How To Use Colour To Lower Your Energy Bills

How to Use Colour to Lower Your Energy Bills

by

SelJones

You can colour to lower your energy bills. You can use the thermal properties of colour to help you save money on your energy bills. Light has a way of interacting with the things that it hits. Black acts as a thermal collector because the light energy that hits it will covert into heat. White on the other hand will reflect light and the brighter that the white is then the more light it will reflect.

Cool your house and save on air conditioning

You can use white to keep your house cool. Paint your walls white and keep your windowsills white. The hot sun will hit the white surfaces and bounce back out of the window, depositing as little heat energy as possible. You will also notice that the reflecting light will make your house seem a lot brighter and cheerier.

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Warm your house and save on heating it

If the weather in your area is frequently cold then you should make the most of the sun whilst it is out. Have very dark coloured carpets and keep your walls a dark colour too. Paint your ceiling a lighter colour so that any heat is reflected back into the room. Paint your window frames a darker colour and your windowsills. Have your curtains open during the day and close them when the sun goes in.

Paint the outside of your house

If you live in a particularly warm area, you will find that painting the outside of your house a white colour is going to save you a lot of discomfort. The heat that hits your house all day is going to seep into your house and make it warmer. If you paint the outside of the house white, you will find that some of the heat will be reflected and you can save a bit of money on your air conditioning bills.

The downside to having dark carpets and walls

It is going to save you money on your heating, and when you put your heating on then a thick dark carpet is going to help keep the heat in the room. However, you should know that dark colours are going to absorb artificial light too. This is going to make your rooms appear darker, which may inspire you to add more lighting to a room. You will then have to increase your lighting consumption in order to compensate for the darker rooms.

More power can be saved by reflecting light

People in warmer areas have been known to save over 20% on their air conditioning bills when they change their d cor so that it is all light colours. White walls, white curtains and light coloured carpets are very good at keeping a room cool. People in places such as Florida have been known to save over 20% on their air conditioning bills by switching their colour schemes. A study at the Lawrence Berkeley laboratory in America has also proved that if white or reflective roofs were installed on inner city buildings that energy bills for air conditioning would drop sharply.

Sam Jones writes on energy and conservation related topics. He keeps a close watch on the energy suppliers to inform his readers about the

cheapest electricity

prices

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How to Use Colour to Lower Your Energy Bills