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Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Open Your Curtains - they aren't just decoration.

There are 2 good energy reasons to use your curtains for more than just decoration.

1) During the winter, it is free heat. I don't think this is something new to anybody, that if you open your curtains the sunlight will warm the house, but I don't think we get into the habit of it. Make it a point in the morning routine to walk around the house and open your curtains, shut them at night. The amount of time you spend doing this will be more than compensated for the less time your furnace has to kick on.

During the summer, the opposite is true, close those puppies during the heat of the day.

2) Why are we using electricity to light lightbulbs during the day? I am guilty of turning on lights during the day instead of walking over and pulling up the blinds. How lazy am I? I think you just have to make yourself get into the habit.

Make yourself get into the habit of daily opening and closing curtains.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I live in Texas where, in the summer, temperatures can reach 105 degrees. Since A/C is the largest part of our electricity bill, we had to come up with a couple of solutions.

One easy, and relatively cheap solution, is to watch fabric store sales (like Joanne's) for 50% off of something called "blackout fabric." It's what hotels use to line their curtains. It not only cuts light, it cuts HEAT! Our electricity bill dropped in half after using them for one month.

Another tip someone told me is if you have ceiling fans, be sure to flip the switch on the main unit (the part attached directly to the ceiling) because the fan blades help cool in the summer but help spread heat in the winter. It sounds weird, but my friend swears that it makes a difference. Flip the switch so the blades travel in the opposite direction. Since warm air rises, the fan "pushes" the warmer air back down.