Every Summer, struggling to stay cool at home becomes more and more relatable, especially with temperatures seemingly rising every year. And with AC units out there that fail to keep up at times, homes are becoming harder to ventilate. Fortunately, there are ways to manipulate the in-home factors responsible for your comfort. Below are four tips for keeping your home on the cooler side this summer.
Limit Light Usage
One of the major causes for temperature imbalance in the home is appliance/electricity use. Incandescent lights are notorious for emitting heat after prolonged usage. In fact, “90% of the energy they use is given off as heat.”
This goes for large appliances and electronics like televisions, computers, and stereos as well. These machines may be fine on their own, but together in a single room, a considerable amount of heat can emanate from them throughout the home. Consider limiting the use of these electronics whenever you can. With lights, make a habit of turning off lights if you’re not returning to a room anytime soon.
Make Use of a Fan
Making use of a fan may be one of the most popular ways to stay cool as it’s instantly effective and portable. It aids the body’s natural cooling process and can seemingly do better than the AC system at humid times.
When the room is already humid, placing a bowl of ice in front of the fan or sitting it in front of a window will push a satisfyingly chilly breeze into the home. To keep a certain room cold all day, shut the doors.
Cook Outside
The Summers are great for barbeques and picnics. Of course, running the stove heats up the house quickly-especially if you find yourself using it multiple times a day. Along with a washing machine and dryer setup, this could foster an uncomfortably warm environment.
Grilling also releases as much heat as a stove but releases it into the outside air. Granted, you may not be cool while grilling, but the temperature will be noticeably different when returning inside with your meal. And when you don’t feel like standing over a grill all day, plan alternative meals like salads and sandwiches for the day.
Switch Out the Curtains
Light-colored curtains over the windows take on less heat from sunlight, unlike darker fabrics. This is because of their ability to reflect light better than dark colors, which are more likely to absorb heat from sun rays and bring heat inside.
The thickness of the curtain matters as well. Thermal and blackout curtains regulate temperatures and control the amount of light filtering indoors through windows. They achieve this with their layered design. These curtains are probably best in rooms that face the sun and others that aren’t shielded by trees.
As an extra tip, be sure to keep the blinds closed if you have a habit of opening them. And if you need to ventilate the home by opening the windows, consider cross-ventilating before the sun comes up to give the house a better chance to remain cool throughout the day.
Conclusion
Each of these easy tips together will combat the summer heat. A humid home comes from heat settling in the home and can leave you feeling sticky and sweaty. When in a humid environment sweat takes longer to evaporate. This uncomfortableness makes it impossible to cool down and ultimately contributes to the body working overtime. So, when it’s scorching hot outside, help yourself by applying the tips above for a more relaxing Summer this year.
