Start with your air-conditioning system. A power pig, it's a direct contributor to those hot, smoggy days.
A new, well-maintained air-conditioning system is more energy efficient than an old, dirty one.
Electric fans offer an alternative to air-conditioning and cost about 50 cents a day to run. Pointed directly at you, a fan will whisk away the internal body heat that your perspiration carries to the surface. Low-tech but high-impact.
You also need to keep your home from overheating during the day and allow it to cool naturally at night. Close windows and window coverings in the morning and keep them shut until the evening when it's cooler outside than in.
A Wireless Weather Station from Lee Valley (www.leevalley.com) will help: this $36.50, battery-powered gadget consists of a small outdoor monitor and an indoor digital reader that indicates the temperature in both places. The only drawback is that its default setting is Fahrenheit and the procedure for switching to Celsius is buried in the instruction manual.
Window film, which blocks the sun's ultraviolet rays, will slash your home's summer heat gain by up to 60 per cent, while also reducing heat loss in the winter. Installed cost is $6 and up per square foot; look under Window Tinting & Coating in the Yellow Pages.
-- Canwest News Service
Cool ideas
Keep lamps and televisions away from your thermostat: their heat will make your air-conditioner work overtime.
Wash clothes in cold water (a green move year-round: we've been doing it for 30 years and folks don't wrinkle their noses when we walk by).
Run your dryer at night or use a clothesline.
Use your dishwasher in the evening and air-dry the dishes.
If you must use the stove on a hot day, turn on the exhaust fan instead of the air-conditioner.
