In May I wrote a blog about the limits of your air conditioning’s cooling power and how you can avoid placing too much strain on the AC. A quick recap for those just joining: your air conditioner can lower the temperature by a maximum of 20°F compared to the outside. Since I recommend (as does the US Department of Energy) a setting of 78°F, you shouldn’t have any problem dealing with the heat on most summer days.
But what about the occasional heat wave? August is our hottest month, with an average high of 88°F. We have humidity to worry about as well, although with the right-sized air conditioning system this won’t be as much of a problem in your house. Yet there will be times when it can get so hot that you’ll have to nudge up the thermostat to keep it from constantly running and wearing down.
We don’t want you to suffer from busted AC in the middle of the summer heat, and we have the air conditioning repair in Farragut, TN to see you’re taken care of. I have tips for what you can do to help keep cool in the worst of the heat so you can raise the thermostat enough to ward off problems.
How You (Humans) Can Get Extra Cool in the Heat
Not all of this applies to me personally: dogs cool off in different ways than people (panting). But please be mindful of your pets during heat waves! Give them lots of water (even put some ice in it) and keep them indoors in the shade. Anyway, on to advice for humans…
- Pull down the shades! The sun is sneaky and it will let plenty of heat in through the windows. Close shades and shutters to stop that extra radiant heat.
- Don’t add heat with lights and electronics! Use electrical devices as little as possible and turn off any lights you don’t absolutely need. Oh, now is not the time to do laundry or cook a meal!
- Hydrate! I mentioned how pets need plenty of water. You need liquids as well—but avoid sugary drinks.
- Close off that super-hot room! You probably have a room in your house that gets hotter than the others, probably because of exterior exposure or low insulation. Close the door to that room, because otherwise the heat will stroll right out of it and into the rest of the house.
- Use fans! You probably already thought of this one, but a reminder that fans can help you feel cooler by 8°F. Just be careful you don’t plug in a zillion fans at once and overload a circuit breaker—this can be a problem during heat waves.
- Olive’s handmade insta-evaporative cooler: Yeah, this one’s kinda neat. Take ice cubes from the freezer and put them in a bowl. Put that bowl in front of one of the fans. The fan will then blow cooled air at you. It’s temporary, but during a heat wave it feels so good.
And keep in mind: if you can’t get your house cool enough even when the heat starts to subside, give us a call to look into your AC and see if it needs to be fixed or even replaced.
Stay cool (please!),
Olive