Thursday, May 28, 2009

A Prelude to Summer Discomfort

I live in Cleveland, Ohio. A place where it can be snowing and 70 degrees all in one week (trust me, its actually happened). A great thing about Cleveland weather is its not typically humid during the summer, at least until late August. Well, not usually. However, today I walked out of my house and my hair immediately withered and pasted itself to the side of my face. Which was then followed by my clothes absorbing all the moisture in the air and feeling as though I had taken them from the dryer before they were fully dry. Dis-gust-ING! Where did my light, breezy spring weather go so soon!?

Welcome to unofficial summer. Are you ready? I, as you can see, am not. I am not prepared for uncomfortable weather and the few humid days have been a reminder to get ready for the cooling, as in air conditioning, season. There are many tips out there as to how to prepare for the air conditioning season to ensure your equipment is running properly and you are saving energy while you are using it. Now is the time to make certain your unit will run properly instead of on that 80 degree day your equipment decides to take a mid-summer vacation. Trust me, as someone who experienced several cold winter mornings because I didn't think to have my boiler checked, a non-working piece of heating or AC equipment will make you want to take a baseball bat to it.

You can be sure this summer I will not be left sweltering in my house. Instead, I intend to spend it cool and comfortable with a fruity beach drink in hand...and eventually I'll make it outside.

How are you preparing for the summer months? Are you taking any extra steps to save on your energy bills?