will growing plants help my electric bill in the summer?

Question

I live in an apt and have a patio where the suns warmth warms the patio, and glass sliding door. I feel its raising the temprature in my apt. Will growing a number of large leafed plants help keeping the temp down on the patio.

I'm thinking more in chemical nature (like producing O and the effects of O) rather than a matter of shade

Answer 1

This is the info I found regarding indoor plants, That they can lower cooling cost by 20% indoors. I imagine that it has some effect outside as well and that with the shade they provide. It couldn't hurt to try.

Plants cool by a process called transpiration, which, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, decreases air temperature indoors by ten degrees. A recent study out of Washington State University demonstrates that plant transpiration in an indoor environment releases moisture, creating a humidity level exactly matching the recommended human comfort range of 30-60%. Similarly, the same study concludes that in an absence of plants, the relative humidity indoors runs below this recommended range. When the relative humidity of air is too low, costly materials such as wood become damaged and crack. When the relative humidity is too high the condensation of windows and exterior walls can result in costly structural damage.

According to the International Society of Arboriculture, the net cooling effect of one young, healthy tree is equivalent to ten room-size air conditioners operating 20- hours a day. According to literature from the Associated Landscape Contractors of America, proper selection and placement of plant materials can lower heating and cooling costs by as much as 20%. These statistics have become an important tool for today’s environmentally efficient corporate designers and facility managers such as U.S. Energy Systems Inc. This growing energy company is enthusiastically endorsing the use of indoor plants.

Answer 2

The production of oxygen by plants is not enough to decrease your electric bill or make your patio cooler. It takes shade to cool your patio and big plants will give you that.

Until you get those plants though. You can get a metal or wooden rod and hand it on the outside of you glass door. Then hang a small tarp or other type of outdoor suitable curtain from it. This will block your view, but it will reduce your need to run the A/C and bring down your electric bill.

Answer 3

Hi! I do think that planting around the house, on balconies or on window boxes can affect the temperature of a home. The plants block the sun and that shade cause the temperature to drop, so it is not a chemical thing my friend, it is a matter of how the shade affect your home.

Considering that you live in an apartment the amount of plants that you can have in there (in balconies or window boxes) will not help you much. So I did a search for other alternatives that can work for you in order to help you with your electric bill during the summer. Hope this info helps!


1. Shade south- and west-facing windows. Cross-ventilate by opening windows on facing or adjacent walls at night when the outside temperature drops.

2. Apply heat-blocking window film.

3. Turn on a ceiling fan so you can raise the temperature setting on the air conditioner. (And turn off the ceiling fan when you leave the room.) Sign up if your utility company offers money back for cycling your air conditioner on and off during peak use periods.

4. Power down your computer when not in use.

5. Make sure your house is sealed tight. Seal gaps and cracks with caulk and weather stripping, especially around windows and doors.

6. Insulate and seal air-conditioning ducts, especially exposed ducts in the attic or crawlspace. Ventilate the attic with a thermostatically controlled fan in the gable end or on the roof.

7. Operate your dryer in the morning when the conditioned air it vents to the outside hasn't taken so much electricity to cool.
During hot summer days, close cooling vents in unused rooms.

8. If you don't have one now, get a programmable thermostat and use it to control the temperature in your home. There's no need to cool an empty house, so set a higher temperature when you're away.

9. Maintain your central or window air-conditioner by hosing out leaves, debris, and dust from between the fins on the condensing unit outside of the house.

10. Change filters on a regular basis, and check to be sure the condensate drain is clear (the tube that carries off excess moisture during humid weather). Have your cooling system checked each spring.

11. Change all the light bulbs around the house for energy efficient ones. Turn off the light when you are not using a room. Basic knowledge but we always need to be reminded of this one.

Answer 4

NAS further estimates that filling these spaces with trees and lightening the color of dark, urban surfaces would result in annual energy savings of 50 billion kilowatt-hours -- 25% of the 200 billion kilowatt-hours consumed every year by air conditioners in the United States. This would reduce electric power plant emissions of carbon dioxide by 35 million tons (32 million metric tons) annually and save users of utility-supplied electricity $3.5 billion each year (assuming an average of $0.07 per kilowatt-hour).
Trees do more than simply keep the sunlight off you. There's something known as evaporation taking place. That's the process by which a plant actively moves and releases water vapor. The air temperature can be as much as 25 degrees F beneath a tree than on a patch of nearby blacktop.

Answer 5

If you grow the plants on the patio, keep in mind that they will need water frequently. If you choose to grow large leaf plants on the inside, be sure to keep them far enough away or shaded somehow so that they do not sunburn. Also, inside plants will need to be kept dust free and misted in the heat. By keeping them dust free you will increase they're ability to create Oxygen in your home.

Answer 6

I even have flourescent lamps that take a bulb that feels like 4 small bulbs in one mild. I even have extensively utilized the GE sixty 5 watt improve bulbs. i detect that utilising mini christmas lite strings works nicely to maintain the soil heat. I wrap them around the pots. I improve citrus indoors and the soil ought to be seventy 5 levels. I even have organic solar in the time of the day via a window. I even have additionally been instructed that the Sheriffs dept has peered via this window at night as a results of enhance lamps.

Answer 7

i'm afraid it won't have much of an impact on the scenario you descibe. your area and planting potential aren't large enough.

plant the plants anyway cause every little bit helps, but a better idea would be looking into more efficient glass door panels or an awning. drapes on the inside of the door would help also.

Answer 8

The O will have no effect at all. What you need is shade.

Answer 9

It shouldn't really make that much of a difference to be honest.

Answer 10

you will get shadow and with shadow your apt might not get so hot
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