The recent extremely hot weather has prompted us to do a few things differently until there's a break in the heat wave. For instance, Son has put black roll up shades and curtains in his room to block the sunlight that heats his room up nearly all day long. His room seems to have the most sun exposure in this house.
As hot as it is, we already know that too many people cranking their ACs down during this hot time is a huge pull on our energy company's resources. This can result in brown outs or even the occasional black out. So, we are moderate in our usage and maintain the thermostat at a slightly warmer temperature reading. It's still nearly 30 cooler than the outside temperature, so it's quite comfortable, especially after we've come in from the heat.
Unless one of us is actually using a room, the lights in that room are turned off and the AC vent is closed. The door is also closed. I see no point in lighting and cooling any portion of the house that isn't in constant or regular use. It's one thing to be going in and out of the room, but it's another if we have no plans to use the room for several hours of the day.
Each of us reducing our pull on resources helps to reduce the carbon emissions our use can cause and it helps our own budget, too.
