take the benefit of opening the windows during the winter to save on the energy cost. However, when winter comes, the doors and windows are shut and this causes the cool air from inside to escape and in the process the room gets warmer and the air conditioner begins to work even harder to maintain the room temperature. The end result is that the air conditioner begins to break down and this requires replacement. It is best to ensure that the air filter is changed before the air conditioner is replaced.

Prepare your Home for Summer

Windows And Doors Are Not Blocked Properly - During summer the windows and doors are often keeping shut tightly, even when they are open. This causes the air inside to escape and along with it the cool air is also escaping causing the air conditioning to work slowly and this causes the system to break down. Now that you know why the air conditioning breaks down, you should know how to prevent it from happening. You can do this by keeping the doors and windows closed properly when not in use. Also ensure that the air vents in the room are not blocked.

Heat Rises

Heat tends to travel in a vertical fashion and in the summer the air is heated up faster than in winter. Hence, during the summer, it takes longer for the warm air to reach the entire room and the room may become hot while some areas remain cold. This can be avoided by ensuring that the heat vents are open and the heater works efficiently.

Most AC units do not have enough fan power to penetrate the whole house effectively. You may find that using ceiling fans, or even portable fans to keep air moving is an effective way to make your home feel more comfortable.

Whole House Fan

Depending on the severity of your summers, a fan can work as an efficient pre-chiller before you switch on your AC, or even as your sole source of cooling. Using only a tenth as much power as your AC, a fan bringing in cooler night and/or morning air can lower inside temperatures by 5 degrees (or more) in just a few minutes. Homeowners living in dry climates with wide day/night temperature swings may be able to do without their AC system by simply switching the fan on during cool hours and then turning off the fan and shutting the house during the hottest times of the day.

Turn Off Your Air Conditioning

During summer heat most people tend to leave the air conditioner on all the time and this causes the unit to work heavily and stress the compressor and motor. If you live in an area where it cools off at night, try opening your windows and giving your AC unit a break. In the long run, the air conditioner may have to be repaired and this will require money. If you are not planning to buy a new air conditioner, you can ensure that the compressor is sized correctly so is not overloaded. Do not forget to turn it off after use or else you will end up with high energy bills. This way you can also keep cooling costs down.