10 Tips To Keep Your Home Cool This Summer
With the weather heating up, how can we keep our homes cool and save energy?
1. Cross-Ventilation
Try cross-ventilating your home before reaching for the air con or turning on the fan and see how much cooler it gets.
Rachel Main from Good & Eco in Sydney says “Use nature’s breeze to cool indoors by creating cross-ventilation by opening windows and/or doors on opposite sides of the home.
This is effective and costs nothing. When the warm air is blowing shut all the windows and doors to keep inside cooler.”
She goes on to say “If building or renovating, louvre windows are great for allowing the cross ventilation that can be open day and night.”
2. Plants
Rachel suggests we “plant evergreen shrubs around the foundation of the house to increase insulation making a home easier to cool.
You can also plant trees and shrubs in places where your house gets harsh sun to give your home some protection.”
House plants are also helpful at keeping your home cool and they look great too.
According to Dr Leonard Perry, University of Vermont ‘A USDA estimate is that proper use of plants could decrease air temperature in an office by as much as ten degrees.’
3. Close Your Curtains and Blinds
Closing your curtains or blinds will keep a lot of the heat out and keep the temperature down inside. Do this before the sun shines in to maximise the benefit.
4. Cooling Appliances
Before turning the air con on, you could try using a fan or dehumidifier first to try to cool the room.
Rachel says “ceiling fans are cooling and use less energy than air con.
Beautiful island style ceiling fans can add interior style interest too. Use an energy star dehumidifier to take the humidity out of the air to make it easier to cool the indoor air.”
5. Use Cool Colours
Rachel recommends using colour to help us feel cooler: “Cool colours like ocean-blue-blue-green, cobalt & bright green make us feel cooler.
Updating soft furnishings like bedding, sofa cushions and rugs can make us feel like the interior space is cooler.”
6. External Awnings & Window Tinting
External awnings or shades are very effective at keeping the heat out.
Katie Riddell, Interior decorator also recommends using window tinting treatments. These “can assist in reducing the amount of light and heat that enters your home’.
7. Use Your Home Wisely
Katie also recommends that we make the most of the cooler parts of the house and avoid using appliances that will warm the home.
“Don’t use appliances on hot days such as ovens that generate heat and if possible use rooms that don’t get a lot of sun such as south facing rooms in Australia.
Set up your laptop, book or iPad in that room for the day.” She goes on to say “if all else fails, go to the local shopping centre or cinema to get relief!”. Great tips thank you Katie!
Keep doors closed to any rooms that you are not using during the warmer hours of the day, especially if they are facing the sun. When it’s cooler you can open up the doors and windows to cool down.
8. Switch to Summer Sheets
Use bedding that is best suited for the warmer months: think cool cotton sheets and a light quilt or blankets that you can layer up for cooler nights.
9. Air Con Hack
No air con? Try placing some ice or an ice block on a tray and place a fan behind it so the air blows over the fan.
This will blow a nice cool mist to help keep you cool.
10. Use Air Con At The Right Temperature
According to the South Australian Good Living website we should be setting our air con , thermostat to between 24-27 degrees C. This will keep our bills down and will still make our homes a comfortable temperature.
Also if you are buying an air conditioning unit, always go for the one with the best energy rating over a lower priced unit.
We hope you find these tips useful for keeping cool this summer! If you have any other tips we’d love to hear them.
