Minimize Indoor Heat Generation

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Quick Facts Affordability Cost Savings CO2 Reduction		A house heats up from solar heat gain through the roof and windows, as well as activities inside the house that generate heat. Cooking is often the biggest contributor to indoor heat but electronic equipment and other home appliances also play a part in heating the air. Managing use of appliances and electronic equipment can help minimize indoor heat generation and reduce the need for home cooling. Affordability Timing your use of appliances and other equipment to take advantage of cooler times of day is free. A little advance planning for cooking and doing laundry can keep your indoor air temperature more comfortable and save you energy. Cost savings Stopping heat gain before it happens reduces the need for other cooling materials and equipment – saving money, resources and energy. Health & comfort A hot house can make it difficult to relax or sleep and cooking over a stove is not a pleasant way to spend a warm day. Finding simple, efficient ways to keep cool will benefit your health and greatly increase the comfort of your home. Environmental considerations Energy saving practices, such as hanging laundry to dry, using compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) instead of heat-generating incandescent lightbulbs and eating more cold foods in hot weather, are doubly beneficial as they also keep your home from heating up, which reduces your cooling needs and further reduces your energy consumption.

What you need to know

• Eat cold food on a hot day to save the need for using the oven or stovetop.
• Barbecue outside, use a microwave or use a solar oven to cook food.
• On a cool day, cook a number of meals and freeze them so you only need to heat them up quickly when it’s time to eat them.
• Turn off all unnecessary electrical equipment – computers, stereos and televisions – and limit your use of most electronics to early mornings and evenings when the air is cooler. Also, ensure you use power bars on all your electronics to reduce phantom loads, which are energy draws that occur even when the equipment is turned off.
• Don’t run a clothes dryer during a hot day – hang your laundry to dry. Clotheslines are a great way to dry clothing efficiently and they leave clothes smelling fresh. If you must machine dry your laundry, do so early in the morning or late at night.
• Limit your use of lights during the day and ensure you use CFLs instead of incandescent bulbs in all your light fixtures to minimize the heat gain from lighting. An incandescent light bulb generates 95% heat and 5% lighting.

FAQ

I live in a condo so I do not have a clothesline for my laundry. How can I keep the dryer from heating my place up?
Even if you do not have a clothesline, an indoor clothes drying rack is a great way to dry clothes. In fact, hanging your wet laundry inside on a hot day can help cool the air.

Do solar ovens really work?
Yes! Solar ovens can be placed outside where the sun will be at an optimum angle for part of the day to cook food while you are out at work or you can adjust the oven periodically to cook food faster. Of course, they do not work at night or in very cloudy weather but on a sunny day they are a very efficient and fun way to cook.