Hot Montana Summers Don’t Have To Cost You A Million Bucks

The temperatures have been getting hotter and hotter the last couple of weeks and that typically means you will have your air conditioning blasting (if you have one), and that can get pretty expensive. But I get it, after a long, hot day at work, you want to come home to a cool house.

There are lots of different ways to help keep your home cool with or without an air conditioner or central air. My first apartment did NOT have an air conditioning unit, but my new apartment does. I have yet to turn it on. Why? I use a couple of these tips.

Tip One: Close the blinds. This is such an easy way to keep your home cool while you are away during the day or maybe for the weekend. Obviously, with the blinds closed, the sunshine will not be beaming in and heating your home.

Tip Two: Don't use the oven or avoid it if you can. The oven is an immediate home heater that we sometimes don't think about. In the winter, after using the oven, I will leave the oven door open to use the heat. That just shows how much heat is given off.

Tip Three: Make sure that you don't have leaks around windows and doors. This helps keep that cool air in and that hot air out. It's pretty simple. If you live in an apartment, you can take a tissue and hold it next to your patio door, front door, or windows on a windy day and see if the tissue moves. Easy way to see if you are sealed up well.

Tip Four: Change out those old nasty lightbulbs for LED bulbs. You know the old ones that you have to turn off for 5 minutes before removing them because they are too hot to touch. Not only will the LED bulbs save you money, they'll help keep your home cool as well.

Hopefully, these tips will help you keep cool this summer AND save some money on your electric bill. Stay cool people.