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As a heatwave continues to roll throughout the country, the Tennessee Valley is no exception to the raging temperatures fuming across the South East.
More than 100 million Americans are being impacted by this extreme heatwave according to the National Weather Service. Steve Wilson is with home insurance company Hippo, he said there are simple steps you can take to prevent high energy costs that will also help preserve your home cooling system.
“here are a few things you can do to help protect your home and yourself during this hot season. The first one would be to shut the blinds in your home. Shutting the blinds can reduce heat gain by up to 77%. So, it’s a great way and very inexpensive way to help with home costs. A second thing to do, is to keep the interior doors open in your home. We know that we should close the exterior doors, but you want the air to circulate inside, so keep the interior doors open. The one exception to that would be if you have a sun room or a room with a lot of windows,” said Wilson. “A third thing that you can do is to make sure that you use the switch on your ceiling fans. So you want the ceiling fan to create a downdraft which will push the cooler air down to create a breeze. That will give your air conditioner really a break. So it doesn’t have to run as often, if you’re creating that cool breeze.”
Wilson also said that if you plan to leave for a vacation, keep your air conditioning unit running. The temperature can be turned up to a slightly higher degree, but if the air is not circulating, your home is at risk of developing mold.
“Something else that people are doing a lot of right now, is going on summer vacation right before the school year starts. Often people will decide to turn off their air conditioner. A recent survey showed that 54% of people going on vacation plan to turn it off and it’s something that you should not do. You should maintain some level of temperature in the home. You can adjust it, but you need to keep it running. This will help prevent mold, especially if there’s a water leak while you’re gone the air should be circulating to help prevent mold from building up in your home,” Wilson said.
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