Tips To Keep Your House Cool During Summer
You’ve come to the correct place if you’re seeking inexpensive ways to keep your house cool during the summer. The heat of summer is upon us. If you reside in a hot climate like California or Florida, you may end up spending a small fortune on air conditioning expenditures to keep your home cool. How can you cut back on your home’s energy needs while maintaining comfort, though, given the high rate of inflation?
Fortunately, using the appropriate strategies can significantly reduce your monthly expenses without causing stress for you or your family. Take into account these top strategies to keep your home cool during the scorching summer. The finest time of the year is undoubtedly the summer. A few of the numerous reasons we look forward to summer are beaches, watermelon coolers, suntans, BBQs, and noon dips in the pool.
But regrettably, a lot of these pleasures are frequently obscured by the oppressive heat and humidity. Do not worry if you are also wondering how to stay cool in the summer.
How to Maintain a Cool Home in Summer
On hot, muggy summer days, air conditioners are your best bet for keeping your home cool. But even though it will keep you cool this summer, your HVAC system occasionally requires a little extra support. Here are the best techniques to increase the cooling effect of your air conditioner:
1. Block Out Sunlight
It’s crucial to keep in mind that light equals heat, despite how alluring it may be to let natural light brighten your space.
You will feel warmer and your air conditioner will have to work harder the more sunlight enters your home. Therefore, keep your blinds closed, especially those on the west and north-facing windows, to maintain a comfortable temperature in your home. Even better, get blackout curtains to completely block out the sun’s rays and keep your house cool throughout summer.
2. Modify Windows
Approximately 76% of the light that hits windows enters the house and turns into heat. Reflective window films may filter up to 99% of UV rays and up to 78% of solar heat. While too much sunlight merely serves to warm your home, UV rays harm both your health and your furniture. These window films are therefore necessary for keeping your skin and furnishings safe in addition to being a summer need.
Window films are a simple DIY job, and there are several choices depending on your needs.
3. Mount An Awning.
Awnings are the ideal replacement for trees. They come in handy if you don’t have enough space for trees or don’t want to wait for them to develop. Awnings are generally installed over windows to shade your house from the sun. As a result, your home will absorb less light, keeping it cooler throughout the summer. Window awnings can minimize solar heat intake by as much as 65-77%, according to the US Department of Energy.
4. Invest In Smart Cooling Technology
If your air conditioner had a mind of its own, that would be the only way to increase how cool your house is in the summer. While you can’t programme your air conditioner to think for itself, buying a smart thermostat or AC controller is the next best thing.
These gadgets let you to programme cooling routines for the entire week and activate your air conditioner when you approach your home. They also contribute to energy savings of up to 25% in addition to a variety of smart features and advantages.
5. Construct An Airy Roof
Cool roofs successfully keep your home cool in the summer by reflecting sunshine and heat. These roofs may be covered in reflective sheets, reflective paint, or reflective tiles or shingles. On almost any kind of structure, cool roofs can be erected, and they are especially helpful in areas without air conditioning, such garages.
Here are some additional cooling alternatives for garages.
6. Shut Doors
Close off the doors to empty rooms to retain the cool air where you need it most. It stops cool air from leaking into rooms of the house that aren’t in use. Additionally, it reduces the amount of work your air conditioner must put forth to cool larger areas.
Additionally, since a lot of cool air typically escapes through gaps and crevices near windows and doors, seal off those areas as well. To prevent the chilly air from escaping, use draught excluders and seal gaps around doors and windows.
7. Replace Your Bed’s Sheets.
This advice may seem insignificant, yet it significantly affects the temperature of your home. In order to keep your home cool in the summer, choose lighter fabrics, preferably in brighter hues like white. Your sheets’ fabric is important as well because lighter fabrics breathe better than thicker ones. This is an excellent purchase because freshening up your home with a new set of sheets every now and then is a terrific idea.
8. Turn Off the Appliances
The amount of waste heat that appliances around your home produce may surprise you. While feasible, try to avoid utilizing them in addition to turning them off while not in use. For instance, wash dishes by hand and hang up your clothes to dry outside rather than using the dryer.
Plan your duties as well, and only use equipment like irons after the sun has set. Limiting your usage of electronics will not only keep your home cool in the summer, but it will also lower your electricity expenditures.
9. Prevent Using the Stove or Oven
In the words of President Truman, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!”
Overheating from cooking can drastically increase the temperature in your home. Additionally, in this temperature, nobody likes to stand in the hotter area of their house. Choose meals that don’t require cooking instead, such salads or sandwiches.
If you must cook, consider using a barbecue outside. This will not only keep your house cool, but it also gives you a great reason to utilize your grill more often!
10. Replace Outdated Light Bulbs
Now is the ideal time to replace your standard incandescent light bulbs with LEDs, if you’ve been seeking for an opportunity to do so. 90% of the energy in incandescent lamps is released as heat. LED bulbs, on the other hand, produce less heat and use less electricity.
11. Frequently Change Your AC Filters
It could be time to replace the air filters if your air conditioner isn’t operating as efficiently as it used to. Your AC has to work harder and produces poorer indoor air quality when the air filter is clogged or dirty. This will not only cause allergies and ineffective heating, but it will also increase your electricity costs. As a result, as a general guideline, you should clean and replace the air filters in your AC every two weeks.
12. Utilize Ceiling Fans Properly
The temperature in a room won’t be significantly reduced by ceiling fans on their own. However, fans can be incredibly useful when used in conjunction with an air conditioner. First, make sure your fan is spinning the opposite direction of clockwise in the summer. Fans will direct the cooler air this way, bringing it closer to you and keeping your house cool on warm days.
13. Insulation is Important
The ability of insulation to keep heat inside of homes is frequently mentioned. They function similarly to keep warm air outside and cool air inside. Therefore, even in the warmer months, adding insulation to your attic and walls will significantly improve the climate in your home. Additionally, it lowers the price of heating and cooling. In addition to being a relatively cheap and straightforward solution, insulation can also be done yourself to save even more money.
14. Add a Roof Ventilator
In the summer, attics can reach temperatures of up to 150 degrees. Most likely, all of this heat will circulate around your house, elevating the temperature there. You can buy an attic ventilator or attic fan in addition to insulating your attic. These fans function by pulling cool air from the outside and exhausting heated air from your attic. Your attic thus maintains a reasonable level of cooling, which can assist your AC in keeping your home cool during the summer.
15. Develop Your Green Finger
It goes without saying that vegetation contributes significantly to regulating the earth’s atmosphere’s temperature. They may also have a comparable effect on your home’s temperature, albeit one that is far less significant. Plants will discharge water from their leaves when the temperature rises. Transpiration is the mechanism through which plants cool both themselves and their surroundings. Naturally, not all indoor plants will influence the temperature of your home, therefore it’s critical to choose plants that will reduce the indoor temperature. Additionally, some houseplants that filter the air also aid to enhance indoor air quality by removing dangerous toxins.
16. Grow Vegetation To Keep Your House Cool In Summer
The environment is greatly enhanced by trees and other vegetation in addition to serving as natural filters for sunlight. Even while it can take a few seasons before you see the results of this, it will be well worth the wait. You can pick quickly growing trees like poplar, maple, or sycamore. Deciduous trees that shed their leaves in the winter are another option. In this manner, you will have enough of sunlight in the winter and shade in the summer at your home.
How Can I Cool My House In The Summer Without Ac?
Despite how well they work at keeping our houses cool, air conditioners aren’t always accessible. So, here are some suggestions for keeping your home cool without an air conditioner.
17. Freeze Your Fans
This fan and ice combination gets quite close to matching the cooling power of an air conditioner, however, nothing can fully match it. Place an ice bucket or pan strategically on the floor in front of a non-oscillating fan to set it up. Next, direct the fan to the area you wish to chill, then relax and take in the refreshing breeze your homemade air conditioner has produced! An economical and clever trick to keep your home cool all summer long!
18. Spend Money On A Dehumidifier
Dealing with dry heat is a misery, and moist heat is even worse. In the summer, 40% to 50% indoor humidity is the best range. Dehumidifiers make the air in your home more comfortable by removing too much moisture from it even in high temperature.
The majority of dehumidifiers are equipped with sensors that turn them off when the desired humidity level is reached. To further conserve, water your plants with the water that your dehumidifier collects.
19. Put In An Entire House Fan
Attic fans and whole-house fans are very similar. Since they each focus on a separate part of the house, neither can be used in place of the other. The attic is often where whole-house fans are installed. They function by pulling hot air from your house into your attic, where it creates a negative pressure that causes cool air from the outside to start coming in. These fans don’t just keep your home cool; they also assist in removing pollutants from the air within, which enhances the air quality in your home.
20. Utilize Exhaust Systems
If you need to cool a space without windows, exhaust fans are a great option. Installing exhaust fans all over your house will assist move the warm air out, allowing fresh air from the outside to enter. However, this technique is only effective when the indoor temperature is higher than the outdoor temperature.
21. Keep The Windows And Doors Open
Opening windows on opposite sides of your home in the evening to let the cool breeze in is one of the simple ways to cool down your home. By generating a cross wind, you may increase the ventilation in your home and stay cool without using air conditioning.
To maximize the free flow of air inside your house, leave the doors open. Last but not least, you can use box fans as exhaust fans by placing them in your windows.
22. Install Chilly Drapes
This one is a little bit of a retro hack, but it works really well. First, hang a sheet over your drapes or any other type of window covering and spray it with cold water. The breeze then enters your house and sweeps through the water, evaporating it and cooling your home as a result. The hem of your curtains could also be submerged in a pail of water. In this manner, you can avoid repeatedly misting the curtains with water.
For the health and comfort of you and your dogs during the summer, it’s imperative that your home remain cool. Although air conditioners are the go-to remedy for hot summer days, they occasionally require a little extra assistance. A small improvement to your home, like adding insulation or changing your lightbulbs, can have a big impact on how comfortable it is inside. There are numerous ways to stay cool in the summer without using an air conditioner. These are still quite cool, even though they won’t make your house as comfortable as the air conditioner will.
Conclusion
We’ve listed 22 tips and tactics in this article that will help you keep your house cool and comfortable over the summer while also saving hundreds on energy expenditures. So, whether you’re seeking for quick AC cooling solutions or ways to hack your AC to chill better, we’ve got you covered!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: Do fans cool a room?
Ans: It is worth noting that fans do not actually lower the temperature of the air, but they can make it feel cooler by creating a wind chill effect. As such, they are most effective in rooms that are already relatively cool,’ Beatrice adds.
Q: How can I cool my room faster without AC?
Ans: To cool down a room without AC, make sure to use window fans, ceiling fans, or tower fans. Keep your room cooler all day by covering windows to prevent heat from sunlight coming in
Q: Why is my room so hot?
Ans: Poor insulation, inadequate air circulation, and direct sunlight exposure are common culprits. Another possibility is that the room may have more electronic devices or appliances generating heat. Sometimes, the air conditioning system may not be properly balanced, resulting in uneven cooling.
Q: Why doesn’t my house cool?
Ans: A badly ventilated house, high seasonal humidity, and clogged air filters are just a few reasons your AC may not be enough to fully dehumidify your home. You may notice that your AC runs all day and that you only feel cool standing right next to the vents while the rest of the house remains warm.
Q: What are three methods of cooling a home?
Ans: Although your first thought for cooling may be air conditioning, there are many alternatives that provide cooling with less energy use. You might also consider fans, evaporative coolers, or heat pumps as your primary means of cooling.
Q: Why not use AC and fan together?
Ans: The reason is that ceiling fans push the hot air down, thus intensifying the load on the air conditioning systems. On the contrary, with a ceiling fan, you can raise the Air Conditioner’s thermostat by two to four degrees with no rebate in comfort.
