Beat the heat this summer with some easy and effective hacks for your home.
1. Reduce & reflect sunlight
Direct sunlight coming into your home can increase the temperature. Placing blinds, curtains, or reflective window panels are some of the ways to keep the sun out of windows. Keeping direct sunlight away from your room will reduce the warmth in the space.
2. Turn off lights when not in use
Light bulbs produce heat, especially the incandescent ones. If you can’t replace this antiquated type of bulb, the least you can do is minimize their usage.
3. Be smart about your doors
If a room is cooler than the outdoor temperature, close the door. This will retain the colder room temperature for as long as possible even in the warmest part of the day.
4. Cook Outside
The kitchen can create and retain a lot of heat when you are cooking. The best compromise is to cook during the coolest time of the day. If you can opt to cook in your backyard, that’ll be a great excuse for a backyard barbecue!
5. Put smooth white fabric covers on furniture
White fabric covers will help retain less heat in your furniture. These covers will also reflect the light. Some would say that it absorbs less heat from sunlight. The furniture and interior of the house stay cooler in the process.
6. Open windows at both ends of the house
By opening windows at both ends of the house, you let air move freely throughout the whole structure. This is called cross-ventilation. This process helps reduce the temperature in your home. You’ll be surprised at how much cooler it becomes!
7. Set your ceiling fans to rotate counter clock-wise
Doing this will help move the warmth away from the room. In turn, you will feel cooler. This method of reversing the rotation of the blades will push the warmth to the ceiling instead of blowing it in your direction.
8. Point box fans out the windows
When you do this, you push the hot air out. This is one thing many homeowners do not realize. Sometimes, it’s better to use fans for exhaust rather than creating an artificial breeze.
9. Unplug appliances or electronics
In this age of electronics, heat is a normal by-product. If you have kids or teens playing with their Xbox on large flat screen TVs all day, maybe it would be best to minimize their playtime. Pull out those plugs if you are not using a gadget. Less heat produced means a cooler interior.
10. Hang wet laundry on clotheslines rather than turning on your dryer
A dryer is no different from an oven in the summer. They are heat multipliers, so try not to use them if you don’t need dry clothes right away. Besides, line-drying will also cool the air coming into your home if the wind direction is favorable.
11. Make use of your bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans
Apart from drawing out any excess steam, these exhaust fans also draw out the heat from other rooms nearby. There will be a noticeable difference. You can probably do this at the warmest part of the day when you’re not using your AC.
12. Let the night air in
In the summertime, nights tend to be much cooler. Make the most of this by opening the windows before sleeping. Of course, security should be your primary concern prior to leaving them open as you doze off. Make the necessary preparations like installing grills or just leaving the upper windows open if you live in a two-story house.
13. Keep your blinds closed
Up to 30 percent of unwanted heat comes from your windows, and utilizing shades, curtains and the like can save you up to 7 percent on bills and lower indoor temperatures by up to 20 degrees.
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