July 9 - National Air Conditioning Appreciation Day
It’s only fitting that today be National Air Conditioning Appreciation Day when the temperature outside is forecast to soar to near 100 degrees! I love air conditioning–on my top 5 list of things I could never live without, air conditioning is No. 4 on my list, behind my family, my home and my job.
Air conditioning does suck up a lot of energy and is the biggest chunk of the electric bill however, so I did some searching for ways to cut the cost this summer:
• A little gardening can save you up to 30% on your cooling costs. Plant shady trees and shrubs around your house, especially on the west and south sides. This will help reduce the direct sun that warms up your home. You can also close the drapes on the sunny side of the house to block the sun.
• Make sure that your attic is properly ventilated. Thirty percent of the heat in your house is absorbed through the roof. An attic fan can reduce your cooling costs and get the air in your home moving around.
• Using a ceiling fan can allow you to set your thermostat 5 degrees higher, which reduces your cooling costs. Running the fan doesn’t lower the temperature, the moving air lowers your perception of what the temperature really is.
• You can also save on your air conditioning by turning things off. Lights create heat, so turn them off when they aren’t in use. Your computer creates heat, so don’t leave it running. Use a crockpot or microwave to cook dinner so that you don’t heat up the kitchen with your stove and oven.
So today, stay cool and raise a cold one to Willis H. Carrier, inventor of the air conditioner. Without his invention that made human beings more comfortable, writes Molly Ivins in Time, “the rates of drunkenness, divorce, brutality and murder would be Lord knows how much higher. Productivity rates would plunge 40 percent over the world; the deep-sea fishing industry would be deep-sixed; Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel would deteriorate; rare books and manuscripts would fall apart; deep mining for gold, silver and other metals would be impossible; the world’s largest telescope wouldn’t work; many of our children wouldn’t be able to learn; and in Silicon Valley, the computer industry would crash.”