Green Cooling: What are the Options?

There is a lot of information available about how to heat your home using solar technology.  But how can you cool your home and still be environmentally friendly?  Here are a few things to consider.

1)  Plant your roof. That means to literally fill you roof with plants.  It’s an interesting thought, even though this option is probably not available to most people living in suburbia.  Recently, the University of Texas completed studies comparing the interior temperatures of two similar-sized boxes on a 90 degree day.  The box that was “planted” on top stayed between 20 to 50 degrees cooler than the box with a painted black top.

If you can’t plant your roof, you can still take a lesson from the “black-box” experiment.  The next time you install a new roof, replace those dark-colored shingles with lighter colored ones.  Even if you use traditional air conditioning, it won’t have to work as hard if the inside of the house is already cooler. This concept applies if you live in a region that has hot or warm weather for at least 6 months out of the year. But if you live in a climate that has 6 months of cold weather and harsh winters, a black roof may be exactly what you need to keep warm.

2)  Ventilate your roof.  Since heat rises, it goes into your attic.  So installing vents under the eaves and adding an attic exhaust fan can help remove all of the hot trapped air.  You’ll need at least 2 vents to create cross ventilation that will allow cool air in and pull the hot air out.

3)  Install ceiling fans and raise your thermostat a couple of degrees.  Again, heat rises to the ceiling of each of your rooms.  By installing ceiling fans, you help disperse the heat that collects in each room.  You’ll also find that you can raise the thermostat a few degrees and still feel just as cool.  Ceiling fans use less energy than air conditioners, so you’ll save on your utility bill.

4)  Don’t cook during the day.  Using ovens and stove tops just create more interior heat, and make your air conditioner have to work that much harder.  Plan meals that don’t require cooking, or do your cooking after the sun sets and you’ll save on your air conditioning bills.  This is also a great excuse to use for not cooking at all, and dining out instead.

5)  Insulate your home, especially the west and south facing walls.  You probably already know that good insulation can have a big effect on cutting your heating bills.  Well, the same applies to cutting your cooling bills.  The west and south facing walls receive the most sunlight and the most radiant heat during the day.  You can prevent this heat from transferring indoors with good insulation.

These are just a few ways you can stay cool and help the environment.  Once you start thinking about ways to live green, more ideas seem to appear.  Keep you eye out for new products and technologies…they’re sprouting up every day.