As careful as you are to keep the hot summer air outdoors where it belongs, your home can overheat because of what you’re doing inside.
Appliances like stoves, dishwashers, and even light bulbs generate heat and can compete with your air conditioner to keep the indoor air from staying cool.
Fight back!
· Avoid baking or broiling on hot days. Use the stovetop to heat food quickly. Keep the lids on the pots to hold heat in.
· Use your microwave oven, which produces little heat to cook whenever possible. Or fix sandwiches, salads and chilled soups that require no heating.
· Wash clothes and run the dishwasher after the sun goes down. Washers, dryers and dishwashers produce humidity, which can make the air inside your home feel uncomfortable. When you use them use cool water instead of warm.
· Trade your incandescent light bulbs, which burn hot, for energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs, which produce little heat.
· Keep the temperature of your refrigerator between 38 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and the freezer at about 5 degrees. Refrigerators that run inefficiently emit more heat.
· Defrost your freezer before ice builds up in it. Ice-laden freezer walls make the unit work inefficiently.
· Run your kitchen exhaust fan whenever you cook in the summer, and turn on the bathroom fan about 15 minutes before you hop in the shower. This helps rid the house of humid air.