Are you tired of paying huge energy bills to keep your home cool during the heat of the summer? And are you confident that you have roofing troubles or HVAC problems that you need to consider but aren’t sure if you have the money to repair them properly? You’re not alone in this situation.
Many people, just like you, want a home that is comfortable and cool every summer. However, these people may struggle to keep their home cool and unsure of what steps to take. Well, we’re here to say that you can keep your home cool without a lot of expensive steps, as long as you’re smart.
Keep Your Windows in Great Shape
Did you know that your windows cause a lot of excessive heat in your home? That’s because many people have inefficient or single-pane windows that don’t do much to stop heat transfer. Thankfully, many roofing service professionals can help you here by taking steps to fix up your windows.
Some people may want to install new windows, though if you’re trying to save money, it might be best just to replace windows on your first floor. Why? Heat rises, and if your first-floor windows are more robust and more efficient, they won’t let in nearly as much heat into your home from outside.
Try to add new windows to places like your bedroom and living room or anywhere you spend a lot of time. Other rarely-used spaces (such as guest rooms) may not need these new windows. Shut up these areas when not in use, and your heat dispersion will also be much less intense.
And once you get high-quality windows that feel right for your needs, open them up at night, mainly near roofs. Doing so helps to bring in colder air and keeps your home comfortable. Shut the windows when you wake up to ensure that heat doesn’t come in and cause issues.
You may want to put up fans in the windows during the night to pull in cooler air. Make sure, as well, that you install screens on each of these windows to avoid bugs invading your home. Often, this option works best throughout your sleep areas but is a charm in just about any area of your house.
You may also want to work with a roofing company that understands how to install blinds on your windows. These blinds can be drawn during the day to block out sunlight and keep your home cooler. Once the temperature starts getting higher, draw your blinds, and you should have minimal trouble.
Just as importantly, you need to contact roofing companies who can repair areas around your windows, such as various cracks that may let in hot air. These cracks around the frame of your windows must be sealed appropriately and will help keep your airflow minimal between the outside and inside of your home.
That said, there are many types of repairs to your roof that you may need to consider to ensure that you get the best heat-management results from your new windows. So much of your heat displacement will occur through the roof and around its areas, meaning it’s essential to handle many of these steps.
Repair Your Roof
Your roof is likely one of the most significant contributing factors to your home’s cooling problem. The roof is the skin of your home and protects it from damage, and should insulate it from excessive heat. However, poor roof design or severe damage may compromise this capability in many ways.
Therefore, it is critical to take these steps to protect your roof and make it stronger. There are a handful of excellent options that you can consider here, each of which will give you a lot of help and ensure that your roof is strong and secure. Just a few options to consider for your roofing needs include:
- Shingle Replacement – If your roof’s shingles are damaged and letting in a lot of hot air, contact residential roofers to help. They will replace these shingles for you and keep them strong. Alternatively, you can also replace shingles on your roof if you feel comfortable doing so. DIY shingle replacement may save you money but could be more expensive if you make any mistakes.
- Gutter Inspection – The gutters on your home are usually not seriously considered by most people but are critical for temperature management. They help to keep water away from your roof and your home, preventing damage to shingles and other parts of the house. And roof damage under shingles may be a common cause for roof replacement, so ensure you check under these areas properly.
- Underlayment Replacement – The underlayment of your roof helps to keep it solid and secure and prevents profound temperature changes. However, this roof area can become damaged through leaks in the shingles and may worsen your temperature changes by decreasing your insulation effectiveness. You may need to hire a team to handle this process to meet your needs.
- Insulation Upgrades – Contact a roofing professional to inspect your insulation throughout this part of your home. The insulation needs to be as strong as possible to keep heat out of your home during the hottest times of the year. Make sure that you purchase high-quality insulation – even if you spend a little more here than you want, you’ll save more money on HVAC bills in the long term.
These steps may sound very expensive but aren’t if you do them sooner rather than later. That’s because catching common issues with roofs help to decrease worsened damage and may cost much less than if you waited to contact a roofing professional to get help with this complex process.
But the eternal question lingers for those who want to repair their roof: should I do this process myself or always hire professionals? The answer to that question can be surprisingly complex. Many people may find that they can handle some of these steps if they have experience with construction.
However, others may find that they are uncomfortable with these steps or even make mistakes if they have worked on roofing before. This issue is not uncommon and is typically a struggle for people to handle if they aren’t comfortable implementing these steps in their homes.
As a result, we usually strongly suggest roofing services handle these steps. We suggest this option when going through roof installations or other more complex and challenging procedures. You may indeed spend more money, but the more substantial roof more than makes up for it.
Upgrading Your HVAC System
If you repair your roof and your home still isn’t as fantastic as you’d like, there’s a good chance that your HVAC system needs repairs. When you maintain your system and provide it with inexpensive maintenance, you ensure that it doesn’t break down more quickly or cause cooling troubles with your home.
Thankfully, many of these steps are things that you can do, but others will require professional help. You can probably honestly get experts to do all of these steps for a reasonable fee, especially if you hire them for periodic or checkups. Just a few options to consider in this situation include:
- Add a New Thermostat – An efficient thermostat can help to decrease your heat by kicking in when needed and providing a high-quality level of cooling. You can also add a thermostat to your upstairs to keep this area cooler by providing more accurate temperature readings. Most HVAC companies should handle this simple step without adding a lot of problems to your home.
- Clean Your Vents and Ducts – Contact HVAC experts to clean out your vents and ducts. These parts of your system often contain large amounts of dust, mold, and debris that may decrease your system efficiency. While you get these air conditioning repairs, you may find that your system needs an upgrade in various sections, as duct cleaning requires a complete system check.
- Declutter Your Unit’s Coils – All air conditioning units have cools that cool to produce the appropriate temperature changes. Remove dirt, dust, debris, mold, and other items from these coils to keep them operating correctly. If you don’t, they might freeze up and fail to operate at all. This issue can be easily avoided if you’re smart about how you keep your system operational.
- Know Where to Put Your Thermostat – Many people may put lights or other devices near a thermostat and cause it to operate inefficiently. Others may place it in an area that doesn’t accurately understand a home’s temperature and cause it to work rarely. Talk to your HVAC team about the best placement for your thermostat to avoid this often frustrating and hard-to-diagnose issue.
Take these steps, and your home should be much cooler and more relaxing without spending a lot of money. However, it would help if you also considered a handful of other actions that can decrease the temperature in your home to make sense for your needs as a person.
Other Steps You Can Take to Cool Your Home
While HVAC and roof upgrades and maintenance can handle many of your cooling needs, there are many other steps that you can take to keep your house cooler. Thankfully, these steps are surprisingly simple and can be done by just about any homeowner with minimal difficulty:
- Cook Outside During Hot Days – Cooking with your oven or stove will considerably increase your home’s temperature and add to your HVAC bill. Try to cook outdoors on these days, grilling a variety of delicious foods instead. Make it healthy by grilling veggies alongside pizza and burgers.
- Add Trees Around Your Home – Did you know that trees, bushes, and vines can help decrease your temperature by shading your home? This benefit is significant because it can reduce the amount of sunlight landing on your roof and walls. Make sure to maintain these growths to avoid home damage.
- Open Interior Doors – Although closing off certain rooms may help keep other areas cool, keeping most of your interior doors open improves airflow and your HVAC efficiency. Carefully choose the doors you want to stay open to maximize the benefits of this process.
- Maintain Your HVAC System – HVAC maintenance steps (including replacing the air filters) can do a lot to keep your home cool. These steps are usually relatively inexpensive and are things that you can do yourself, meaning that you don’t end up having to pay a professional a lot of money for their skills.
- Install Efficiency Light Bulbs – Did you know that many old-fashioned light bulbs produce a lot of excessive heat that may impact your home? Install new and more efficient bulbs that do not produce heat, and you’ll find that your home is surprisingly much cooler without a lot of expensive costs.
While repairing your roof and HVAC system will help handle most of the excessive heat in your home, these simple and inexpensive steps will provide many other benefits and ensure that your home is nowhere near as hot as it usually gets during the summer.
So try these steps out, alongside more substantial repairs, to get real benefits. Talk to your family about these simple processes to make sure that they understand them. Doing so will give them the insight that they need to avoid making your home unnecessarily hot during the summer.
Get Your Home Cooler Today
As you can see, there are many significant steps that you can take to make your home cooler without spending a lot of money. Some of these steps are things that you can do yourself, which is excellent for your pocketbook. Others will require professional help, which costs more but is more effective.
A wise course of action is to take a handful of these steps every year, investing in those that make the most sense for your financial situation. After several years, you’ll find that your home is much cooler and comfortable, giving you the help you need to avoid unnecessary heat for long periods.
