Natural House Cooling Tips

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Natural House Cooling Tips - How-ToAdapted from The Homeowner’s Guide to Renewable Energy, by Dan Chiras (New Society Publishers, 2006). Simple SolutionYou can slash your energy bills and reduce your use of an air conditioner by implementing "natural conditioning" or "passive cooling" in your home. Besides saving money the goal is also to reduce our impact on the environment. (If you haven’t seen Al Gore’s global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth, we recommend it!) All homes contain sources of heat within their building called internal heat gain, and they combine to heat up your house. Common sources include appliances, electronic devices, and lights. Even small transformers for answering machines produce a small amount of waste heat. While much is written for cooling a home by tapping into natural forces such as cool breezes, shade, and cool nighttime air, paying attention to internal

heat gain often is glossed over. But it is important! Dramatically reduce your internal heat gain in your home using these 11 tips: Home designers group passive cooling measures in four general categories: (1) reducing internal heat gain, (2) reducing external heat gain, (3) purging built-up heat, and (4) cooling people directly. Here’s a look at (1). Reducing Internal Heal Gain The most significant sources of heat include conventional stoves and ovens, clothes dryers, dishwashers, water heaters, conventional incandescent lights, aquarium lights and heaters, television sets, and computers. In the summer internal heat sources become a liability. Using the following chart’s blueprint, make a list of all the appliances, electronic devices, and lights in your home. Problem solve about how to use each one less. As you work through the list, you will find that most heat-reducing solutions are fairly easy and inexpensive. Here is a list of internal heat gain with cheap and more costly solutions. Heat Source: Incandescent lights Contribution to Internal Heat Gain: MajorCheap Option: Use lights more sparingly. Turn lights off when not in use.More Costly Option: Replace with compact fluorescents. Install occupancy sensors. Heat Source: Water heater Contribution to Internal Heat Gain: Major Cheap Option: Turn temperature down to 120F. Install insulation: water heater blanket. Insulate hot water pipes.More Costly Option: Replace old models with on-demand (tankless) water heaters. Heat Source: Stove and oven Contribution to Internal Heat Gain: MajorCheap Option: Eat more cold meals during the summer. Cook outside as much as possible. Use the microwave more during the summer. Bake at night. More Costly Option: Replace old, worn-out gas stoves (with pilot lights) with models that have electronic ignition switches. Heat Source:

Clothes washerContribution to Internal Heat Gain: MinorCheap Option: Use the cold or warm water settings. Wash clothes at night.More Costly Option: Replace with a more energy-efficient model. Heat Source: ComputerContribution to Internal Heat Gain: MinorCheap Option: Turn the computer off when not in use.More Costly Option: Replace old, outdated computers with energy-efficient models. Heat Source: Clothes dryerContribution to Internal Heat Gain: Major Cheap Option: Hang clothes on outside line. Dry larger loads. Close off utility room to rest of the house. Open window to utility room when clothes dryer is in use.More Costly Option: Replace with a more energy-efficient model. Heat Source: TelevisionContribution to Internal Heat Gain: Minor Cheap Option: Watch TV more sparingly. Unplug TV when not in use. Plug TV into power strip and turn off when not in use.More Costly Option: Purchase the most

energy-efficient model possible, when buying a replacement TV set. Heat Source: Furnace (pilot light)Contribution to Internal Heat Gain: MinorCheap Option: Turn off pilot during the cooling season; reignite during the heating season.More Costly Option: When replacing furnace, purchase an efficient model that does not have a pilot light. Heat Source: ShowerContribution to Internal Heat Gain: Major Cheap Option: Turn water heater temperature down. Take shorter showers. Open windows when showering. Run exhaust fan when showering. Replace showerhead with a more efficient model. Heat Source: DishwasherContribution to Internal Heat Gain: Major Cheap Option: Hand-wash dishes. If it is not already off, switch off the drying option. Suzi What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. health/ http://suziesgoats.wholefoodfarmacy.com/ http://360./suziesgoats

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