Start from outside of your house

You might opt to choose light color shingles which will reflect sun light and prevent from heating too much of your attic in the summer time. It is also a good idea to plant trees for decorative and energy saving purposes. Trees grow fast and in as little as just a few years you will have nice shadow on your house. It is recommended to plant them at least from the side you have the most sun exposure. Some homeowners like to grow different types of plants against the walls. It will definitely reduce the heat from outside, but it might be just a personal preference thing mainly because the dry plants in the winter time may not look good. In addition, especially old houses have outside doors that don’t close tight leaving some holes and letting heat coming in. Make sure that they will be covered.

What can be done inside of your home

First of all you should hang up the white or at least light color window shades and curtains. There are varieties of shade types and shapes, but it is recommended to choose some natural materials, such as wooden or bamboo. If for whatever reason you don’t want to do the purchase you can use just white paper. It will be also sufficient enough to reflect sun light and help reduce heat from the windows.

Save on appliances

If you budget is low and you are considering to purchase some used appliances on garage sales, you should think about the idea twice. Even with a good cheap price they can offer you such purchase won’t be worthwhile anyway in the long run. The old appliances consume too much electricity which will increase your utility bills plus their performance might be questionable as well. If you bought new ones it would not only pay off but even start to save you with some time. Therefore, upgrading is more cost efficient in the long run than trying to cut on the price of new appliances. In addition, when you use your refrigerator you need to cool off everything completely before putting something in your fridge. If you place the warm plate or saucepan inside it will consume more energy than usual the same as you leave the door open for a while.

Wisely use air conditioners

It is more energy efficient to use cooling system all the time during hot summer days than to turn it on only when you are home. When you are away, put it on low. Cool only most used rooms during the hottest days and shot the doors to the rest in your house. Try not to cook during the day time, but only late in the evening.

Additional reminders

Don’t forget to turn lights off whenever you leave the room and remind your children to do the same. Do not forget to turn off your computers and TV sets when you are going away from home.