Air conditioning can be such a blessing on a blistering summer day and especially at night when the heat can keep you from sleeping comfortably. However, a lot of southern Colorado homes don’t have air conditioning, and the systems can quickly become expensive to run in those houses that do have them.
Fortunately, southern Colorado is a good climate for natural cooling during the summer and it’s easy to cut costs with these few simple tips.
Open your windows at night
Because of our high altitude and dry climate, the nights in southern Colorado tend to drop dramatically, typically falling below 60 degrees even in the height of a hot summer.
Opening windows on at least two sides of your house at night will create a cross breeze that will cool your house when the sun is down.
Use window fans
Add box fans to your windows to blow the cool air from outside into your house at night, expediting the natural cooling.
Ceiling fans
Turning on ceiling fans can help to circulate the air and keep you cooler at night and during the day.
Close blinds during the day
While the sun can be a delightful source of natural light, it also heats your house as it filters through your glass windows. Closing blinds during the day will help to keep your house from getting to hot during the daytime.
Install an attic fan
Heat rises. When your home gets warm in the summer, the hot air flows to your upstairs and then your attic, where it will often be trapped and cause the hot air to stack up under it in your top floor.
Installing an attic fan will expel the warm air from the attic in the summer and can dramatically decrease the inside temperature of your home for a minimal investment.
Consider single room cooling
If the heat really is unbearable in your Colorado home, consider a small, window air conditioner for the room you most want to keep cool, such as your bedroom. Only turn the air conditioner on when you need it. This is a good way to avoid constantly running your whole house AC unit in order to just keep one room as cool as you want it to be.
Call the ERC
If you want help finding ways to keep your home cool in the summer without spending a fortune on air conditioning, contact the Energy Resource Center. We provide home energy audits and weatherization home improvements for residents of El Paso, Teller, Fremont, Elbert, Douglas, Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Saguache and Rio Grande counties. Our services are free for income-qualified families.