If you own a house or even just rent an apartment, heating and cooling your home can be one of the biggest expenses each month. During the summer months, air conditioner use tends to climb up and up almost continuously. Many people have just accepted that heating and cooling costs are going to be very high and there’s nothing they can do about it; however, that’s not really the case. With a few simple changes, you can actually reduce your cooling costs during the spring and summer. You can also reduce the amount of money you spend lighting your house.
How can you do this? Well, put simply, all you need to do is open your blinds and open your windows. Opening your blinds or curtains allows in natural light which is, obviously, completely free. If you have some kind of tint on your windows, you might want to open them as well to let in the maximum amount of light. However, you need to make sure you have a screen on your window to keep out debris and unwanted bugs; if you haven’t opened your windows in a while, you might need a window screen replacement.
Mesh Screens
Old window screens were typically made of a metal kind of weave that wasn’t actually fine enough to keep out very small bugs like gnats and fruit flies. Many of the newer types of screens are made of a fiberglass mesh, which means it is lighter weight and more resilient than the metal screens. Fiberglass doesn’t rust or corrode the way metal screens do when constantly exposed to the elements; moreover, fiberglass mesh can be webbed much finer, so the manufacturers can put the fibers close together. Instead of a weave, it forms a kind of mesh that is breathable but keeps out everything from bugs all the way down to dust particles. A mesh window screen replacement will protect you better than your old metal screens and probably last a lot longer.
Cost Saving
Opening your windows helps reduce the cost of running your air conditioner by allowing air to move through from the outside. A screen keeps bugs and debris out; however, a screen also helps because they serve as a kind of tent for your window. The tight fiberglass mesh of your screen tends to filter out the harshest sunlight which reduces the amount of heat entering your home even if your windows are open.
When your windows are closed, the mesh reduces the amount of light coming through the window in much the same way blinds or curtains do.
A solid fiberglass mesh window screen reduces the amount of direct light coming through your window as well as unwanted debris and bugs. That allows you to freely open your windows and reduce your heating and cooling costs.
