Keeping Your Home Cool without Pumping Up the Use of AC

Beating the summer heat doesn’t always mean using the air conditioning equipment the entire day. As a matter of fact, there are many people out there who even completely avoid the use of the AC system for different reasons. If you’re one of those people, then you should take a look at our tips on how to keep your home cool even without the AC during the summer season. Tip 1 – Try to deny the sun’s light entry to your home as much as possible. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] (image credit: Houzz.com)[/caption] You should know that sunlight is a primary contributor of heat inside the home. You may not be aware of it but you’re keeping the temperature inside high by allowing the rays to make a convenient entry. So if you want your living space to feel cooler and a lot more comfortable in summer, reduce the entry of solar heat by using stuff like drapes, shutters, awnings, and even window films. You can ideally close the drapes by lining them with light-colored fabric that easily reflects the sun and then close them all in that time of the day where the sun shines the brightest. As for awnings, you can buy them in your home improvement store and then have them installed on the south and west facing windows. By doing so, you’re reducing heat gain through the sun by about 70%. Meanwhile, putting up interior as well as exterior shutters will also help in reducing heat gain while at the same time they give you protection against storms. The beauty of shutters is you can adjust the slats to be able to control the amount of sun entering the home. And finally, consider installing high-reflectivity window film in your windows of course. Do this to the east and west facing windows because they can keep the sunshine out while trapping them in during the winter. Tip 2 – Open the windows in opportune times. One of the simplest ways to keep your home cool without the help of the air conditioning system is to open windows when the temperature outside is lower than the inside. Letting the cool air outside in will lower the temperature of your floor, walls, and even your furniture. If you don’t know it yet, those things actually absorb and trap heat, causing your home to feel hotter in the summer. Tip 3 – Make use of those fans, too. It is best to have portable fans at home if you’re not an avid AC system user. You can place those fans wherever you want like in open windows at night time to successfully move and distribute cool air. During the day, you can place those fans in areas of the house where you feel like they gather cool breeze. Another great idea is to put a bowl of ice water in front of the fans since this will chill the air being distributed. Aside from portable fans, you might as well invest in the installation of ceiling and whole house fans, both of which provide you additional cooling capabilities inside your home without spending a lot like what you expect when you use your air conditioning equipment more often. Tip 4 – You need to minimize the use of power on your appliances. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="728"] (image credit: WikiHow.com)[/caption] Powering down your appliances will make wonders for your hopes of cooling down your home during the summer. While the heat outside feels like it’s burning you, some appliances at home like the computer and TV actually generate heat, too. So if you’re not using them, turn them off. You not only contribute to reducing your energy bills, you also keep it cool inside. As for appliances that function by way of generating either heat or steam, you need to avoid using them during the hottest times of the day. Tip 5 – Trees and plants matter. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1420"] (photo credit: StyleMotivation.com)[/caption] Finally, you may not be that interested, but planting trees and all kinds of plants in and around your home will make you feel a lot cooler. It’s not just the thought of seeing green that counts, though, because trees are a good shade from the sun. Vines on the other hand are effective outside insulators. Wherever you go, when you see plants around it, it feels like the air is a lot fresher and there seems to be more wind coming in when they’re around; plus the fact that you’re actually helping the cause of the environment by maintaining a garden and lawn with trees and plants.

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