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Hacks to keep your home cool in the summer heat

Striking a balance between staying comfortable in hot weather without breaking the bank can be tricky.

DENVER — Denver should see highs soaring to near 100 degrees Monday and not much cooler Tuesday. 

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a Heat Advisory portions of the Colorado Front Range, including the Denver metro area, the southern foothills and adjacent plains, Western Colorado, and the San Luis Valley.

It's recommended that Coloradans under the Heat Advisory avoid strenuous outdoor activities, drink plenty of fluids, seek shade or air conditioning, and check on neighbors and the elderly.

Striking a balance between staying comfortable in hot weather without breaking the bank can be tricky.

That’s why we gathered a few tips to help keep you cool and hopefully save you a few dollars along the way.

Using an air conditioner

If you can tolerate a few more degrees of heat, you can save some money, according to Mark Stutz with Xcel Energy.

“If you move up about one degree you can save about one percent on your bill,” Stutz said. “If you move up five degrees, you save five percent.”

Stutz also recommended limiting the use of other household tasks that generate heat – like doing laundry or running a dishwasher during the daytime.

This may seem obvious, but it’s also best to keep windows closed to trap the A/C inside and close window blinds and shades.

Using a fan

If using a fan is your go-to for staying cool in the summer, Lindsey Chapman with Home Depot recommended placing them next to a window or door.

With ceiling fans, she said, make sure they’re rotating in the right direction. In most cases, these fans should rotate counterclockwise to help maximize cooler air.

“If you think about the science, hot air rises, so in the winter, you want the fan to push the hot air back down to help with the heating bills, but in the summer, you want to suck it up into the ceiling,” Chapman said.

Using an evaporative cooler

An evaporative cooler (or swamp cooler) helps cool air through – you guessed it – the evaporation of water.

Chapman said a lot of people end up returning these units because they don’t know how to use them properly.

For this one to work, it’s important to keep windows open. Evaporative coolers work by pushing the hot air out of a house.

Have a hack on beating the heat? Let us know here!

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