REGION: Tips for a cool home

Tag : Heat And Cool

It may be hot outside, but you don't have to be steaming inside.

And Art Rosenfeld, a California Energy Commission member and one ofthe nation's foremost experts on energy efficiency, suggests youdon't have to spend a fortune on air conditioning to make itcomfortable inside your home.

Rosenfeld said one of the best things one can do to reduce the loadon your air conditioner is to put a lighter-colored,well-insulated, so-called "cool roof" over your head. If you needto replace an aging, leaky roof, put on one that is designed toreflect the sun's rays and avoid absorbing its heat.

It helps to reduce the amount of sunshine hitting your roof andoutside walls by planting shade trees along the east and west sidesof the home, he said. It also helps to install external shutters,shades or screens.

Inside, you'll want to shutter window blinds to prevent sunshinefrom coming in through the glass and hitting ---- and heating up---- floors and furniture.

"You don't want to have a lot of incandescent lights on," Rosenfeldadded. "That adds heat."

It not only pays to switch out energy-hogging incandescent bulbsfor long-lasting compact fluorescent bulbs, the twisted newefficient lamps put off just one-fourth as much heat as the oldbulbs, he said.

"You want to reduce all the heat generation in the house," he said.

In other words, avoid running heat-generating appliances, such asthe dishwasher, during the hot time of the day.

It's also important to get rid of the hot air. A good way to dothat is to install a fan in the attic, said Bill Patzert, climatescientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

It's also a good idea to work with Mother Nature when she's morepleasant ---- after dark.

"If it gets cool at night, open up the windows and cool the housewith the free outside air," Rosenfeld said.