The scorching heat of summer can cause any homeowner to crank up the air conditioning throughout the day’s end. But while this does offer a significant level of indoor comfort, receiving an electric bill that’s worth ten times more than the usual can be painful to say the least. It can be hard to find the right balance between energy consumption and optimal internal climate, but these simple tips should let you cool your home this summer without an air conditioner. That’s right – you can make your space cool and comfortable minus the crazy electricity costs.

Adjust the Ceiling Fan

During the colder seasons, ceiling fans are set to spin clockwise. This allows it to pull cold hair up and away from the space, and push hot air down towards the floor. During the summer however, ceiling fans should be set to spin counter clockwise which pushes cold air down and pull warm air up. Make sure you perform this minor adjustment to help your home regulate the heat.

Buy Additional Fans

While fans don’t actually create cold air the same way air conditioners do, they are very capable of bringing hot temperatures down by circulating air and providing a cool breeze. What’s more, they can be a lot cheaper to operate. Consider buying more fans – whether standing or on the ceiling – to keep air in constant motion.

Window Treatments

One of the reasons why houses become so hot in the summer is because people fail to make use of the right window treatments to block out the sun coming in from windows. Blinds, curtains, and shades are great at filtering heat and shielding your house from absorbing too much of the sun’s warmth.

Better Lighting

Your light bulbs don’t only affect your electricity bill, they also create heat which can significantly make a space warmer. Toss out the incandescent and fluorescents and opt to buy LEDs and CFLs instead. Not only are they much cooler to use, but they also consume much less energy to bring that bill even lower the next time it comes around.

Ventilation

Cooking, ironing, and even doing the laundry can increase indoor temperatures to uncomfortable levels. When these tasks are underway, make sure you get rid of the heat they generate and ventilate the space immediately to dissipate warmth. A fan, open windows, or a hood over your stove could make a big difference during these heat-generating activities.

Take Advantage of the Night

At night, temperature is a lot cooler, so make sure you allow that cool night breeze to travel through your home and relieve it of the day’s warmth. Use fans to circulate air and leave some windows open to let cool air in.

At Theberge Homes, we want you to have a cool, happy summer in your new townhome or new condo in Ottawa!

There’s nothing more challenging than cleaning out an entire space at the end of the winter season. All that accumulated filth, dirt, and dust could deter even the hardiest of homeowners, but someone has to clean them. Even though spring cleaning tends to be a big hurdle for many of us, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any tactics we can put into action to make the process easier. Find out how you can make spring cleaning your townhome or condo a breeze with this simple and easy cheat sheet.

4 Spring Cleaning Cheats 

Remove Caked-On Grease with Oil

The feeling of staring down a grease-caked stove top can be disheartening for any homeowner. While many of us choose to use the traditional soap and elbow grease combination, there are better, less taxing ways you can remove those unsightly stains. Funny enough, oil actually works as a great grease remover and requires minimum effort on the homeowner’s end. Simply wipe off grease with an oiled up cloth and clean everything after with store-bought cleaner.

Use a Stocking on a Vacuum Cleaner

Everyone hates having to fish out jewelry, tiny knickknacks, and other small items out of the vacuum cleaner bag, but you can skip out on dipping your hands into dirt with this simple trick. Take an old stocking and slip your vacuum’s nozzle and hose into it. Vacuum as you normally would, and allow the stocking to sift through any bigger items that you might have dropped or lost throughout the year.

Lemon on Water Stains

When those stainless steel bathroom and kitchen fixtures start to blur out and stain, they can be pretty unsightly. Sure, you can go ahead and try cleaning them with traditional cleaners, but you will have to rinse that off… with water, of course, which will stain. A better solution to cleaning out water stains on steel fixtures is to rub lemon on it. Slice a whole lemon in half and use it to scrub down bathroom faucets and knobs to restore their original shine.

Clean Coffee Pots with Vinegar

Pour some vinegar into a stained coffee pot and allow it to sit for a few minutes. This will allow it to eat through the stains and clean out any residual coffee that can be hard to remove by simply scrubbing. Once the stains are lighter, add some water into your water reservoir and pour the vinegar in with it. Run the coffee maker as if you were brewing and allow it to process all the water and vinegar inside it. Once the process is done, run clean water through it and rinse everything accordingly.

Nobody likes spring cleaning, but it’s a whole lot better when you can relax in your bright, clean Theberge Home once it’s all over. Whether you live in a townhome or terrace home at Huntclub Towns or Alta Vista Ridge, a condo at Pinecrest, or a custom home, life is a breeze!