5 Ways to Keep Your Florida Home Cool This Summer

It’s July and the temperatures in central Florida are soaring! We Floridians love summer days spent in the surf and sand, al fresco dining, and frosty beverages by the pool – but it’s also nice to head indoors during the hottest times of day and get a blast of cool relief from the air conditioning!

While new homes are more energy efficient than older homes thanks to current energy standards and technologically advanced products, the expenses of keeping cool can add up. Before you crank the a/c down to arctic temperatures, try incorporating these five tips to keep your new Florida home cool this summer.

1. Shut the Blinds

Sunlight and heat come in through windows, which causes your home to heat up throughout the day. In fact, this ‘greenhouse effect’ can account for up to 30% of the unwanted heat in your home! When the sun is shining, keep your blinds closed to help prohibit this heat from coming into your Florida home. Doing so can lower the mid-day temperatures indoors by nearly 20 degrees, especially if you have light colored blinds, which actually reflect the sunlight instead of absorbing it.

If you spend your days working from home and miss having the natural sunlight streaming through your windows, then pay attention to the direction of the sun throughout the day and adjust the blinds accordingly so that the areas of your home getting the most direct sun are protected.

2. Flip the Fan

Did you know that your ceiling fan can spin two directions? It’s true! The direction it is set to spin can directly impact how cool it feels in your home. Set your fans spin clockwise in the wintertime, which creates an updraft that forces warm air near the ceiling down into the room. In the summer months, turning your fan so it rotates counterclockwise will circulate air and push cooler air down toward you.

Pro Tip: To save energy, turn the fans off when you’re not in the room! Despite conventional wisdom, ceiling fans don’t actually cool the air temperature in the room. Instead, they evaporate the perspiration on your body or in the air, effectively making you feel cooler. When you leave the room, the benefit of having a ceiling fan on leaves with you!

3. Bathroom Boost

The handy exhaust fan in the bathrooms of your new home in Florida can also play a big part in cooling your home! This simple appliance is a low-cost way to remove some of the hot, humid air that hovers around your ceilings. Turning it on during showers can help keep the heat and humidity from escaping to the rest of your home. And, don’t turn it off as soon as you’re out – leaving the bathroom exhaust fan on for 20 minutes post-shower will ensure it properly removes all of the lingering heat and humidity.

4. Save the Chores for Cooler Temps

Appliances running throughout your home can certainly add heat. Doing laundry, running the dishwasher, and even ironing can raise the temperature in your home. Combat the heat by doing chores in the early morning or evening hours instead of during the heat of the day.

5. Grill Out

The oven is the most obvious appliance that will heat up your home in a hurry! While it’s warm out and the sun is shining, do your cooking outdoors! Grilling is the quintessential way to celebrate summertime, and you have the added benefit of keeping your home cool while enjoying a delicious meal.

Building a new home in central Florida with Highland Homes means you’ll enjoy an energy efficient home built to today’s top standards. In addition, you’ll have the ability to select upgrades to further improve your home’s energy performance at the Highland Homes Personal Selection Studio.

To learn more about our new homes for sale in Auburndale, Tampa Bay, Metro Orlando, Lakeland-Winter Haven, or Ocala, visit www.HighlandHomes.org or contact our Florida New Home Specialists at 863-797-4999.