In Las Vegas, the heat can become almost unbearable in the summer months. You’ll spend your entire day trying to find a way to relieve the heat especially when you get home in the afternoon. When the heat rises into the triple digits, it can cause serious health concerns. You can minimize the impact of the Vegas heat by planning ahead.
Ways to Minimize Heat without Costs
Lights and Appliances
When you’re not home, keep the appliances unplugged and leave the lights off inside. This should be done to minimize energy usage too. There’s no need to leave your television and CD player plugged in while you’re not home. The appliances generate heat even when they’re not being used. Consider using your washing machine, dryer and dishwashers during the coolest times like early in the morning.
Drapes
Keep the drapes closed and the shades lowered to ensure that the punishing rays of the sun are not entering the home while you’re at work. There’s no way that the air conditioning in the home can compete with the sun when it’s beating on the windows all day. If you hate to have the windows covered and the house dark all day, you can use dark curtains on the windows that face the sun.
Cook Outside
It’s always best to cook outside when it’s warm. This is the best time to have a cookout, but don’t enter and leave the home constantly. All the cool air will escape every time the door is opened. You could also cook on days when it’s not so hot and have the food ready to eat cold like potato salad or macaroni salad. This is the perfect time to enjoy dinner out with your significant other too. That’ll give your air conditioning extra time to work after the sun goes down.
Leave Air Conditioner on All Day
While you might think you’re saving energy by leaving the air conditioner off during the day, it’ll actually be working overtime to cool down a hot house at night. You could spend hours with the air conditioner on the highest settings without seeing a noticeable difference. Instead, leave the a/c on low throughout the day until you get home.
Costly Alternatives
Insulate
It’s likely that you might not have adequate insulation in the walls in Vegas. They’re not built with the same insulation that homes have in a colder climate that might see snow. This means there could be cool air escaping around the windows and along the baseboards if insulation hasn’t been added.
Energy-Efficient Windows
Energy Star windows have glazing that will reduce the heat gain in the windows. While it’s still not advisable to leave them without curtains or shades, it’ll go a long way towards saving money on your energy bills as well as keeping the home cooler.
Plant Trees Near Windows
Trees planted near the windows will provide natural shade to keep the sun from overheating the home. This should be done whether you have energy-efficient windows or not.
Replace the Air Conditioning Unit
If your unit is too old or not the right size, it might not be able to keep up with the demand in the Vegas heat. You’ll need to spend thousands of dollars to replace the entire unit with a better one that can work well in the heat.
Sell Your Home and Move
If you can’t imagine spending another dime to live in a home that can’t handle the Vegas heat, you might be wondering how to sell my house fast Las Vegas. We can help with that.
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