Living in the central valley of California, I've discovered a few tricks
to help keep the house warmer in winter and cooler in summer.
First of all, with my helpful friends, my sewing machines, I made drapes
in a cool cream color, lined them with muslin and put in quit batting. This
alone brought down the power bill. Then in the southern facing windows,
I put in some of that plastic film that makes an air tight barrier for cold or
heat. Then I went around with a candle looking for leaks around doors and
windows, and put in new door stripping on the front door, which faces West
and gets hot sun a lot of the time.
Winter time gets "wind snakes" which is what my Grandma called little rolls
of sawdust sewed into heavy fabric lengths and put in front of the door to
keep out cold from sneaking under the door. Smells good too. I get it at some
grocery stores as bedding for hamsters and rats, etc.
Little plastic inserts go into the electrical sockets, they let in a surprising amount of wind.
I painted the 2 large windows on the North side of the house, window glass
and all. That started when my late teen (at that time) granddaughter was watching the lighted house next door, where a single man lives. I heard her say to herself, "Gee, I didn't know you could do that" and right then I made up my
mind to paint over everything on that side of the house. And they got the
quilt-like drapes too.
Out side the windows where the sun beats down I have split bamboo shades
that hang over the windows and prevent the sun from beating in so much.
There are lots of little things we can do to beat the heat, and cold.
With all the bright women on this forum (and gentlemen too) I'm sure that
we can help each other with any problems we might have.