Achieving the right temperature in your home can be a tricky balancing act. This can be particularly the case in Spring and Fall when it can be boiling hot one day and freezing cold the next. Just how do you keep it comfortably warm? This post offers a few climate control tips to help you get the temperature just right.
Insulate your home
Good insulation can help you to maintain a more steady temperature in your home. Contrary to what many people think, insulation isn’t all about preventing heat getting out in the winter – it can also prevent heat getting in during the summer months. Some of the best forms of insulation include attic insulation, cavity wall insulation and window insulation. When it comes to window insulation, there are different types of insulation you can consider – you could install double pane windows, upgrade to fiberglass frames or even install shutters to reduce heat transfer.
Make sure your HVAC system is working efficiently
If your HVAC isn’t working properly, you may struggle to reach the right temperature. Common issues include heating taking too long to take effect, air conditioning coming out cold or HVAC turning off by itself/short circuiting. It’s recommended that you hire a heating and AC specialist to service your system every year. They can then flag up any problems and get these fixed to ensure that your system is working properly.
Put your heating/cooling on a timer
Putting your heating or cooling on a timer could be a great option for controlling your home’s temperature in instances when you’re unable to do it manually. For example, want to turn your HVAC off at night to save power, but don’t want to wake up cold on a winter morning? You can set your heating on a timer to come on half an hour before your alarm is scheduled to wake you up so that you wake up to a warm house. Alternatively, during the peak of summer, you may be able to put on a timer for the air con to come on just before you arrive back home from work, allowing you to arrive home to a cool home. Of course, this involves installing a timer system if you haven’t got one.
Switch to smart climate control
Smart home climate control systems are able to automatically adjust heating and cooling levels depending on the temperature outdoors. This can allow you to maintain a specific temperature in your home. To have this control, you’ll need to install a smart thermostat. Many of these thermostats can be programmed to automatically detect the climate every 10 minutes and adjust the temperature accordingly. These systems do rely on a stable internet connection and you may want to turn them off whenever you are not in the home to save energy.
Consider using a zoned heating and cooling system
Zoned heating and cooling systems allow you to heat and cool individual rooms in your home. This can prevent you wasting energy to heat or cool your entire house when you may only be using one room. It can also focus heating and cooling on one room for more immediate results. Just be wary that these systems can be quite expensive to install.
Enhance circulation with fans
Ceiling fans and desk fans can help to circulate air through a home and reduce reliance on HVAC systems. They’re great for cooling your home, while saving money – ceiling fans use 99% less power than air conditioning units. Fans can also be used to heat areas by redirecting hot air from certain parts of the home. There are limits to how much fans can regulate temperature – they are typically no use in extreme heat or extreme cold. But when it comes to mild temperatures, they can be a cheap form of climate control.
Don’t overlook natural heating and cooling
The most traditional way to heat and cool a home involves using the fire and the sun to provide heat, and cold breezes through windows to provide cooling. Controlling sunlight levels in your home can be particularly important for regulating the temperature in your home – letting sunlight pour through a large window in the summer will cause the room to get hot, while blocking out light with curtains or shutters will help keep it cool. As for leaving windows open on a hot day, this is only recommended if the outside temperature is cooler than the inside temperature (north facing windows are ideal because they are more likely to be in the shade, helping cold air in). By using nature to help regulate your home’s temperature, you can prevent your HVAC from having to work as hard.
