SALT LAKE CITY — Are you accidentally making your house hotter? It’s something no one wants, especially over the next week when we’ll really start to feel the heat of summer.
You may be guilty of making common mistakes that could make things worse.
KSL asked the cooling experts at Any Hour Services to tour a home in Utah County to show common mistakes people make and how to avoid them.
“As homeowners, one of the most important things you can do is change the (furnace) filter. It’s easy to slide in and out, really easy to change, and we can see if we’re dirty or not.” Said Dustin Laird, a technician with the company.
Laird said the frequency of changing filters depends on their size.
“We use the 1-inch filters about every 30 to 90 days,” Laird said.
He told KSL that doing this will help keep homes cleaner and cooler.
Laird said spraying the air conditioning unit outside your home with a garden hose can also help cool in the summer, allowing for better airflow.
“These coils can get very clogged with dust, dirt, grass clippings, things like that, and they would make the system work a lot harder, basically suffocating and possibly overheating,” Laird said.
Another common mistake homeowners make is not knowing what time of day is best to open or close their windows.
“We want to open these windows early in the morning, when we have free cold air and can circulate,” Laird said. “Then we can close them when it starts to warm up, trapping all the cold air inside and keeping the warm air out.”
Laird recommended people open their vents completely to circulate air throughout the house. People may think it is good practice to close vents in rooms that do not need heating or cooling, but this can cause the temperature of the house to rise.
“What that will do is cause that room to become very overheated and then resonate throughout the house,” Laird said.
Refrigeration Tips from Any Hour Services
- Keep bedroom doors open to provide additional airflow throughout the house.
- Protect windows with blinds or curtains to prevent the sun from heating the interior of the house.
- Keep interior vents open.
- Use box or ceiling fans to circulate air.
- Avoid blocking vents that bring air throughout the house.
