Savings for a Hot Summer

Chances are, the weather outside is downright hot and humid. It is, after all, Houston and summer. Cranking the AC down to Arctic keeps some folks cool, but for those of us that are looking to save (money or the environment), thankfully, there are other options out there for energy reduction.

The Simple Dollar suggests some handy "ceiling fan hacks" that will allow you to save some energy:

A typical central air conditioning unit uses 3,500 watts of energy when running. A typical ceiling fan uses 60 watts of energy, even when running on high. Thus, if you ran your ceiling fan all day and it managed to decrease your home air conditioner use by just thirty minutes in a twenty four hour period, you’ll end up saving significant money over the long run with a ceiling fan.

Tactics include: running your fan on counter-clockwise during the summer (this increases air circulation) and actually setting your thermostat higher while the fan is running.

The Bloggers at Assorted Tips provide step-by-step instructions for assembling a homemade air conditioner (version 4.0), for the DIY crowd. Construction seems fairly simple, and the results apparently yielded a twenty-degree drop in temperature.

Finally, RealSimple.Com lists twenty-three tips to Beat the Heat, including practical advice (skip the drying cycle on the dishwasher - it heats your kitchen as it dries your dishes) and a little bit of the obvious (dress for the weather). Simple things like closing blinds and curtains can produce big savings.

Share your own heat-beating tips and DIY solutions to keeping energy consumption low in the comments.