Suburban Homesteading – Frugal Living

We’ve had a relatively mild summer by all accounts, but that is about to change. Weatherman says the mercury will start to rise later this week and that can mean only one thing—hot!

Without air conditioning life would be unbearable. But, with the kind of air conditioning most people use life could get very, very expensive. In my area, when the temps go up so do the electric bills to run household cooling systems, sometimes into the hundreds of dollars a month.

I have even had conversations with people who complained about spending $600 or more a month to cool their home. How could that be possible, I wondered? What were they doing, I thought? But, rather than speculate I asked, and what I found out was astonishing.

In the group I was talking to every person had their home cooled down to 70-degrees. Most had their thermostat set to turn the air on at 72-degrees. And, every person left the air on when they were not at home. I didn’t know what to say. I was amazed.

I must have given them a strange look because one of the group asked why I looked so puzzled. I explained that I couldn’t imagine spending that much money just to move hot air out of my house, which, in turn, prompted questions and looks that seemed to say, “what else are we suppose to do?” When I told them my electric bill was rarely over $40 a month, even in the summer, it was their turn to be amazed.

I explained that I had all I needed to keep my house comfortable even when the temps pushed towards 100. Large trees in the front and back of the house shade it from the sun. Big windows allow good air flow from one end of the house to the other, and, most importantly, box fans.

I went on to explain that when I placed fans, facing out, in the windows where the house heats up and fans in the windows near the shade trees facing in I can create a cooling draft that keeps the whole house very pleasant. The trick is to draw the hot air “out”, while pulling the cool air “in”. Constantly flowing air also helps make the house feel cooler even if the inside temp increases.

For really hot days damp sheets can be hung near windows so the in-coming air passes through them before it is drawn throughout the house.

That’s all there is too it!

Give Mother Nature a chance and she’ll not only keep you comfortable all summer long, but she’ll save you a bundle of money too.