The warmer months are approaching and that means your home will be warmer too. Before you go running to turn on the air conditioning, you may be wondering what else you can do to keep your home cool. Here are our tips for keeping your home cool during the summer months.
Keep your blinds closed
This is especially helpful for the south and west-facing areas of your home. By keeping your blinds closed in south and west-facing rooms, you can stop the harsh afternoon sun from heating up your home. Given this tip doesn’t use any electricity, it’s also a cheap and cheerful first step to keeping your home cool.
Try blackout curtains
If your window coverings still let in a lot of light, you could try blackout curtains. Not only do blackout curtains keep out light but they also naturally insulate a room. If you want to try blackout curtains and it’s going to require changes to the windows at your property for installation, make sure you check with your landlord first before installing them.
Keep doors closed
Make sure you keep the doors closed to any rooms in your home that you’re not using during the warmest parts of the day. This will help to keep cool air in the areas of your home that you’re using.
Check the setting on your ceiling fan
Did you know that your ceiling fan has winter and summer settings? By setting your ceiling fan to the summer setting, so it rotates counter-clockwise, the airflow from the fan will cool down the room. This is because the counter-clockwise setting ensures cool air is directed downward into the room.
Invest in cotton sheets
Cotton sheets are cool to sleep in as they breath and don’t insulate the body. If you don’t have a top sheet, you could add this to your bedding now, so you can kick off your blankets but still feel covered by a sheet when you sleep.
Open your windows at night
After the sun has set and the cooler evening air is around, open your windows to cool down your home before you go to sleep. Opening up the windows around your home can also create an effective cross breeze.
Cook outdoors if you have a barbecue
Cooking inside with your stove and oven is nice in winter when it heats up your home. In the summer months, keep your home cool by cooking on a barbecue outside or sticking to quick meals and salads.
We know that sometimes there’s nothing like sleeping in air conditioning in the warm summer months, but these tips will help you stay cooler, so you don’t have to use your AC all the time.