The heat has arrived! Summer will be here in less than a month and Mother Nature has turned up the thermostat here on Long Island. It’s time to find ways to beat the heat and stay cool. Here are 12 helpful tips for keeping your Long Island home comfortable during the sweltering heat of summer. 

1. Set your ceiling fans to turn counter-clockwise. People may not realize that your ceiling fans have a switch that controls the direction the blades turn. During the summer months, your fans should be set to rotate counter-clockwise to provide a strong breeze and filter cool air throughout your house.

2. Avoid using the stove. It goes without saying that summer is the time for BBQ’s, but using your grill instead of your kitchen oven will also help to keep the heat out of your house.

3. Swap out your sheets. Fabrics like flannel and fleece are great at insulating the heat and keeping us toasty warm during the winter months. In the summer it is a good idea to switch your sheets to those with lighter fabrics that breathe, like cotton.

4. Upgrade your AC. If you have an old central air conditioning unit, it may be working extremely hard to cool your home. Replacing your unit with a high-efficiency, energy-saving model can help reduce electricity costs and cool your home more effectively.

5. Keep your blinds and curtains closed. Shades act as a barrier between the heat of the sun’s rays and your home. Up to 30 percent of unwanted heat comes into your house through your windows. Keeping blinds closed can reduce the temperature inside your home by up to 20 degrees.

6. Turn off your electronics! Televisions, computers and other electronic gadgets give off heat, even when they are idling.

7. Replace your AC filters regularly. Different filters have different life spans, but during the summer months, it is a good rule of thumb to change your filters every month.

8. Make the most of cool Long Island summer nights. Open your windows in the evenings and take advantage of the refreshing breeze. This also gives your air conditioner a chance to rest. Just make sure you close the windows in the morning before the heat ramps up again.

9. Focus on your body temperature. Keep yourself cool by drinking cold beverages, dressing in thin clothes and applying a cold compress to your neck or wrists when you feel yourself over-heating.   

10. Close off any rooms that you don’t use regularly. This will keep the warm air in those rooms and prevent your fans or air conditioners from having to work hard to cool rooms that no one goes into. 

11. Install cool lighting. Incandescent bulbs can give off a significant amount of unwanted heat. Swap out old bulbs with low-heat, high-efficiency LED or CFL bulbs. Make sure you turn off the light when you leave a room.

12. Avoid doing chores during the heat of the day. Run your dishwasher late at night and do your laundry early in the morning.