Keeping Your Home Comfortable
Last night, my wife and son decided to abandon me and head out with their friends. So I decided to take my daughter out to dinner. Being the adorable toddler she is, she was a big hit at the restaurant. One waitress came over to our table to tell me how pretty she was. After giving me a quick glance, and looking back at my daughter, the waitress said my wife must be very beautiful. Maybe I should've stayed home.
While I may not be gracing People magazine's most beautiful list this year, I, like many other Americans, will probably be spending a lot more time cooped up at home, regardless of our not-so-flawless appearance. With our current economic crisis, more people have started scaling back on dining out and doing things outside the home.
As a home inspector, I usually write about safety issues. But to keep up with current issues facing homeowners across the country, I decided to provide some helpful tips on how to make your home more comfortable and save you some money at the same time.
Air circulation
At an inspection yesterday, I spent some time planning out changes with the potential owner to make his indoor environment more enjoyable.
People usually associate comfort with temperature, and air circulation plays a major role in impacting the comfort zone. Temperatures set at 72 degrees can feel stuffy and hotter when air is not properly circulating through a home. The most basic way air moves in our homes is by going through a return to the air conditioning system then out through the registers. Many older homes only have one return. The house that I was inspecting had two returns with one inside the master bedroom and the other outside the door of the master bedroom.
Adding returns (air ducts) to each bedroom is a great way to make air move through the entire structure of the home. This involves adding ducts to the return plenum, and vents for the returns. By doing this, air moves through the home each time the system turns on. Instead of 72 degrees, you may find that 76 degrees is more comfortable. Many people lower their thermostats just to have the system blow air into a room to feel good.
The magic of fans
In the home I was inspecting, there was only one fan in the family room, and it didn't even work. Ceiling fans can be a great way to move air through a room. Since they are reversible, you can use them to pull cold air away from the floor during winter months or push cool air down during the warmer months.
This process allows you to lower the amount of heat or cooling needed, so you can conserve energy. Installing these fans is not so difficult, since most will attach to the same fixture box where your light was installed.
My wife can't sleep in a room without a ceiling fan running on low. As for me, I like an open window to catch some night breezes. In my case, I have to check that my window screens are in place and that they have no holes. I want to enjoy the air, not the insects.
We also use a programmable thermostat. In the early morning before work and school or in the evening before bed, we keep the temperature a little cooler or warmer. When we are asleep or out of the home we increase the temperatures during warmer months and lower them during cooler months to save energy.
To keep utility bills low, you do not want your indoor temperatures to drastically fluctuate. Keep your temperature variations within five degrees or less. The more that your air conditioning system has to work to cool or heat the home, the more energy you use. Turning on a fan will make your room more comfortable and save you money at the end of the month.
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