There’s a lot to love about summer, but the sweltering temperatures can make some days unbearable, even inside your home. For this reason, start the season by improving the ways your home stays cool. Here are a few that will help you beat the heat without overworking your air conditioner.

How to Keep Your Home Cool This Summer

1. Use Dehumidifiers

Warm air retains more moisture, so naturally, the relative humidity—the amount of water vapor in the air—inside your home will increase during the summer. Unfortunately, when indoor relative humidity levels remain above 60%, your health and home can suffer.

High humidity can cause excessive sweating, which can lead to dehydration, heat rash, itchiness, and bacteria growth on the skin. Humidity also encourages mold, bacteria, and dust mites, which can lead to respiratory illnesses, unpleasant property odors, and asthma or allergy symptoms.

Use a hygrometer to test the relative humidity throughout the house, and install a dehumidifier in rooms with high percentages. This device soaks up the excess moisture and makes your home more comfortable and safer to live in.

2. Close & Cover Windows

While fresh air can help improve indoor air quality, keeping your windows closed during the summer prevents hot air from flowing inside and increasing the workload for your air conditioner.

Also, covering windows that receive direct sunlight with blinds, shades, curtains, or drapes reduces the amount of heat that is transferred into your home.

3. Install an Attic Fan

Even during the summer, there are several points throughout the day when the air outside is cooler than the air inside. Using an attic or whole-house fan allows your home to pull in this cooler air and expel the hotter air through the attic vents.

This allows you to keep your home comfortable while running your air conditioner less. It also improves the indoor air quality by removing old, stale air filled with dust, pollen, cooking and cleaning chemicals, and other pollutants.

If your air conditioner struggles to keep your home cool during the summer, contact the professionals at Ziegler Heating Company in Ashtabula, OH, for a solution. For over 80 years, this family-owned business has provided quality residential and commercial HVAC maintenance and installation services. Their HVAC contractors also specialize in ventilation systems for improving your indoor air quality. Visit their website to learn more about their services, and call (440) 969-1141 with any questions.