There's a certain kind of summer afternoon when the house just won't let go of the heat. The sun has been hammering the west-facing windows since noon, the air conditioner has been running for hours, and you can already picture the power bill. The good news is that keeping your home livable in the heat isn't only about the thermostat. A handful of smart, mostly free habits can take a real bite out of how hot your house gets and how hard your AC has to work. Here's where to start.

There's a moment on every great road trip. It usually hits somewhere between the third hour and the first glimpse of something genuinely jaw-dropping, when everyone in the car goes quiet. Not bored quiet. Awestruck quiet. That's the moment you realize you live in one of the most spectacular road trip regions in the entire country, and you should probably do this more often. Here's how to pull off a summer road trip worth talking about all year.