*If you have air conditioning in your home during the scorching hot summer, Life Hacker shared a money-saving strategy that could keep your home cool.
Per the report, “Supercooling or pre-cooling is a strategy designed to keep your house at a comfortable temperature while reducing your energy consumption.”
Here’s how it works, lower the thermostat of your AC system “during off peak hours, buying cheap energy, and then raising your thermostat during peak hours, ideally so your AC system never turns on during peak hours,” per Green Integrated Design. According to the report, the temperature on the AC unit should be lowered to 70 degrees off-peak, and then raised to 84 to 86 degrees on-peak.
According to Life Hacker, Supercooling has two potential advantages: Lower costs and Less wear and tear.
Per the report, below are more tips on staying “super cool” in your home this summer:
- Variable rates. Your electricity billing has to have peak and off-peak hours. If you’re paying the same flat rate for electricity no matter the time of day, supercooling won’t save you any money. This is because the idea is that your AC runs at night when power is cheaper, then runs less (or not at all) during the day when it’s more expensive.
- Programmable thermostats or window units. This isn’t an absolute requirement, but having programmable units allows you to set them and forget them, and guarantee the most efficient operation (and no chance of forgetting and winding up with a hot house or an energy bill that’s even higher).
- Close those windows. Keeping all windows closed so the hot air doesn’t creep in, and keep the shades or blinds down so the sun can’t heat up the interior. This can make your house feel like a cave, but it will be a cool cave.
- Reduce heat sources. The sun and that swampy air outside is one way your house becomes an oven—but the other way is your actual oven. Once you get your house cooled, you’ll need to avoid heating things up from the inside, which means limiting the appliances you use during the day.
- Get used to the chill. Supercooling means your house will get pretty chilly at night, but you’re going to have to avoid doing anything to compromise this, like running space heaters. You might feel ridiculous dressing for winter during the height of a heat wave, but when your electric bill is cut down significantly, you’ll be glad.
Per the report, supercooling works best if you live in an energy-efficient home. This process is more of a challenge if your home is older, not well-insulated, and lacks a reflective or coated roof.
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