On the hottest days of summer, heat can do more damage to your home and body than simply being uncomfortable. A hot home can impact your health in more insidious ways than you might expect, and can even make the very electronics trying to keep you cool less effective.
A Restless, Dehydrating Slumber
Sleep can be harder to come by when you’re overheated. But all you have to do is close your eyes and once you finally fall asleep, you’re good, right? Not exactly. Not being comfortable while you sleep means your body gets less of the benefits of quality sleep, so you’re likely to find yourself dealing with symptoms of sleep deprivation such as fatigue, brain fog, and weight gain, even if you spent more than enough time in bed. Excess heat also dehydrates you as you sleep, so you may need to get up more times in the middle of the night for water and wake up feeling dry and sluggish.
Overheating, Rapidly Declining Electronics
Excess heat also does several household electronics, including the very ones working to keep you cool! If you’re trying to get some work or play done on your computer or phone during a heatwave, you might find it’s not performing as well or even fully crashes and shuts down to protect itself. Even if your electronics power through, working while heated can cause their parts to wear down much more quickly than they would otherwise, meaning your electronics won’t last as long. The safest option in this is to contact an electrician or let the objects have their cool down and recovery time.
Keeping Cool Without Breaking the Power Grid
But while preventing the issues with your sleep and home can seem as easy as cranking up the air conditioner, this isn’t always the case. The same electronics that help cool your home can suffer from high-heat issues such as insufficient airflow, circuit overloads, and transformer issues. Preexisting issues with faulty or aging wiring can also be exacerbated by the heat. Even if your home’s electronics are all in working order, you may find a lack of proper insulation is making cooling your home far more costly than it needs to be, or you may simply not have enough outlets to safely plug in all of the fans and air conditioning you need. Skilled electricians who specialize in air conditioning units can find and resolve these and other problems keeping your air conditioning system from being as efficient as it can be. Don’t assume keeping cool needs to cost you as much as it is right now – an electrician will likely see problems you didn’t even consider.
How to Prepare Your Home for the Next Heat Wave
Setting up your home to stay cool in the most energy-efficient way possible is an investment in your health, your home, and your power bill. Qualified electronics like the folks at https://nhfreedomelectric.com/ can help you prepare your home for the next summer heatwave, finding faulty electronics and making your home more efficient at keeping cool.