Shade trees near your home help lower energy costs.
Running fans and an air conditioner can quickly drive up your cooling costs and take a bite out of your budget. Instead, try a few eco-friendly tricks to save your budget and cool your home without using electrical appliances. Strategically planting leafy trees, using window treatments and making a simple switch in your lighting fixtures can help keep you and your house cool during warm months. When it's hot outside, drink plenty of water to cool yourself down, and stay on the lower levels of your home because hot air rises. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Place white blinds and drapes on every window of your house. The white material will reflect sunlight away from your home, keeping it cooler. Keep the blinds and drapes closed during the day to block heat.
2. Open your blinds, drapes and windows during the early morning and evening hours when it is cooler outside. Close them as soon as it warms up outside.
3. Avoid using heat-generating appliances as much as possible. Wash dishes by hand instead of using a dishwasher. Hang clothes on a clothesline outside instead of using a clothes dryer. Prepare no-cook meals, or use a microwave oven instead of a traditional oven.
4. Grow vines, such as ivy, on trellises next to your home, preferably on the west side of the building. They will help block sunlight.
5. Plant deciduous trees on the west and south sides of your home to provide shade. Shading with trees can cool the air as much as 3 to 6 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, according to the website MSN Money.
6. Avoid using rock or asphalt for landscaping around your home. Both increase air temperature.
7. Apply a reflective film for sun-control on all windows that face south.
8. Remove all incandescent light bulbs and replace them with compact fluorescent light bulbs to reduce energy and heat production.
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