Earlier this week, we shared tips on how to make your home more energy-efficient in support of Earth Day. Continuing this theme today, we are sharing cost-saving tips to stay cool in the upcoming summer heat.  Our last post talked about replacing filters, programming your smart thermostat, cleaning dryer vents, and unplugging heat tapes if you have them. That maintenance work sets the stage. Now we get ready for the months that actually test it.

Summer in Westville is when manufactured-home efficiency earns its keep. Hot, humid stretches through the warmer months push cooling systems hard, and every small leak, uneven duct, or unshaded window shows up on the bill. The good news is that manufactured homes are well-suited to handle the season when a few key systems are dialed in. This guide picks up where the Earth Day post left off and walks through the specific summer cooling moves that keep your home comfortable, your utility costs predictable, and your footprint smaller through the hottest months of the year.

Start With the System That Does the Heaviest Lifting

Nearly half of a typical home’s energy use goes to heating and cooling, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In summer, your AC does the bulk of the work, so that is where the biggest wins lie.

A few fundamentals that matter most before those dog days of summer hit:

Check your filter every month during peak cooling season. A dirty filter slows airflow and forces the system to work harder, wasting energy and shortening the equipment’s lifespan.

Schedule a professional HVAC tune-up now if you have not already done so. A yearly tune-up improves both efficiency and comfort, much like regular service improves a car’s gas mileage. Booking early also means you are not calling during the first heat wave when every HVAC company in the county is slammed.

If your central AC is more than 12 years old, replacing it with an ENERGY STAR certified model can cut cooling costs by about 30 percent. NIPSCO residential customers can stack rebates on qualifying equipment through the 2026 Residential Rebate program, with heat pump rebates ranging from $800 to $1,000, depending on SEER2 rating.

Seal the Ducts. Seriously.

If you take one thing from this post, take this one. In a typical home, about 25 percent of the cool air moving through the ducts leaks out before it reaches the vents.

Manufactured homes have a specific vulnerability here. The ductwork typically runs in the cavity between the floor and the transport barrier underneath the home, and double-wides or triple-wides use a flexible crossover duct to connect the sections. Animals can chew or scratch through crossover ducts to get into the warm cavity, and damaged or disconnected ducts let the air you are paying to cool escape under the home instead of into your living space.

Sealing and insulating ducts can improve cooling system efficiency by as much as 20 percent, per ENERGY STAR. If airflow feels uneven from room to room, or if one end of the home is notably warmer than the other, that is your signal to have a contractor inspect the crossover duct and any accessible joints before peak season arrives.

Use Your Thermostat Like You Mean It

The Earth Day post mentioned programming your smart thermostat as a pro tip. Summer is when that programming actually pays you back.

An ENERGY STAR certified smart thermostat can save homes with high heating and cooling bills. Setting the thermostat up by seven degrees while you are away from home and up by four degrees while you are asleep can save more than $180 a year on cooling and heating costs combined, according to the EPA.

A few practical settings for northern Indiana summers:

  • Daytime when away: 78 to 80 degrees
  • Sleeping hours: raise by 3 to 4 degrees from your daytime comfort setting
  • Returning home: schedule the system to cool down 20 to 30 minutes before you walk in

NIPSCO offers rebates on qualifying smart Wi-Fi thermostats, with a limit of two rebates per installation address every three years.

Keep the Heat Out Before You Try to Pull It Out

Cooling is easier when less heat gets inside in the first place.

Close blinds or shades on south and west facing windows during peak afternoon sun. This single habit can make a measurable difference in how hard your system has to work between 2 and 6 pm.

Run ceiling fans counterclockwise to push cool air down. If you raise the thermostat two degrees and use a ceiling fan, you can lower cooling costs by up to 14 percent, per EPA data. Fans cool people, not rooms, so turn them off when you leave.

Swap any remaining incandescent bulbs for LEDs. They produce about 75 percent less heat than incandescents, which matters more than most people realize when that heat is radiating into your living room all evening.

Seal air leaks around windows, doors, and any plumbing or duct penetrations. ENERGY STAR estimates that sealing leaks and improving insulation can save up to $200 a year, or roughly 10 percent of an annual energy bill.

A Few Tasks to Put on the Calendar Now

Before June:

  • Walk the skirting and confirm ventilation paths are clear
  • Clean refrigerator coils so the compressor is not working overtime in the heat
  • Audit phantom loads and add smart power strips where useful

Mid-summer:

  • Inspect and seal accessible ductwork if airflow feels uneven
  • Review your NIPSCO bill for a mid-summer baseline and flag any unexpected spikes
  • Consider a Home Energy Assessment if usage is running high

Before fall:

The work you do in late April and May is what makes hot summer weather more manageable. Get these fundamentals dialed in now, and the hottest months of the year become the easiest ones to budget for.