"JNJ" wrote in message ...
Depending on how your house is situated, planting deciduous trees to the
south of the house (on the assumption that your house is in the Northern
hemisphere) will help in the long term. They will shade the house in the
summer and allow the sun to come through in the winter. This is a long
term solution, since the trees have to be fairly tall in order to
provide shade in the summer when the sun is high.

Gots 2 big ole maples in the front yard that cover a good sized chunk of the
south as well a pair of smaller trees (one of which has potential to go up
about another 20 feet). Unfortunately, other areas of the house that were
once shaded are no more -- trees that had to come down due to disease and/or
proximity to the structures.

Awnings on the windows facing south can also help reduce solar heating
in the summer. If they're at the right level, they will let the winter
sun in and block the summer sun. Otherwise they can just be removed for
the winter (or retracted).

We have awnings on 4 windows, all around the south & west sides of the
house. It never occurred to me that there might be a reason there was no
awning on the north & east sides.

James

This won't do much for when the heat and ac are running, but it is a
little known trick from the olden days....
Everyone opens the bottom "sash" of a window (that is a "double
hung" window, what most folks think of as a normal window)..... well
that is not the correct way to do it! The TOP needs to be open in
order to let out HOT air since it rises! If you have a two story house
open the top sashes on the second floor (yes those are the ones that
have been painted shut for years) and the bottom sashes on the first
(technically the first floor windows should be open LESS than the
second floor windows), keep all the interior doors open and feel the
breeze blow! OK it isn't a hurricane that comes through, but it cools
the house much better than only opening the bottom of all the windows.
If you have a single story open the top and bottom, open the top wider
to help create more draft.
JC