5 Ways To Cool Your Home

The SA Government has a wonderful calculator. Enter in your energy tarrif and the rating of an air conditioner. You'll quickly find that a standard unit (5kW) running for 4hrs a day  (at $0.33/kw) can easily cost $2400/yr to run. That's another air conditioner!

Even when its running, it doesn't seem to run flow through the entire house. It just fights against the air temperature inside the room.

There are a whole range of affordable (and more cost effective to run) options that'll work to cool your entire home. Here's what we recommend!

1. Roof Fan

Also known as a "Whirly Bird", a fan on your roof exhausts the trapped, hot air in your roof space. This reduces the heat absorbed by the home through the day. Watch out on the passive whirlies! The cheap roof fans that you'd find in Bunnings do not have the power to properly exhaust the heat from your roof. We recommend a SolarWhiz. It has the equivalent suction power of 14x whirly birds.

2. CeilING FAN

Modern home builds seem to neglect the humble ceiling fan. But with a ceiling fan running and a breeze through an open window, it'll bring about the best bang for buck heat relief ($0.03c/hr). 

3. Eave Vents

Adding vents to the part of the roof that overhangs the walls of the home can flush cool air into the roof space as a roof fan works to exhaust the hot air. They're relatively cheap to buy and it's a simple process to install.

4. Positive Pressure Ventilation

When it comes to home comfort, Relative Humidity is the most important factor.  A SolarVenti pumps in dry, dehumidified air. The lower the humidity in your home, the more it will make your home feel cooler. It also makes other cooling initiatives in your home more effective and kills mould and dust mites. This costs $0 to run, paying itself off after a year of all-season use.

5. Close Your Blinds & Install Window Film

Available at your local hardware store is window film. It's a sticky sheeting that you apply to the window. It'll reduce glare, stop street onlookers and reflect the sunlight heat that shines into your room.