As spring rolls into summer, the excitement of warmer weather ahead grows. People are looking forward to enjoying the outdoors, going for bike rides, swimming at the lake or neighbourhood pool, and just enjoying time in the backyard. For homeowners, this is a time to ensure your home is ready for summer fun, because enjoying the warmer weather is great, but living in an uncomfortably hot home is never a great way to spend your summer.

Here are 4 tasks to complete to ensure your house remains cool this summer:

    1. Show your HVAC system some attention, after all your central air conditioning system will be responsible for keeping your home comfortable all summer long. Replace the filter, this will ensure the air flowing through the system is unobstructed. Ensure the outside condensing unit is clear of any shrubs, debris, or anything else that can reduce the airflow to the unit. Clean the condenser unit, clear out any debris or leaves from in the unit and give it a quick rinse with your garden hose. Clean the A/C drain to ensure the system is running efficiently. Early summer preventive maintenance will help ensure your system is running efficiently all summer long.
    2. Inspect your windows and doors, drafts from around your windows and doors cause your heating and air conditioning systems to work harder to maintain your desired internal temperature. Look for signs that you need to replace your windows and doors, such as bent or warped frames, damaged glass, difficulty opening and closing, or drafts coming in from around the frames. Recognizing that you may need a window replacement early in the summer will give you enough time to plan for the project.
    3. Ceiling fans are great for circulating air around a room, as long as they are working properly. Take this time to test ceiling fans and set them to rotate counter clockwise. Ensuring your ceiling fans are set to spin counter clockwise will push air down and provide you with that cool gust of air you will be looking for on a warm day. When rotating clockwise, ceiling fans bounce the warm air that rises off the walls and pushes the warm air around the room, which is great for winter, but not helpful during the warmer months.
    4. Replacing older incandescent lightbulbs will help keep your home cool, as these bulbs generate a lot of heat and use much more energy than LED or fluorescent bulbs. If you think a small bulb can’t make that much of a difference, let me tell you that they can. Especially when they are used throughout your entire home. 90% of the energy used by incandescent bulb goes towards creating heat.

Maintenance and upkeep is part of home ownership, taking these few steps before the weather really heats up will ensure your home is ready to take on the warm weather, and that you and your family will be able to enjoy the summer comfortably all season long.