With rising hydro bills and hot summers, it can be a challenge to keep your home cool during the summer months.  Here are ten tips that should help you stave off the heat and save some money too.

Your garage might be an oven

A closed garage door can heat up the inside of that small space just like a giant toaster oven.  And where does that heat go?  Into your house of course!  Consider keeping the door open for ventilation and lowering the internal temperature, especially if you have a bedroom above the garage, as hot air rises and will be doing so right into your bedroom that you’re trying so hard to keep cool.

Use your basement floor fans

If you have a basement, direct floor fans toward the upstairs.  Cold air sinks so you are often standing on top of a basement full of lovely cool air while you’re sweltering on the ground floor and upstairs.  Blowing this cool air into the living area will make it much easier to keep it cool.

Paint your roof a lighter color

Ever touched a black car on a hot day? Darker colours absorb heat in the form of light whereas lighter colours reflect it.  Therefore the best colour your roof could possibly be in the summer is white.  This is quite a large measure to take, but if your summers are especially hot, it could be well worth it.

Clean your air conditioner

A dirty air conditioner filter will reduce its efficiency by up to 15%  Keeping your filter clean will not only make your air conditioner more efficient at cooling your home but it will reduce your power consumption too.

Shut down electronic devices

If you have several devices, especially computers, running in your home they will be adding a considerable amount of heat to your living environment.  Laptops and LCD monitors act like space heaters so try and keep them turned off as much as possible.  Also you should set their power settings to go into standby or hibernation when turned on but not in use.

Turn off the lights, and make sure you use compact fluorescents

If you’re still using incandescent lights this can be a real problem.  Most of the electricity used to power an old fashioned light bulb is actually transferred to heat not light!  Switch to fluorescent lightbulbs and keep them turned off as often as possible.

Close your fireplace damper

Chimneys are a void that you don’t need to cool, so keep the fireplace doors shut or construct an airtight screen to close the hearth when not in use.

Wear the right clothes

This is a simple one but still one of the most effective.  Wear light, loose fitting clothes, take off your shoes and don’t wear anything that you don’t need to.

Try a cool pillow

A cool pillow such as a Chillow is designed to draw the heat away from your head, where about 30% of the body warmth is dispersed.  Its like a refrigerator for your head!

Krumpers Solar Blinds

Use solar blinds to stop the heat getting into your home in the first place.  Keep the heat out by reflecting it out of the windows before in comes into your home.

From July 31st to August 2nd, 2010, Group ECOSPHERE – a non-profit organization – will hold, in collaboration with the Rideau Canal Festival, its second multidisciplinary environmental fair dedicated exclusively to ecology and the environment. The main goal of this event is to raise collective awareness by bringing together key players in the environmental world.

More information at www.projectecosphere.org

Watch our previous appearance on the A Channel Morning Show »

Krumpers Solar blinds are featured in the current issue of Ottawa Lifestyle in the Things We Love section.

Check out the feature here or pick up a copy of Ottawa Lifestyle now.

Krumpers Solar Solutions is featured in an Ottawa Citizen article.

And don’t forget the difference the right blinds can make.

Krumpers Solar Blinds are a unique Canadian product, which allow for an unobstructed view while the dual modular design allows for winter/summer climate control. One side is solar reflective and one side is solar absorptive.

Download the article here

Diana Livshits of Krumpers Soalr Solutions talks to Daytime Ottawa about Climate Control Solar Blinds, and how they can drastically reduce energy consumption for homes and businesses across Canada.

Related Post: On the A Morning Show

The Ottawa Go Green Expo is the first of it’s kind in Ottawa! This exciting, 2 day event features hundreds of exhibitors, all dedicated to providing information, products and services that can help you live a greener lifestyle! With everything from home and garden ideas, eco-friendly food and clothing, transportation options, organic food and cooking, to guest speakers and interactive displays the Ottawa Go Green Expo offers many simple ways of going green and helping our environment!

More details at the Go Green Expo Website

The Home Renovations Show is known for its ease of one-stop shopping for homeowners looking for all the latest in renovating, upgrading, and planning ideas. Consumers can meet interior designers, professional renovators, and local building experts and browse the many hundreds of products and services our exhibiting companies have to offer