Do you keep your blinds closed in the summer to keep out the heat?

[binny]

I hate being in the dark but it really does help to keep the house cool.

Its going to be 100 again today so I have the house all closed up its pretty dark but its worth it.

Yesterday dh left the blinds on the sliding glass door open and even with the AC it was 75 in here.


How cold do you keep your house in the summer?

 

[piglet too]

Even though we have yet to get that hot in the Chicago area, here is what I do. I keep my blinds either closed completly or just opened enough for light to come in. I also tend to open any blinds all the way when the sun is not "beating down" on that window. We only keep the AC set to 77 or 78, so I don't know if that makes a differance. Friends of mine who keep theirs at 72 have a much harder time keeping it at that temp then we do.

 

[Disney Doll]

No, because I can't stand being in a dark house! My mother does though, and it makes a difference.

 

[Saffron]

Yes, I keep them closed where the sun comes directly into the room. Once the beating sun has passed over that particular room, I open the shades again. For me it's the direct sun that heats up our rooms, not so much the light. It's great in the dining room in the winter though!

 

[100%Disney]

yes I do, it really helps.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

Right now I keep them open to let the heat IN!

 

[helenabear]

We do, but we aren't home anyway during the heat of the day usually. We set the house to be about 80 max when we are not home and cool it down to 75 in the evening and 69 at night.

 

[kejoda]

You mean there is actually heat somewhere in this world!?!?!?!

 

[two4ruff]

I do - we don't have AC and its been in the 90's here this week. Ceiling fans, closed blinds, floor fans,...I'm trying it all!

 

[Cruise04]

I keep them closed if we are not home. If we are home I'll open up the ones that don't have the sun beating through them and then when the sun moves, I'll move the blinds being opened and closed.

I like it cold so we keep our house at night at 64, during the day when we are gone it's 76 or 78 and during the day when we are home it's 70.

 

[elgerber]

On the one day it was actually warm this year, I did close the blinds (well I did all last summer too when it was warm). Especially the sliding glass door. It really makes a big difference. We have some windows that never get direct sun, so it's never dark in here. Right now, like Jenn Lynn said, I have my slider blinds open to warm it up, it's a whopping 53 here and windy at noon.

Erika

 

[pjlla]

I have to or the house would be unbearable! Our house is situated facing west (slightly southwest) and the sun BEATS on the front of it from about 12 noon on until sunset. This time of year it is nothing for my bedroom to get well over 82 degrees, even with the windows closed and the blinds/shades shut. We don't have central air (not real common around here). But I watch the thermometer in the evening and the minute it is cooler out than in I immediately open up everything and turn on all the fans! But a lot of the time during the summer we just have to have the window a/c's running upstairs all late afternoon/evening/night. Wish we had realized what a problem this was going to be and maybe picked another house lot or faced the house slightly differently..... oh well... live and learn!....P

 

[aprincessmom]

yes I keep the shades down and curtains drawn during the day...but we aren't home so it doesn't really matter. I open them when we get home but only partially to keep it cool.

We have central A/C and I keep it at 75 during the day, 70 throughout the evening.

 

[monarchsfan16]

We only have blinds on a couple sliders. Beyond that, no blinds. We close them when it's really really hot (90's) or in the winter when it's 30 below. They help a little, but we find the window ac's, ceiling fans, and floor fans to be a lot more helpful. Our electric bill goes way up during heat waves. Luckily we don't have a lot of super hot days around here. Heck I'm sitting here typing this in jeans.

 

[~*Belle 2003*~]

We don't have AC here! I just close the curtains or blind when it gets really hot, which isn't that often, thank goodness!

 

[mickeyfan1]

In AZ we had our windows coated with a mirrored film, and left the blinds shut all day. It really did help, although DH would say it didn't until he left them open to the sun all day.

I would rather be warm tho, so untill it got to 100 I didn't want to turn on the AC.

 

[Keli]

I never close my blinds except for privacy. I really like the sunlight and I hate a dark house. We've been lucky this year because it's been so cool we haven't had to put in our window a/c yet so I've had the windows and doors open all summer so far. My dh always wants us to hold off as long as we can before putting the a/c in because once it's in we tend to use it all the time (and saving money on the electric bill is something that makes him very happy, lol)

 

[Mishetta]

Not only do I keep my blinds closed but I had room darkening blinds installed last summer. So it's almost pitch dark in some rooms!! But it does help keeping the rooms a little cooler. I also keep my A/C set at 68. Downstairs is almost too cool but upstairs is fairly comfortable. I guess I'm like a bat, I like it cold & dark!

 

[wheezie]

What heat!!!????!!!! We've had days and days of blustery, windy gales with heavy rain showers. I dont know where our summer has gone. Sigh. Oh well, its one of the joys of living in England

Wheezie

 

[dizneenut]

We do. We have no A/C and the sun just beats into my bay window in the living room. We've noticed the house is much cooler if we shut the blinds right before the sun comes out really heavy, which is usally around noonish.