With the weather turning warmer, it is time to discuss ways to cool your house for less. Who doesn’t want to keep their energy bill under control while still being cool in their home?

Free cooling is available in commercial settings. In a commercial building, the cooling system has an economizer control which allows dampers to open and let outside air into a building. This control can be used when the temperature outside is cooler than the temperature inside.

We can use a similar idea for our homes. It is as easy as opening a window (with or without a fan) and using your window coverings. The cost of running an average window fan for an hour is $.05. The cost of running an average heat pump for cooling for one hour is $.20.

An easy way to start this is by setting up a plan for when you will choose to not use your cooling system. The rule in our home is that we do not run our heat pump for cooling unless it is going to be above 80 degrees. Most days in the spring and summer start by opening the windows when the air is the coolest. This can cool the space down by several degrees in a short period of time.

The next step is deciding when to allow your cooling system to start cooling down your home. It may be that you turn it on in the morning when you leave for the day. Personally, I do not turn my system off when I open the windows in the morning; I use the sound of the heat pump kicking on to determine when to close up my house. If you are at home, you can choose to wait until the temperature reaches what is set on your thermostat and the heat pump starts to cycle on. There are multiple options which means you can set up a time that works for your schedule and lifestyle.

One more way to help keep your home cool is to block the sun from heating your home instead of creating cool air. The use of curtains and blinds are key in our home since the back of the house gets direct sun in the morning and the front of the house gets direct sun in the afternoon/evening. We also have very few trees to help block the sun from heating up the front of our house. I close the curtains in the front as soon as I notice the sun starting to shine in my living room, allowing the cooling system to run less because the sun is not heating up the living room as quickly.

It really IS as easy as opening windows to get some free cooling and closing curtains to block the sun (a heat source) from your home.