Stay Cool This Summer But Without Increasing Your Electricity Bills

One of the biggest consumers of energy in India is its  hold sector and there has phenomenal expansion in energy consumption of the Indian household sector during the last decade. According to BEE India (Bureau of Energy Efficiency) 45% of energy consumed is to attain indoor thermal comfort in Indian residential buildings. But this is little difficult to digest since climate for a place has always been a constant factor, so when there was no need of air-conditioning for building in older times, why is there an unexpected rise in last decade?

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Probably the reason is that though the climate has been a constant factor, the development of the urban forms differs widely because of the technological, cultural and socio-economic changes. The major cause behind this is the availability of electricity because of which the thermal comfort can be reached without considering the building structure and its envelope. The increasing use of cement, glass, and steel for building construction have resulted in buildings whose mass is almost 60% of the mass of traditional construction. The overheating of the indoor spaces is majorly due to the reduced building mass and extensive use of glazing on the front facade of the contemporary buildings.

Here are some changes that you can make in your existing house to improve its whole mass and avoid overheating. This will make your home energy efficient and if incorporated wisely will bring down your summer electricity bill by 40%-50%:

Treat the skin of your home: Wall, roof and fenestration forms the skin of the building and interacts with the climate and temperature changes 24/7. They are the most vulnerable elements and are a major cause of overheating of a building during hot hours of the day.

• Insulate your walls and roof: 30% of the heat enters through walls and roof in a room. Heat naturally moves from a hotter to a colder area and wall insulation provides resistance in the flow of heat. The r-value determines the effectiveness of the insulation, higher the r-value higher the resistance. There are many insulation options for the existing walls, like spray foam insulation, weather board insulation, polystyrene sheet etc. Thermocol sheets are the most inexpensive and easily available insulation sheets for the roof and walls.
• Treat your windows: First of all it is important to make your windows air tight using weather-stripping caulks sealant. If your window is facing south or west do apply low e film on the glass pan of the window. The low e film reflects back sun heat and reduces the penetration up to 60%. Apply awnings if the overhangs are not providing sufficient shade to the window and consider installing white blinds or tightly woven sheets outside the window to stop sun entering the room.

Cross Ventilation: In the era of air-conditioning we have forgot the importance of natural ventilation. No newly constructed house or modern day buildings have ventilators these days despite the fact that hot air rises up, and a ventilator or a roof vent is required to let that air move out. This will create low pressure and facilitate the circulation of air inside the room. Consider having a ventilator or a roof vent to facilitate the movement of air in the room.

Keep the windows closed during day time and open them in the evening after sun set, this will help in reducing the heat gain due to warm air outside during day time.

Internal heat: Heat produced due to electrical appliances like press iron, television, light bulbs etc. in the room is also a cause of overheating. If you are using incandescent lights , switch to fluorescent light bulbs as they produces 80% less heat and consumes 75% less energy. Do consider the star rating of the electrical appliances before purchasing them. Higher star rated appliances consumes 10-50% less electricity and produces less heat.

Indoor and outdoor plants: House plants do the conditioning of the indoor air by reducing airborne bacteria, fungi and replacing the carbon dioxide with oxygen, adding moisture to the air. It is recommended to have at least two house plants per 100 sq feet to detoxify the air. Planting evergreen trees in the front of the windows block harmful sun rays and also naturally filter the air entering the house.