Hot tips for staying cool at home during summer
Keep your cool while caring for the environment and saving cash during this June heatwave. Experts suggest switching to LED light bulbs, insulating the lofts, and keeping doors closed to keep your home at a comfortably cool temperature.
Changing bed sheets to breathable cotton, and opting for blackout curtains can also help you sleep, even when it’s hot and muggy at night.
Top tips on how to keep your home temperature down when it is rising outside include;
Change your bed linen. Switching bed linen can dramatically help you have a cooler night’s sleep. Some bed sheet materials such as cotton and bamboo are wellknown for being lightweight and breathable, perfect for those who get hot in the night.
Bring nature inside. Bringing nature indoors is a great way to not only cleanse the air in your house but also to help circulate cooler air. This works when certain plants such as a weeping fig, snake plant, rubber plant, and Chinese evergreen to name a few, absorb warm air. Through the transpiration process, they release oxygen and cool moisture as a byproduct into the room.
Utilise the garden. As well as bringing greenery inside your house, remember that plants and trees can have a similar effect on your garden. Increasing the amount of grass in your garden will naturally be cooler than decking, paving, and concrete due to it having a lower solar reflectance. Deciduous trees are also great for shading certain areas in the summer.
Keep the blinds closed. As simple as this may sound, keeping your blinds and curtains closed throughout the day deflects the sun’s powerful rays from heating your house. Open them up again in the evening to allow cooler air to fill the room before going to bed.
Blackout curtains help eradicate the sunlight from the windows and are especially effective on north or
western facing windows. Opt for a light or neutral colour to keep the room bright if you’re closing them throughout the day.
Closing doors in rooms that you’re not using can help to trap cooler air within. If you don’t shut off certain areas of your house, every room will end up at a similar temperature.
Check your light bulbs. Switch your incandescent bulbs in your light fittings to LED light bulbs. Incandescent bulbs waste around 90 per cent of their energy by emitting heat.
Cook and eat al fresco. Make the most of that barbecue grill in your garden? When your kitchen has accumulated heat throughout the day the last thing you want to do is turn the oven on for dinner and make the house even warmer.
Cooling tricks for fans. Place a bowl of ice underneath
your fan to create a cold and refreshing breeze that circulates your room. It’s a cheap and efficient air conditioning replacement.
Insulate your loft as insulating your home will keep it warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, reducing your energy bills.
Ben Gallizzi, an energy expert at money.co.uk said: “As temperatures start to rise, most UK households will rejoice, but for those that struggle with the heat, or with young families, it can soon become unbearable.
“If this summer is anything like last year, then it’s important that everyone tries cost-effective and simple ways to keep their homes cool.
“Luckily there are a number of low-cost hot weather tips we can use to keep the house cool this summer that are also kind to the environment.”