When the temperatures spike, most families crank up the air conditioning to keep their homes cool. While blasting the AC is often viewed as the first step in cooling a home, there are a number of other ways to keep your home comfortable in the summer.

#1 Open Windows at Night

If you live in a region of the country where nighttime temperatures tend to dip into the lower 70s and upper 60s, open your windows at night and turn off the AC. Once the sun is down, that cool air can flow into your home overnight and help maintain a cooler starting point for the next day. Turning on any fans you have around the house will help circulate that cool air.

#2 Leave Interior Doors Open

During the winter months, it's a good idea to close doors to unused rooms to avoid wasting money heating those spaces. But closed-off rooms can become heat blankets in the summer if you don't open them up and allow for even airflow throughout your home. To help keep the house cooler, open your interior doors.

#3 Close Blinds During the Day

It's nice to open the shades and let in some sunlight, but up to 30 percent of the unwanted heat in your home comes from windows. Shut your shades to limit the house-warming sunlight allowed into your home. Focus on closing only west- and south-facing windows to still give your home the benefit of natural light. This can help lower the mid-day temperature of your home by almost 20 degrees.

#4 Using Appliances at Night

Your oven, washer and dryer are the primary culprits when it comes to unwanted heat in your home. Using your grill to cook is a simple way of keeping unwanted heat outdoors. As for your chores involving laundry, leave those for the nighttime hours when temperatures are naturally lower.

#5 Keep the Furnace Fan On

The vast majority of thermostats give you the power to manually control the fan that blows hot air through your home in the winter. If you turn this fan on during the summer, it can help to distribute the cool air from your basement to the other levels of your home. This provides better airflow in your home and an overall cooler feeling.

#6 Leave the Bathroom Exhaust Fan On

The steam from your shower will create a pocket of hot air in your home that will exit the bathroom the moment you open the door. It's already a good idea to run the exhaust fan while you're in the shower, but consider leaving it on for 20 to 30 minutes after your shower to help blow out the hot air.

#7 Consider Upgrades Outdoors

There are two big things you could do to the outside of your home to help keep it cooler in the summer months. First, you could repaint the siding of your home with a lighter color to deflect more of the sun's rays. The siding on your home is just like any dark surface or dark clothing. The darker it is, the more heat it attracts and retains. The same can be said for your roof. Slate, concrete, clay and various tiles offer better protection from heat than standard shingles.

#8 Install New Windows

Old, single-pane windows are a significant source of heat gain in your home during the summer months. These old, outdated models make it too easy for hot air to creep in and cold air to leak out. Replace your older windows with newer models if you can. Or, install new weather stripping to reduce the temperatures in your home.

Conclusion

These seven house-cooling tips are sure to keep you comfortable and lower your utility bills -- all without resorting to the constant use of your AC.