The cheapest way to cool the house down in summer, according to an energy expert

A?s summer heats up, you might be tempted to pump the AC, but energy experts say there's a cheaper way to cool the house down.

Dani Alexander, CEO of the UNSW Energy Institute, told nine.com.au there are tips and tricks you can use to keep your house cool in summer, using limited electricity.

The cheapest and best way to keep the heat out is to keep all windows ?and curtains closed, she said.

"I'd say the first defence against heat [is] you want to stop the house from taking on the heat before the day gets really warm," Alexander said.

"The way you can do that is you can close the?windows and you can close the curtains."

She says there is no point opening the window for a breeze if it is warmer outside than it is inside.

"It's important to close the windows because that hot air can make its way through the house, but that can change at night," Alexander said.

"At the beginning of the day, you want to close those windows and close the curtains to avoid that sun heat coming in.

"If you do find the house is hotter than outside in the evening, you want to open everything up and can move that hot air out."

She said fans are a great way to move the hot air out of the home, and are the cheapest appliance that will cool the house down. ??

"Using a fan for cooling is one of the lowest-energy ways to get the comfort that you like in summer," she said.

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"It's much lower energy use than an air conditioning unit.

"Essentially, what you're doing with a fan is that you're circulating air that is already there ... if the inside air is cooler than the outside air, you'd want to keep the window shut.

"However, if the air inside and outside are the same, it wouldn't matter whether the window was open or closed."

If you are desperate to use the aircon, t?here are ways around the electricity prices ¨C especially if your home has solar panels.

?"If you're able to turn your air conditioning unit on when the solar generation is highest, you're likely to have a much lower cost of cooling down your house?

"We find that a lot of houses are actually exporting solar during the day because people go out to work, they're not using all of their appliances ... so there's an opportunity there to be able to soak up as much solar as possible, essentially to drive down your electricity bills."

For those who don't have solar panels, some deals give you lower electricity prices at certain times in the middle of the day.

"You can find retail deals that do offer lower electricity prices during some of those middle-of-the-day hours," she said.

"Retailers are actually offering a three-hour free deal in the middle of the day, so you get free electricity for certain hours in the day.

"In fact, the government has just announced that by next year, all?retailers are going to have to offer a product that has that option."

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