5 Ways to Stay Cool This Summer

Dehumidifiers run quietly and efficiently while taking moisture (a.k.a humidity) out of the air, making the air more comfortable to be in.

A dehumidifier lowers energy costs and helps your traditional air conditioner to run more smoothly. When the air is humid, your air conditioner has to work twice as hard to remove the moisture from the air and cool the air.

Using a dehumidifier lowers energy costs because you don't have to use the A/C as much as you typically would.

Why cool your entire home when you can just cool the room(s) you're using?

Window A/Cs are extremely affordable compared to traditional air conditioning units. They have a great energy efficiency ratio which is based off of how much they cool compared to how much energy they use to run. Window A/C units are easy to install and come with all parts and step-by-step directions at purchase.

Window A/C units don't take up valuable floor space or interfere with activities in the room. They are also great for renters because they're not difficult to move.

Evaporative coolers, also known as swamp coolers, use a natural process to cool the air. A fan draws the warm, stale air in, passes it over water-moistened pads to be cooled, then the cool air is pushed back out and circulated through the room. This method doesn't use refrigerants that put off chemicals and pollutants making it very environmentally friendly.

Swamp coolers are not the best method of choice to cool in warm-humid areas like the southeastern states. These areas have too much moisture in the air, rendering this method ineffective. The key to swamp coolers is the dry, hot air like in areas around the southwestern/western states.

Ductless Air Conditioners are also known as mini-split air conditioners. This method contains an outdoor unit condenser that cools the air, an indoor unit that releases the air in the home, and a conduit that connects the two units including a power cable, tubes of refrigerant and a condensate drain.

These units work like traditional air conditioners without any ducts. Ductless cooling units are designed for easy installation and like a window A/C unit, they are used to cool individual rooms or "zones". That means no more cooling rooms you aren't using!

Having no ducts avoids energy loss, saving you on your overall energy bill.

Fans may not cool the air, but they keep air moving which in turn makes you feel cooler. You sweat to lose heat. The air blowing over your skin from the fan causes your skin to evaporate sweat much faster, allowing the heat to escape making you feel cooler.

There are box fans, ceiling fans, window fans, and even personal fans! Running the ceiling fan counterclockwise and positioning fans by the window at night help suck the hot air out and make the room feel cooler.