During the summer months, most homeowners are looking reduce their cooling costs while also staying comfortable in the home. One way to do this is to stay ahead of solar heat gain in your southwest Illinois home. While you can’t eliminate heat gain entirely, there are numerous steps that you can take to reduce it.
The first method for reducing heat gain is reflecting the sunlight away from your home. First focus on your roof, then your exterior walls and windows. On your roof, consider applying a reflective coating so that the roof will not absorb as much heat in the first place. Additionally, applying a light colored paint to your exterior walls will further help reflect sunlight away. Finally, reflective coatings on windows also help keep the heat from building up as much. Closing curtains and drapes when the sun is shining on the windows is another way to block heat from getting through windows.
Making sure your home is properly insulated and air-sealed are additional important tactics in reducing solar heat gain. Proper insulation in your attic will keep a large amount of heat from radiating downward into your living spaces. Seal windows and doors, along with entry points for wiring, plumbing and vents, with caulking and weatherstripping.
Make sure you plant trees that will eventually shade your home during the summer, and after they lose their leaves in the fall, will allow sun through during the winter when solar heat gain is desirable. A short-term and immediate solution involves using exterior shading. All of these steps will help block the heat from getting into your home, and forcing your A/C to work overtime.
If you would like even more tips on preventing solar heat gain in your home, please contact our experts at Ernst Heating & Cooling. We proudly serve the Metro-East area, including the communities of Hamel, Edwardsville and Bethalto.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Hamel, Alton, Glen Carbon, Highland, Greenville, and Troy, Illinois and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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