From Guest Blogger Diana Smith: Five Eco-Friendly Tips for Keeping Your Home Cool During the Summer

Living in Sydney is a great privilege, seeing as how it is, beyond doubt, one of the greatest cities in the world. Nevertheless, summer heats in NSW can sometimes be completely unbearable, which is why more and more people turn to powerful air conditioning devices as their last resort.

The downside of this method of cooling your home down lies in the fact that it’s insanely power-hungry, which, on its own, increases the carbon footprint of your home. With that in mind, here are several eco-friendly tips for keeping your home cool during the summer.

Consider the number of people in the room

The first thing you need to consider is the number of people in the room or in your home, in general. Unexpected as it may seem, bodies radiate a no small amount of heat, in fact, Inuit igloos (snow huts) are warmed on this very principle. A single human body produces about as much heat as a standard, incandescent 100 W light bulb. During the summer, however, this might mean that a crowded room requires more energy to cool. Therefore, it might be for the best to schedule any meetings that you have during the summer someplace else.

Cover your windows

Another thing that people often forget is the fact that the direct radiation of sunray on your windows may increase the heat within the room, which is a problem that can be solved in several ways. First, you can use heavy curtains to cover it up, yet, this also diminishes the amount of available light in the room. To avoid this, you can install an awning or blinders and make a compromise between the amount of light you let inside and the amount of light and heat you let inside.

Move your living room outside

Using your patio or a backyard gazebo might be a smart move during the summer. These two areas are also pivotal in keeping the number of people in your home to a minimum, seeing as how they allow you to create a healthy living situation outdoors and even use it as a replacement for your living room. More importantly, you don’t actually have to construct a gazebo or expand a patio, a wooden deck, a gravel path and a shade sail or awning are more or less all that you need. The cost of sturdy shade sails in Sydney is significantly lower than what it would cost you to make a roof construction or hire someone else to make it.

AC unit maintenance

Even with all your precautionary steps, you still might be forced to turn to the AC, from time to time. Once this moment arrives, it’s important that you know how to do it the right way. A malfunctioning AC may require more energy to achieve the same results, which is why an AC unit maintenance may be of the utmost importance. This especially goes for the outside unit, seeing as how it’s more susceptible to all sorts of debris in the form of leaves, branches and even dust. All in all, if this is not something you’re comfortable doing yourself, you might want to hire someone to help you out.

Schedule letting some air in

Early in the morning and late at night, you can open all your windows and make a bit of a draft within your home. Still, if you’re not careful, you might leave your home open once the heat starts rising, thus, nullifying all the good work you’ve achieved during those early morning hours. As soon as the sun sets, make sure to open up and repeat the process tomorrow.

The last thing worth keeping in mind is the fact that these are just the tip of the iceberg of all planet- and money-saving tips for keeping your home cold. Switching to LED is also an effective method, seeing as how these bulbs produce less heat (aside from having a better watt-to-lumens ratio). All in all, keeping your home cool in an eco-friendly way is all but impossible.