TH NEW CLIMATE

Want to Cool Off & Save The Environment for Free? Just Open a Window

The data behind natural ventilation and how simple window management reduces cooling costs more than the most efficient air conditioner

This guy gets it! Photo by Chris Barbalis on Unsplash

Upon returning home after a week-long trip, I turned on the Air Conditioner (AC) before even unpacking. The thermostat had been effectively disabled, and the home was, unsurprisingly, very hot. My AC worked for about three hours that day to bring the temperature under control.

Figure 1: Indoor temperatures (in Fahrenheit) the afternoon I returned from a trip. Blue areas indicate AC usage. I opened the windows around 10pm that evening.

The Pacific Northwest was in the middle of a heat wave, so I expected to need cooling for the rest of the week. Instead, the AC never turned on again, not even when outdoor temperatures surpassed 95°F/35°C.

The secret: we open our windows at night. The house got hot on vacation because there was no one around to lift and shut. This temperature management is called Natural Ventilation or Window Management.

Window management may sound incredibly dull but this may be the single best way to reduce your home energy footprint and it’s completely…