Cooling Tips!
For your building & your family!
Cooling & Heating Buildings
Heating and cooling buildings is among the largest energy consumption. Consider the tips below to help immediately reduce your energy consumption by 10% or more!
Mass Save offers Energy Assessments, Rebates, and strong financial incentives for heat pumps! Similar options are available through local energy companies as well.
https://www.masssave.com/
https://www.energystar.gov/campaign/home
Passive house https://www.phius.org/
Supplement your home or business' insulation! Stop gaps and insulate attics first, then walls, and anywhere there is a draft.
Multi-family buildings can be far more efficient than single family homes. Social policies can encourage multifamily dwelling use. Those who live in multifamily units are already at an advantage for saving energy, and can have influence to do much more within thier buildings.
Dress for the weather and lower the thermostat in winter, and raise it in the summer. Even a few degrees can help! If you can manage without an AC most of the time in more temperate climates, or use minimal AC, that makes a huge difference!
Close off rooms or areas of the home that are not being used by adjusting vents and/or thermostats.
Tune up, and proper settings for heating and cooling systems matter!
- Clean filters are critical for both proper functioning and health
- Use the energy saving setting when available
Clean radiators and allow free airflow around heating and cooling vents
Adjusting the home temperature as much as possible by opening/closing windows, doors, shades, curtains and using fans. Ceiling fans can help significantly with both heating and cooling (slowly sending warm air down in the winter and circulating faster in summer.)
Use fans or other alternatives to AC as much as possible. ACs consume a lot of energy. Because of their convenience they are over used and much of that energy is wasted. They are often used during peak hours when the energy grid uses the dirtiest power sources.
Options to conserve when you need AC:
- Only cool the rooms that are being used.
- Small personal space "ACs" are available, and may be a great option especially if people living together have different temperature preferences, or in most cases where you just need the temperature to be a couple degrees lower.
- Set the AC at the highest temperature you feel sufices
- Clean the filter regularly, tune up as needed
- Make sure vents are directed properly and allow for unobstructed air flow
- Use an energy saving setting when available
Interesting concept video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB_ima2t_xU
Fun or creative ways to stay cool!
- Take advantage of a communal space with AC: the library, theater, mall, community center, museum etc.
- Take advantage of a basement or lower level of the home to keep cooler as heat will rise through the building.
- Children may enjoy visiting a local park with water play, running through the sprinkler, squirt tag, wet sponge tag.
- Take a cool shower, soak your feet in cool water, use a damp cool cloth around your neck, wear an ice bag hat.
- Errands to the grocery or bank can also provide a break.
- Visit the coast or an island. Taking public transport can be part of the fun for children if you go to George's Island or take the commuter rail to the coast. Or consider carpooling with a friend to add to the enjoyment. See Transportation Tips to keep travel impact lower.
This page still under construction, more tips and references later!
Heating and cooling buildings is among the largest energy consumption. Consider the tips below to help immediately reduce your energy consumption by 10% or more!
Mass Save offers Energy Assessments, Rebates, and strong financial incentives for heat pumps! Similar options are available through local energy companies as well.
https://www.masssave.com/
https://www.energystar.gov/campaign/home
Passive house https://www.phius.org/
Supplement your home or business' insulation! Stop gaps and insulate attics first, then walls, and anywhere there is a draft.
Multi-family buildings can be far more efficient than single family homes. Social policies can encourage multifamily dwelling use. Those who live in multifamily units are already at an advantage for saving energy, and can have influence to do much more within thier buildings.
Dress for the weather and lower the thermostat in winter, and raise it in the summer. Even a few degrees can help! If you can manage without an AC most of the time in more temperate climates, or use minimal AC, that makes a huge difference!
Close off rooms or areas of the home that are not being used by adjusting vents and/or thermostats.
Tune up, and proper settings for heating and cooling systems matter!
- Clean filters are critical for both proper functioning and health
- Use the energy saving setting when available
Clean radiators and allow free airflow around heating and cooling vents
Adjusting the home temperature as much as possible by opening/closing windows, doors, shades, curtains and using fans. Ceiling fans can help significantly with both heating and cooling (slowly sending warm air down in the winter and circulating faster in summer.)
Use fans or other alternatives to AC as much as possible. ACs consume a lot of energy. Because of their convenience they are over used and much of that energy is wasted. They are often used during peak hours when the energy grid uses the dirtiest power sources.
Options to conserve when you need AC:
- Only cool the rooms that are being used.
- Small personal space "ACs" are available, and may be a great option especially if people living together have different temperature preferences, or in most cases where you just need the temperature to be a couple degrees lower.
- Set the AC at the highest temperature you feel sufices
- Clean the filter regularly, tune up as needed
- Make sure vents are directed properly and allow for unobstructed air flow
- Use an energy saving setting when available
Interesting concept video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB_ima2t_xU
Fun or creative ways to stay cool!
- Take advantage of a communal space with AC: the library, theater, mall, community center, museum etc.
- Take advantage of a basement or lower level of the home to keep cooler as heat will rise through the building.
- Children may enjoy visiting a local park with water play, running through the sprinkler, squirt tag, wet sponge tag.
- Take a cool shower, soak your feet in cool water, use a damp cool cloth around your neck, wear an ice bag hat.
- Errands to the grocery or bank can also provide a break.
- Visit the coast or an island. Taking public transport can be part of the fun for children if you go to George's Island or take the commuter rail to the coast. Or consider carpooling with a friend to add to the enjoyment. See Transportation Tips to keep travel impact lower.
This page still under construction, more tips and references later!