Real EstatePrepare Your Home for the Heat: 8 Ways to “Spring” into Action

Come July, the Lowcountry gets hot, hot, hot! Whether this will be your first summer in Charleston, or you’re a familiar face around the Holy City, we’ve got some great ways to keep your home cool and comfortable when Mother Nature turns up the heat in a few months. Here are some tips for spring cleaning your home:

8 ways to cool down in Chucktown:

A.C. (also stands for Absolutely Crucial)

Your first line of defense! Make sure you have a modern, high efficiency unit that is the right size for your home. A 10 year old air conditioner is only half as efficient as a new one! If your AC unit is newer, spend the money to have it “tuned up ” annually in the spring. This once over by a certified HVAC technician may be money well spent in the high mid-summer heat when you are asking your AC to work its hardest.

Watch what (and where) you eat!

No, we’re not suggesting going on a diet! However, you might want to reconsider baking and cooking hot foods in your home during the warmest part of the day. In the luxury market, summer kitchens are becoming all the rage extending the indoor-outdoor lifestyle so many Charleston residents enjoy. It doesn’t make sense to fill the house with heat, only to waste all that AC energy cooling it back down again!

Green thumbs are cool

Not only will you earn green-living brownie points, but you will use less air conditioning if your house benefits form the cooling effects of natural shade provided by trees and other vegetation. Luckily, the Lowcountry has trees everywhere. Building vine-covered trellises is another beautiful and effective way to keep your property cool in the heat of summer!

Don’t forget the attic!

Make sure your attic is either insulated (upgrading from 3 to 12 inches of insulation can cut cooling costs up to 20%) or equipped with a high-quality attic fan to direct the hot air up and out of the home. Be sure to reverse the fan, so that its blades are running counter-clockwise and getting rid of heat, instead of pushing it back into the living space!

Be a fan of fans

You’d be amazed by how much moving the air around can increase the cooling efficiency. In addition to ceiling fans, which help distribute cooled air around the room, attic fans can help push the hot air up and out of your home, and draw cooler air in. They’re especially effective in the evening, when the temperature outside are actually lower than inside the home!

Don’t do double-duty

Make sure appliances like dehumidifiers are turned off, lest you cause your home’s AC to work overtime!

Nothing to shutter at

Let’s face it, shutters are big in Charleston, and there’s good reason for it. Exterior “Bahama ” style shutters not only lend a home character, but they also provide natural cooling. Inside your home, Plantation shutters on inside windows can also help to filter out the sunlight and heat.

Go alternative

“Passive cooling” is a new trend in modern homes that utilizes ancient traditions of home-cooling. There are various architects who have risen to the challenge of creating an AC-less environment without sacrificing aesthetically pleasing design elements. Whether or not you try to eliminate AC altogether, reflective metal roofing, high ceilings, and open-floor plans (along with an abundance of large, screened windows), will help keep your home nice and cool!

If you need guidance with any aspect of building, renovating, or landscaping your Charleston home, please contact Luxury Simplified Group. We’ll help you stay cool in Charleston this summer!