Thermostat Tips for Comfortable Summer Temperatures

Nobody wants to endure sweltering heat in their very home. Air conditioning was invented for that very reason! What’s also not as fun is to discover a ‘surprise’ energy bill in your mailbox. If you tend to watch every dime and nickel, it can be a real drag seeing it all be spent on simply trying to stay cool.

The good news is, you can use your thermostat to stay cool and save money this summer season! Knowing how to keep the temperature at a good level in your home requires some fine-tuning and understanding that it’s a delicate balance, however. Here are a few other thermostat-based tips you can consider to help maximize the temperature in your home without maximising your costs at the same time.

The Best Temperature at Home in Summer

If you want to save money and stay cool this summer, then the recommended temperature is actually at 26 degrees Celsius (78 degrees Fahrenheit) when you are at home. The human body is actually its own thermostat, naturally adjusting to temperature even when we’re trying to cool down. The lower you set the thermostat, the higher your energy bills will be and the more difficulty your body will have to adjust to the colder temperature.

If you still have difficulty cooling down despite this adjustment, you can consider investing in a dehumidifier and follow the tips we’ll outline to trap cool air in your home.

The Best Temperature When You are Away

Want to save even more money this summer? Turn the thermostat upwhen everyone is away and not present at home. About 2 or 3 degrees up in Celsius (7 to 10 in Fahrenheit) can actually save as much as 10% on your cooling costs. A higher interior temperature will stop the flow of heat from traveling throughout your home, so it won’t take as much energy to cool the rooms back down when you return to your home.

Maximize Your Thermostat and Cooling Efforts

26 Celsius may sound uncomfortable to those who aren’t fond of heat. While your thermostat is set at that temperature while you’re at home, there are a few methods to stay cool without having to turn your air conditioner on all the time (remember, the longer it runs, the more it’ll cost you).

• Ceiling and floor fans can help circulate the air and keep it flowing.
• Keep blinds and drapes low in the morning to keep cool air inside.
• Block direct sunlight using shades and awnings.
• Try to keep lights switched off so that heat-burning lights don’t produce hot air.
• Do your best to do your most heat-inducing tasks, such as cooking, during the cooler hours of the day.

Keep Humidity to a Minimum

Humidity can affect your urge to turn down the thermostat. It’s not uncommon for humidity levels to climb in summer, but this dangerous because as we’ve already discussed, the lower your thermostat goes the more you will have to pay for it. It doesn’t help that every room in the home has a different humidity level, with the bathroom, laundry rooms, and kitchen being the most consistently humid.

If you want to leave that thermostat alone, you may have to tackle the issue of humidity first. A few ideas include:

• Leaving the windows and doors closed and checking the weather stripping and seals
• Using room-sized exhaust vents and/or dehumidifiers
• Adding a heat recovery ventilator (HRV); you can learn more about these neat systems in our blog post
• Getting a whole home-sized central dehumidifier system installed, especially if the entire house has humidity problems

Iron out your schedules

One of the most expensive ways to cool a home down is to have the A/C on at full blast, even though nobody is home. Summer comes hand in hand with unpredictable schedules, particularly if you have kids (they’re out of school and may be involved in a lot of summer activities), vacations, longer hours of the day, and several other variations. So why bother fiddling with the thermostat to cool your home down if no one is around to appreciate it?

The best approach to ensuring everyone stays cool at home and the thermostat is left alone is to iron out everyone’s schedules. If that already sounds like a Herculean task, try starting with these basics:

• Block out times when you know everyone is at home and sleeping
• Figure out your work schedule, or your partner’s, or both
• If you have teenagers with summer jobs, note their work schedules too
• If you have a summer vacation planned, write down the dates
• Write down everyone’s reoccurring summer activities, and those hours

When you’re done, examine your calendar from a bigger picture perspective and make estimates on when no one is home. Set your thermostat at the recommended higher level during the hours when no one is home.

If you have followed all of these tips and are still struggling to stay cool, check out our blog on how to stay even cooler this summerwithout relying heavily on the A/C.

Lastly, regular maintenance to your air conditioner can always go a long way. If you need any more advice on how to maximize your thermostat or any questions about heating and cooling, why not give us a call? At Rep-Air Heating And Cooling we provide our customers with many options that will best suit your needs from heating and cooling to refrigeration. Contact us today for your complimentary quote: 1-778-728-1476 or contact@repairheatingandcooling.comand don’t forget to take a look at our website: https://repairheatingandcooling.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for free giveaways!