Cool tips to beat the summer heat

Summers in Hawaii are beautiful! From bright blue skies to the crystal-clear beaches, we are blessed to call these beautiful islands our home. But let’s be honest, summer in Hawaii can be uncomfortable. However, there are simple things you can implement to make the hottest months of the year a little more manageable.

Hawaiian Electric offers helpful tips to help you beat the heat while saving energy. Here are some of my favorite tips I’ve implemented in my own life.

Tip #1: Open the windows to let Hawaii’s trade winds cool your home.

One of the easiest and most energy efficient ways to cool your house down is by opening the windows to let Hawaii’s trade winds flow through your house.

At my house, we make it a habit to open all the windows to cool down the house. We especially like to open the window on our front door because it brings the cool winds directly into our living room, which is where I spend most of my time. That little bit of airflow makes a big difference by releasing the hot, stagnant air and allowing the breeze to move through the house.

Tip #2: Run ceiling fans to create a wind chill effect.

Ceiling fans are a great way to stay comfortable without having to turn on your air conditioner. While ceiling fans don’t lower the actual temperature of your room, it creates a wind chill effect that can make your body feel cooler by helping evaporate the sweat from your skin faster.

I have a ceiling fan in my room that I often turn on to help me stay cool. It makes a noticeable difference especially on those hot summer nights when I’m just trying to relax. I also make sure that the fan is spinning in the right direction. During the summer, the fan should rotate counterclockwise to create a cooling breeze by pushing air downwards.

Bonus: Turning on a fan instead of an air conditioner for eight hours a day can potentially save you over $65 (based on $0.39 per kWh) per month!

Tip #3: Replace incandescent light bulbs with light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs.

If you still have incandescent light bulbs in your home, consider switching them to LEDs. It’s a simple change that can help cool your house and lower your electric bill.

Our house is on the older side, so naturally we hadn’t updated all our light fixtures. Some lights still used incandescent light bulbs while others had been updated to LED lights. This summer, I made sure to switch out all the old incandescent light bulbs with LEDs since they are more energy efficient. They use 75% less energy, last longer, and produce less heat which has helped keep our house cool while lowering our electric bill.

Bonus Tip: Cool off the local way.

While staying cool indoors is great, sometimes the best way to beat the summer heat is to cool off the local way — a day at the beach. Growing up, I spent most of my summer vacations at the beach. Now that I’m older, I realize that my parents wanted me to spend my days at the beach because it was a fun and easy way to escape the heat without raising their electric bill.

If you are heading to the beach this summer, here are a few swimming safety tips to keep in mind:

• Always swim at a lifeguarded beach
• Read and obey posted warning signs
• Never turn your back to the ocean
• Only use reef safe sunscreen (look for zinc oxide and titanium dioxide as active ingredients)
• Know your health limits and fitness level

We hope you and your ohana can implement some of these tips to make this summer a little more manageable. By making a few simple changes, you can stay cool, comfortable, and save energy all summer long.

For a full list of Hawaiian Electric’s cool tips, visit: hawaiianelectric.com/cooltips. For more beach safety reminders, visit: oceansafety.hawaii.gov.

Stay cool, stay safe, and have a wonderful summer!