Where I live, we are just about to go into the best weather of the year.
This has a lot to do with the fact that we have once again managed to overcome the hurdle that is summer.
And summer heat around here is no small challenge. Thankfully, there is reliable, efficient HVAC cooling that we can count on to get us through the high heat and humidity of summer. That said, HVAC cooling can also be a rather expensive proposition. As a family, we try to bring all sorts of tactics together in our strategy to keep the air conditioning costs down. Of course, it starts with making sure the house is tight, the direct sunlight is mitigated and there is consistent thermostat discipline. But there are plenty of little things that can also be done. And when you start adding up all these little choices, you get significant HVAC cooling cost savings. We keep the thermostat set in the low to mid 80’s during the peak heating hours of the day. But we use fans to help us feel cool. It tricks our skin and costs less than a tenth what it cost to run the heat pump. We don’t use the over or the stovetop in the summer to avoid heating up the house. I simply cook on the grill. And we hang our laundry out during the summer to keep the dryer from producing heat inside. It really does add up to hundreds of dollars in HVAC savings over the course of a summer.