Make sure your home is ready for summer with these 6 tips

You can break out the bikini, iced tea, and sunscreen, and be ready for heat waves in a flash.  Your home, however, can’t do anything to prepare itself for the heat of the summer months. That is all up to you as the homeowner. A few small updates and changes can make a HUGE difference in the way your home holds up over the summer. It can mean the difference between a minor change and a major repair later, after the heat has had its way. Here are a few tips you can use to make sure your home is ready for the summer months. 

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Get your roof checked, including the caulking and the shingles.

During the winter, your roof took a beating – and it’s going to happen again in the summertime in a different way. Get the situation checked up there so that your home is in good shape to handle summer thunderstorms. It’s best to call a professional for this project; have the person make sure that flashing is tightly sealed, with some type of sealant that is still intact.

Check and replace air filters.

It may be best to call a professional for this..  Make sure the air filters in your HVAC vents are still fresh and mostly clean; if they are dirty and clogged, your air conditioner will have to work harder to push air through your home. That’s code for a higher energy bill.

Check your dryer vents.

If your vents are clogged or full of debris, the heat from the dryer will begin to blow right back into your home blocking any air conditioning or closed-windows that you’ve set up to cool the house down.

Install CFL, or compact fluorescent, light bulbs instead of incandescent ones.

Aside from the obvious energy savings, the new light bulbs will directly impact the temperature of your home. CFL bulbs produce much less heat when they are on, so the room stays cooler. It may not make a big difference – but who can argue with energy savings and a naturally cooler room?

Consider landscaping your yard for maximum energy efficiency during the summer. 

Believe it or not, placing a tree overtop the air conditioning unit will keep it cooler and more efficient when doing its job.

Replace your old-style thermostat with a new one.

Switching to a programmable one could help save you up to $100 a year if you’re using a thermostat from the Stone Age, especially if it has a mercury tube inside. (Call your public works department to find out how to dispose of this, as it’s a toxic material.)

At R.L. Lanham Custom Built Homes, we value you as a customer and hope that you choose us as your next home builder in Oldham County, KY.