Green Tips for Keeping Your Home Cool in the Summer

It’s easier to keep cool when you use a few passive-cooling tips. Greener is cooler when you open a window!

Brought to you by Andersen Windows

No doubt about it, summers are hotter these days. For many homeowners, this means switching on the air conditioning to help keep their home cool. But did you ever wonder what homeowners did before this cool idea came along? It turns out that some of the old-school tricks are still useful today. Whether you want to keep your summers greener or want to keep your energy bills low, there are some great efficiency lessons we can learn from homeowners of the past:

1. Minimize incoming heat naturally – Those trees and shrubs that add curb appeal to your home pull double-duty by filtering direct light that comes through windows and heats your rooftop. With less heat entering your home, your home doesn’t have to work as hard to keep the indoors cool.

2. Cross-ventilate – This is a built-in feature for many older homes: windows strategically placed to maximize airflow through interior spaces. Not only does natural airflow help boost your indoor air quality, it also cools interior spaces efficiently.

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3. Throw some shade – Maybe you remember visiting grandparents who kept shades and curtains drawn during the daytime. Odd as it may have seemed, they knew that this simple move helps cut “solar gain.” With the shades drawn, a well-insulated house doesn’t heat as quickly during the daytime.

4. Maximize your energy efficiency – Sealing air leaks and improving insulation isn’t just a wintertime tip! When a house is functioning better, you feel the benefits year-round. Some improvements, like installing more efficient windows, make more of a difference than you think.

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5. Cool down at night – Open your windows to let more cool air into the house overnight. Then close the windows as the sun rises and begins warming the air. This will help trap that cooler air indoors to keep things more comfortable throughout the day.

6. Get the latest glass – While this may not be an old-school trick, we just could not stand to leave it out. By simply making sure you have the right glass in your home, you can make a big impact on the comfort and efficiency of your home.

As time has proven, sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. Keeping your home comfortable throughout the year is easier to do when you marry new technologies with old-fashioned common sense.

Victoria Keichinger

Victoria Keichinger is the Vice President, Brand Marketing for Coldwell Banker Real Estate. When she's not managing national media and advertising for the Coldwell Banker brand at work, she finds herself most at home in Jersey City, NJ with her pre-school crush turned spouse and son. A true Francophile, she loves to travel and will go anywhere there are ski slopes.