With the onset of summer’s heat, reducing heat gain in your greater Los Angeles-area home can lower your cooling bills substantially. One of the best approaches is to stop the heat from entering your home through the windows, where 50 percent of all daytime home heat gain occurs.
Use these tips to lower the heat your A/C has to remove and to lower your electric bills:
- Keep the sun out in the first place. You can use shade screens that block up to 90 percent of the heat gain from windows in your home. If your neighborhood’s homeowner’s association doesn’t allow them, use reflective window film indoors. Thermal and Energy Star windows also keep the heat out. All these approaches to reducing heat gain let you enjoy the view outdoors and are long-term solutions to high electric bills.
- Choose insulated drapes to stop the heat from entering your rooms. Foam-backed, pleated drapes work well. Hang them as close to the glass as you can. Fuller curtains and drapes prevent more heat gain.
- Find reflective blinds or window shades that do a good job at reducing heat gain.
- Shutters made from wood or faux wood have sufficient mass to keep the heat from circulating inside your home and can be part of your overall interior design strategy.
- If you don’t mind blocking your view entirely, use rigid foam insulation pieces cut to fit your windows for reducing heat gain. Choose panels that don’t emit volatile organic compounds to protect your indoor air quality. The downside of using these panels is that they take room to store when you don’t need them. You can attach them to your windows using magnets or small pieces of Velcro.
Once you’ve done what you can by reducing heat gain through your windows, tend to your air conditioner’s need for routine maintenance to lower your electric consumption even more. If you’d like to know more about A/C servicing, contact Around the Clock Air Conditioning & Heating. We’ve provided HVAC services for Greater Los Angeles since 1967.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about reducing heat gain and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Around the Clock Air Conditioning & Heating services Los Angeles, North Hollywood and the surrounding areas in California. Visit our website to see our current specials and get started today!