The Importance Of Your Home’s Energy Efficiency Even In The Summer
As the increase in temperature heralds the arrival of summer, the much awaited warmth from the sun can bring joy (and plenty of challenges) when it comes to the energy efficiency of your property.
Whilst spending time outdoors is certainly something that plenty of people will do, there are times when it may be necessary to seek relief and comfort indoors, and when this happens it is important to remain mindful of energy consumption. Whilst it’s true that heating may be turned off, or right down during the summer months, and tumble driers used less as a result of being able to hang laundry out in the sun to dry, as soon as the temperature starts to rise, people turn on fans, which are not very energy efficient.
Saving energy during the warmer summer months will help you to lower your utility bills. It will also play an important role in helping to protect the environment. Let’s take a look at just how important energy efficiency is in the home during the summer. Plus, we’ll take you through some of the steps that you can take to help lower your energy usage.
Reducing your impact on the environment
If you want to reduce your environmental impact, then saving energy during the summer months is a good way of doing this. Much of the electricity that we use is generated from sources that are non-renewable like natural gas and coal. Their use releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and these are harmful. When it comes to climate change, these emissions are a significant contributing factor in leading to global warming, disruptions to the ecosystem and extreme weather events. If we reduce the demand that we have for fossil fuels, then we can help to mitigate climate change and take small steps towards preserving the planet for the generations to come.
During the warm weather, demand for electricity shoots up as people start using cooling systems and air conditioning to regulate the temperatures in their homes. This surge can cause immense demands on the power grid and has the potential to lead to blackouts and grid failures. Using energy in a more efficient manner and reducing electricity consumption can help to reduce these potential strains.
What can we do?
This does not mean that we all need to sit in overheated homes during the summer months struggling to get comfortable as the mercury rises – far from it. What it does mean is that we need to consider better ways in which we can be more efficient with our energy use, and this can mean things like finding more sustainable ways in which we can keep cool. Simple things that can help you to be more energy efficient include keeping the blinds or curtains closed during the hottest part of the day – something which is very effective on the continent where most homes have shutters for this exact reason – or using natural ventilation in the first instance. The latter can be a good option if there is a breeze and may prove very effective when you also block out the sunshine. However, it will be less energy efficient if you also choose to have fans running as well.
With the longer brighter days you shouldn’t need to put lighting on as often so make sure that lights are turned off when not needed. Make use of the sunshine to dry laundry rather than running a tumble drier and you may also need to use your oven less as hot meals in the summer can be too heavy.
When you take all of these little steps you will find that you are being more energy efficient on the day to day things and that you can afford to run air conditioning and fans in order to make your home comfortable.