Many homes rely solely on an air conditioner to provide cooling. This is an expensive choice. If you want to reign in your cooling costs, then you need to realize that you have two choices for cooling. You have active cooling equipment, such as an air conditioner or fan, but you also have passive cooling equipment. To reduce the load on your AC unit, you need to use passive cooling to help keep your home cool.

Trees

Trees are just one example of something that provides passive cooling for a home. Trees can help keep your home cool in a couple of ways. For one, trees will shade your home and absorb the sun's energy through the process of photosynthesis before that energy has a chance to heat up your home. For another thing, trees cool the air around them through a process known as evapotranspiration. In basic terms, trees release water vapor into the air, and this vapor absorbs heat from the surrounding air, which then settles onto your house and into your yard. Trees can thus keep the air 6% cooler and the outside of your home 25% cooler than a home exposed to direct sunlight. While insulation will prevent some heat from entering your home, some heat does get into your home; otherwise, there would be no need for an AC unit. Keeping the outside of your home cooler means there is less heat available to seep into your home, so there is less load on your AC unit. 

Awnings

Windows are one of the main areas where heat enters your home. While trees can help to reduce heat gain, you may need to pay special attention to your windows. Awnings will block much of the sun's energy without cutting off the view from your window. While you might be wary about placing awnings on your home, consider the fact that an awning can reduce heat gain by as much as 77%, and the less your home heats up, the less you have to run your AC equipment. This will not only reduce operating costs, but it will also reduce wear and tear on your equipment, so you will also save on maintenance costs. 

While modern heating and cooling equipment has its place in your home, an HVAC system should be seen as just one component of your efforts to keep your home cool. Planting shade trees, installing window awnings, and other passive cooling strategies can help to reduce the load on your AC equipment and, thus, help you to save money. 

For more information, contact Weather Control Air Conditioning, Inc. or a similar company.