If your home here in Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts doesn’t have air conditioning, you may be dreading the prospect of a hot, stuffy home.
We have some bad news: The Farmer’s Almanac is predicting a hotter than normal summer for us.
But there’s also good news: We have some tips to help keep your home cool without air conditioning!
No matter what the size or age of your home, there are ways you can help it stay cool when the summer weather sizzles.
Keep the heat out. Close blinds or curtains during the day in south- and west-facing windows. North- and east-facing windows can stay open to let in natural light.
Be smart with fans. Fans don’t cool the air, like air conditioning does. But by moving the air around your home, they can help you keep cool. Make sure ceiling fans are turned counterclockwise to draw hot air up away from you. If you have upper stories on your home, use fans in windows to draw hot air out of your home.
Sleep cooler. The best way to keep cool when sleeping is to use all-cotton sheets. Cotton breathes, which helps pull heated air from you and wicks sweat. Polyester, cotton-polyester blends, and other fabrics trap heat and sweat next to your body.
Turn off the lights. During the day, keep as few lights on as possible, as electric lights give off heat. Also, switch to energy-efficient lights bulbs like compact fluorescent and LED, which give off less heat than incandescent bulbs.
Plan meals around keeping cool. Your range can generate a lot of heat. So don’t use it during the hottest parts of the day. Use your outdoor grill, slow cooker, multicooker and toaster oven as alternatives to the stove.
Skip laundry during the day. Dryers also add a lot of heat to your home. Plan doing laundry in the morning and after the sun goes down. Your home will stay cooler and you’ll put less stress on your local electric grid.
There’s more than one possible reason you don’t have air conditioning in your home.
Your home may be heated with a boiler, so it doesn’t have the ductwork needed for central air conditioning.
If that’s the case, you may have thought window units were your only way to have air conditioning. But there is another choice: ductless mini-splits installed by Wesco Oil!
Ductless mini-splits offer a lot of advantages over window units. They’re more energy-efficient, you can zone your cooling, and they’re permanently installed so you don’t have to worry about putting them in in the spring and taking them out in the fall. Window units are also unattractive, block light, and let pollen, dust, dirt and insects into your home. Yuck!
If you have been holding off on having central air conditioning installed because you are concerned about the cost, you may be surprised at how affordable it can be. And we can help you save even more money by helping you qualify for rebates!
Contact us to find out more about our air conditioning installation, service and repairs!
