How to Keep Your Home Cool without Air Conditioning
Instead of turning down the thermostat, take steps to keep the heat out of your home and the cool air in.
26/04/2023
Don’t have central air? Don’t want to spend a
fortune on cooling this summer? Don’t lose hope
– you can take charge of the temperature in your
home, and you don’t need to turn on the A/C to
do it.
Instead of turning down the
thermostat, take steps to keep the heat out of
your home and the cool air in. In many summer
climates, this means opening your windows at
night to let in cooler air, and keeping them
closed, with the curtains drawn, during the day.
You can run ceiling fans, attic fans, or floor
fans to create breezes in your home. You can
even use window treatments, shutters, or
strategically placed landscaping to provide
shade to your windows.
Keep the Heat Out
You will be surprised at how effectively you
can keep your home cool just by keeping summer
heat out. Keep your windows closed during the
day – especially windows on the south and west
sides of your house. At night, when it cools
off, open your windows to let cool air in. Make
sure you open windows on both sides of your
house, to create a cross breeze that can flush
out the stuffiness from the day and leave your
home feeling cool and fresh.
It’s also
important to avoid doing things inside your home
that create heat, at least during the day. That
means holding off on running the dishwasher,
clothes dryer, clothes washer, or oven during
the hot hours of the day. Instead, run these
appliances very early in the morning or late at
night. You’ll keep your home cooler and
save on
energy costs, too.
You might also want
to try switching to LED lightbulbs. Incandescent
bulbs create a lot of heat –
about 90 percent of
the energy they use is emitted in the form of
heat, not light. That’s ridiculously inefficient
and, while it might not seem like much, that’s
heat that lingers inside your home, especially
if you use a lot of lights. LED bulbs don’t get
hot, so they don’t emit heat, and they’re much
more efficient so you can cut your energy costs
even further.
Use Fans
Fans are a super effective and efficient way
to cool down in hot climates. Ceiling fans are
among the most energy-efficient home fixtures –
they can make your home feel several degrees
cooler without actually altering your home’s
temperature. That’s because ceiling fans create
a breeze that helps your body’s natural cooling
mechanism operate. The breeze causes droplets of
sweat on your skin to evaporate faster, making
you feel cooler. Ceiling fans are much cheaper
to operate than central air or window unit air
conditioners. You can
buy some very affordable
ceiling fans and it’s easy to
install one
yourself.
Floor fans can also help make
your home feel cooler. Place a floor fan in the
corner of the room, and point the blades
downward so that they circulate the cold air
that has sunk to the bottom of the room. If your
home has an attic fan, you can turn it on and
open your windows to create some airflow inside
the house.
Shade Your Windows
Creating shade around your windows can be one
of the most effective ways to keep your home
cool. Your home heats up when sunlight and heat
radiate through your uncovered, unshaded
windows. But you can block the heat with the
right window treatments, or with shutters,
awnings, or landscaping outside of the house.
Hang blackout curtains in rooms that you
want to keep both cool and dark, and
use
heat-blocking window films in rooms that require
natural light. You can also hang heat-blocking
window treatments to keep heat out of your
house, and create some privacy, without blocking
all light. Honeycomb blinds, also known as
cellular blinds, contain honeycomb-shaped cells
filled with air to create an insulating layer on
the inside of your window. This layer keeps heat
out and cool air in. The thin fabric also lets
through light for a nice ambiance.
Landscaping can also help you keep your house
cool. Plant shrubs, trees, and vines on the
south and west sides of your home, encouraging
them to grow in front of windows to provide
shade for your interior. Encouraging a
fast-growing ivy to cover your walls on the
sunny side of your house can also help shade the
house to keep things cool inside.
You
may not have a fortune to spend on cooling your
house this summer, but that doesn’t mean you’re
going to drown in your own sweat. Use these tips
to keep cool without turning down the thermostat
– and keep your electricity costs manageable.