We all enjoy having a cool house during a hot summer’s day, but how can we achieve this without the large increase in energy usage?

You can keep the cool air inside your house by sealing up any gaps and cracks in external walls, floors and the ceiling. Weather-seal your external doors using draught stoppers or  alternatively door snakes at the bottom and weather stripping around the frames. 

Keep your shutters, curtains and outside window shades closed to cut out the summer sun and therefore keeping the heat out and the cool air in.

External windows and doors should be closed when you are cooling your house. Enter and exit your home quickly as an open door on a hot summer's day will allow a great deal of heat to enter into your home.

Opening your windows overnight can help to substantially cool your house, if it doesn't pose a security issue.

Insulating your home can be a long-term solution to keeping your house cooler in summer
Also try to dress more appropriately for the climate, wearing natural fabrics in summer such as cotton or linen which will help your body keep cool.

Only use cooling when and where it is needed, so make sure that you are only using it when you are home and close the doors to unused rooms.

 Use fans instead of the air-conditioner where and whenever possible as fans are much cheaper to use than air conditioning (1-2 cents per hour to run compared to 30 cents for a typical split-system air-conditioner). Although they don’t cool the air they only move it about to produce a breeze.

Ensure that your air conditioner is the right size for the room. If it’s too small, it won’t do the job and if it’s too big it will result in reduced efficiency, higher running costs, inconsistent temperatures and excessive wear and tear.

Your air-conditioner temperature should be set to 23°-26° during summer. According to SavePower, lowering the temperature of your air-conditioner by just one degree can cut your power use by 15 per cent.

Get a programmable thermostat or a timer on your air conditioner so that you can come home to a cool house without running your air conditioner all day.

Make sure your air conditioner is functioning as efficiently and inexpensively as possible by cleaning the filters monthly and having an annual professional cleaning and check-up.

If you already have a solar power system, run your air conditioner while the sun is shining to offset the cost of peak electricity rates and maximize your savings.

If you expect a hot day, turn on the air conditioner early, rather than wait until your home is already hot.