Debbie Mounteer

The coming of summer means longer days and higher temperatures, as well as higher energy costs as we try to keep our homes comfortably cool. Don't sweat it. Here are some tips for beating the heat without running the air conditioner 24/7. Most of these cost little or nothing.

Get the most from your air conditioning

• Open windows and use portable or ceiling fans instead of operating your air conditioner. Even mild air movement of 1 mph can make you feel three or four degrees cooler. Make sure your ceiling fan is turned for summer -- you should feel the air blown downward. If you live in a relatively dry climate, a bowl or tray of ice in front of a box fan can cool you as it evaporates.
  
  
• Use a fan with your window air conditioner to spread the cool air through your home.
  
  
• Without blocking air flow, shade your outside compressor. Change air filters monthly during the summer.
  
  
• Use a programmable thermostat with your air conditioner to adjust the setting at night or when no one is home.
  
  
• Don't place lamps or TVs near your air conditioning thermostat. The heat from these appliances will cause the air conditioner to run longer.
  
  
• Consider installing a whole house fan or evaporative cooler (a "swamp cooler") if appropriate for your climate. Attics trap fierce amounts of heat; a well-placed and -sized whole-house fan pulls air through open windows on the bottom floors and exhausts it through the roof, lowering the inside temperature and reducing energy use by as much as third compared with an air conditioner. Cost is between $200 and $400 if you install it yourself. An evaporative cooler pulls air over pads soaked in cold water and uses a quarter the energy of refrigerated air, but they're useful only in low-humidity areas. Cost is $200 to $600.
  
  
• Install white window shades, drapes, or blinds to reflect heat away from the house. Close curtains on south- and west-facing windows during the day.
  
  
• Install awnings on south-facing windows. Because of the angle of the sun, trees, a trellis, or a fence will best shade west-facing windows. Apply sun-control or other reflective films on south-facing windows.
  
  
• Plant trees or shrubs to shade air conditioning units, but not block the airflow. A unit operating in the shade uses less electricity.
  
  
• Grown on trellises, vines such as ivy or grapevines can shade windows or the whole side of a house.
  
  
• Avoid landscaping with lots of unshaded rock, cement, or asphalt on the south or west sides. It increases the temperature around the house and radiates heat to the house after the sun has set.
  
  
• Deciduous trees planted on the south and west sides will keep your house cool in the summer. Just three trees, properly placed around a house, can save a few hundred dollars in annual cooling and heating costs. In summer, daytime air temperatures can be 3 degrees to 6 degrees cooler in tree-shaded neighborhoods.
  
  

Little things mean a lot

• Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents; they produce the same light but use a fifth the energy and heat
  
  
• Air-dry dishes instead of using your dishwasher's drying cycle.
  
  
• Use a microwave oven instead of a conventional electric range or oven.
  
  
• Turn off your computer and monitor when not in use.
  
  
• Plug home electronics, such as TVs and VCRs, into power strips, and turn power strips off when equipment is not in use.
  
  
• Lower the thermostat on your water heater; 115° is comfortable for most uses.
  
  
• Take showers instead of baths to reduce hot water use.
  
  
• Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes.
  
  

Don't air-condition the whole neighborhood

• Caulking and weatherstripping will keep cool air in during the summer.
  
  
• If you see holes or separated joints in your ducts, hire a professional to repair them.
  
  
• Add insulation around air conditioning ducts when they are located in unconditioned spaces such as attics, crawl spaces, and garages; do the same for whole-house fans where they open to the exterior or to the attic.
  
  
• Check to see that your fireplace damper is tightly closed.
  
  

Plan ahead

More costly but effective cooling measures are available as your home undergoes normal upgrades and repairs.

• A 10-year-old air conditioner, for example, is only half as efficient as a new one. A quick check of your air conditioner's efficiency can help you decide whether to call in a service professional. Use a household thermometer to measure the temperature of the discharge air from the register and the temperature of the return air at the return-air grill. (Keep the thermometer in place for five minutes to get a steady temperature.) The difference should be from 14 to 20 degrees, experts say. An air conditioner that's not cooling to those levels could be low on refrigerant or have leaks. A unit cooling more than 20 degrees could have a severe blockage.
  
  
• Using light shingles on a new roof can cut the amount of heat the house absorbs. Repainting in a light color, especially south- and west-facing exterior areas, helps as well.
  
  
• Upgraded insulation in the attic and double-paned windows all around, complete with tinting to reflect sunlight, are good ideas, too.
  
  

Source: These tips (and more) come from the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Savers Web site .

The Gateway in Salt Lake is what all other new developments in Utah compare themselves to. "It will be just like the Gateway" they say. What is the Gateway????? It is mixed use on steroids. It is a mall turned inside out. It is like main street with one way traffic. What does the Gateway have to offer???

The Best Restaurants

The Best Shopping

Entertainment Galore...for all ages. Important here.

You can live here, work here, play here and of course shop here.

Plus two of my favorite guys are there.....Ben and Jerry.

http://www.downtownslc.org/shopping-gateway.htm

I like numbers they are soothing undiscriminating...very factual and unemotional. Here are the latest statistics for the Layton Area. I think things are looking great and they are only getting better.

Zip Code 84040, 84041 Sales Activity Trend Report Report Date: Monday, April 14, 2008
Time Period: March 1, 2008 through April 1, 2008

Our FHA number is growing and our cash is shrinking from last year. We are experiencing realistic pricing and sales.

Average Sales Price Ranges from 200,000- 150,000 and the average price per sq ft is between $71-$73. It just depends on which of the two zip codes your house would be in.

I am offering a free meditation class.

This is an introduction class that will discuss the various types of meditation and then an experience with Meditation. March 25th 2008 at 6:00-7:30PM at the FitLife Day Spa and Fitness 108 South Fort Lane Layton UT.

"The memory of God comes to the quiet mind. It cannot come where there is conflict; for a mind at war against itself remembers not eternal gentleness...What you remember is a part of you. For you must be as God created you.. Let all this madness be undone for you, and turn in peace to the remembrances of God, still shining in your quiet mind" - from A Course in Miracles.

Meditation has brought peace into my life and I an want to share that peace with others and help them find the stillness with in.

I grew up in Morgan and was up there on Monday visiting my family. He are some of the photos of the snow. This is the first time I have ever seen so much snow in Morgan. It felt just like West Yellow stone. Next they will be snowmobiling in the streets. Utah is a desert and they anticipate a good melt today and tomorrow. Hopefully we won't flood.

www.utahhomes.com/debbie.mounteer