Beat the heat! 5 ways to keep your home cool this summer

If you don’t have air conditioning, summertime may be something you come to dread each year. Our summer months are certainly getting hotter, and living without AC can be a challenge. However, there are still ways to keep your home cool this summer, even without an air conditioner. Here are five suggestions to help you beat the heat this season. Remember to stay safe and hydrated as our temperatures start to increase!

#1 Close those blinds!

This sounds like one of those sayings your parents might use when you would complain about the heat when you were younger, but it really does hold true. When the sun beats down on those glass windows, the resulting heat gets trapped in your home and turns it into a mini sauna. Up to 30 per cent of heat comes in through our windows, according to Family Handyman as reported by HuffPost. By blocking the sun’s path into your home, you can keep it much cooler and might even be able to lower your energy bills as well. If you want, you can also get blackout curtains for maximum protection from the sun’s rays. Blackout curtains completely prevent the sun from penetrating a room, and they can also help you sleep better if you prefer total darkness. These are a useful addition to any room, especially in the summer months.

#2 Replace your bedding

Unfortunately, nighttime is when the heat in our homes can become most unbearable, as it’s hard to fall asleep when it feels like your home is an oven. There are a couple methods you can do to improve your sleep situation. First, make sure you’re not using flannel or similar materials for your bedding. While it’s cozy during the Christmas season, flannel really does warm your body up, which is the last thing you need right now. Cotton is a breathable, cool material you can try. You can go one step further and invest in special cooling sheets designed for hot sleepers, which can work wonders in the summer. Hush is a popular brand that designs sheets made to combat night sweats, allowing you to enjoy an uninterrupted night of sleep.

#3 Use energy-efficient light bulbs

Incandescent light bulbs are notorious for wasting energy and emitting extra heat that you just don’t need in the summer months. Keep your home cool this summer by replacing any incandescent bulbs with LED ones. It won’t make your home drastically colder, but it will help minimize the extra heat your home produces. Plus, everyone loves saving money on their electricity bills, so this solution is both friendly to your wallet and to the environment. LED bulbs are still constantly developing and improving, making them a worthy competitor to the incandescent alternatives.

#4 Change your ceiling fan’s direction

When it’s hot in our homes, we often just switch on the ceiling fan and hope for the best, but did you know that there’s a specific way your fan should be turning? You might not think direction matters, but fans should run counter clockwise in the warmer months. A counter clockwise spin will create a draft that forces cool air down into your home, while clockwise spins create an updraft to allow warm air to circulate. A counter clockwise direction will help cold air come down on you from above, so you don’t just have to rely on tower fans placed in every corner of your home.

#5 Take advantage of your grill 

If you have a grill or barbecue, we recommend using it as much as you can in place of your oven and stove. Obviously, heating up an oven will do nothing to keep your home cool this summer, but the good news is, grills can do pretty much anything your oven can. You can grill vegetables, meats, and many other dinner items to replace your oven and keep the heat outside, where it belongs. Everyone loves a good summer dinner prepared on the barbecue!

As our summers get hotter and hotter, keeping comfy becomes increasingly challenging. However, these tips will help you keep your home cool this summer. Hopefully you can make the most of this season and enjoy it even on the hottest days! 

If you have any questions about your mortgage, get in touch with us at Clinton Wilkins Mortgage Team! You can call us at (902) 482-2770 or contact us here.