Cooling Off

The temp might hit the 90's today and Lifehacker has a reference to an article about keeping your house cool on the cheap. (the reference isn't too the blog, it's to this article).

I used to read misc.consumers.frugal-living, misc.consumers.home and alt.home.repair, and grew up with a parent in the HVAC industry. This is based on information from those sources.

There are few misconceptions, debatable points, and omissions in these suggestions.

"Ceiling fans can cool a home up to 8 degrees cooler in minutes"

No, they make you feel cooler. There isn't a significant effect on the temperature of the house, except to make the temperature more uniform. Not cooler.

"Attic fans are great too as they pull cool air through the house at night and exhaust warm air trapped in the attic"

In my experience, the verdict isn't in on attic fans and whole house fans. That is, they do not conclusively save money over operating an air conditioner. Whether or not this is true is affected by a lot of things -- the humidity of outside air, the source of the cold air draw (does it come through a basement?) and the size of the house and whether or not is has soffits. Some house fires have been attributed to poor maintenance on attic fans as well.

"Finally, drink water, not soft drinks or iced tea, and never alcoholic beverages, when the temperature rises to keep as cool as possible."

Stay away from alcoholic drinks in the summer? Unpossible. Also, this is confusing a myth about alcohol. Alcohol makes you feel warm initially, but the blood vessel dilation has a net loss effect of heat on the body. It's one of the reasons they tell skiers not to try to stay warm by drinking.

Also, I suspect there is a negligible difference between iced tea (especially decaf iced tea) and water, and if you are more inclined to drink liquids because they are tasty, that's better than drinking less just because its water. I am aware of diuretic effects of soda and tea. They are not strong diuretics and there is at least one study that indicates they are not a net loss of water.

"bowl of ice in front of a fan"

This has never worked for me, unless I am directly in front of the bowl. And are you taking into account the extra time the refrigerator compressor must run -- and add heat to the house and cost money -- to make the ice?

The omissions:

• Don't use heat-producing appliances. Don't cook on the stove, turn off the TV, turn off the lights. Microwaves cook faster with less heat added to the house than convection cooking.
  
• Great time to cook outside as well. Consider cooking breakfast (especially things like a lot of odor things like bacon and sausage) on the grill as well. Charcoal isn't cheap though. Use free wood if available and you know what you are doing.
  
• Use fluorescent lighting whenever possible. Significantly less heat than incandescent, and cheaper (if your bulbs last as long as they should).
• Get a programmable thermostat. A good one will recoup its cost in a year or less. Cool only what you need, but when you need it. Avoid the consumer models at Home Depot and Lowes.
  
• Make sure your thermostat is in a good location.
• Be aware of the humidity. The same temperature with a higher humidity will feel warmer. Just because it is cooler outside doesn't mean you will feel cooler by opening the window. The de-humidified air in the house goes a long way to keeping you cool. Humidity in general is bad for houses.
• Take colder, shorter showers.
• Have multiple thermometers throughout the house so you can see where the hot spots are.
• Spend more time, especially sleeping or physical exertion, in your basement if you have one.
• Your air conditioner isn't the only thing that needs upkeep and upgrade to save money. There is a blower fan in your central furnace that circulates air for the A/C, and electric motors are big consumers of electricity and generators of heat. Make sure yours is working in prime condition. Same applies to all fan motors.
• Clean out your vents and make sure nothing is blocking them (where appropriate).
• Look at how the cold air in your house is vented. Is there one long leg far away from the central fan that goes to a room that is always hot? Maybe it needs more insulation.

Stay cool.