Are you looking for ways to keep your home cool without spending an arm and a leg on electricity? We’ve got 18 of ’em for you!
Summer makes our houses heat up under normal circumstances. But this year, climate change is fueling heat waves that are making our homes feel as hot as incinerators.
That’s dangerous! People die when they’re in a hot room or house for too long. In fact, meteorologist says that more people die from heat stroke than from other climate catastrophes, like hurricanes and fires.
Even if the heat doesn’t kill you, it can make you plenty uncomfortable: headachy, lethargic, sweaty, grumpy.
If you have AC, you’ll probably be tempted to crank it up. But AC runs on electricity, and when demand is high, your electricity bill can soar.
Plus, electricity is usually generated by power plants that burn the fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) that emit the carbon dioxide that causes climate change.
Cranking up the AC to keep cool from climate change only causes more climate change!!!
Read on to see how I keep my home cool without spending big bucks on AC. If you don’t have AC, you’ll find these tips really helpful!
18 Ways to Keep Your Home Cool, Inside and Out
INSIDE
Close curtains, shades and blinds to keep the heat out. The sun hits my front living room windows about noon, and then pours in for the next five hours. As you can see from this picture of my living room, I pull down all the shades and close the curtains from around noon to 5 p.m. in the summer.
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Open windows on the north side of your house and across the room from each other to improve ventilation. As the sun moves from east to west, windows on the north side of your home should be in the shade most of the day. I open shaded windows across the room from each other to create ventilation and more breeze.
Open windows during cool early morning hours. I find that it’s coolest out in the early morning. Since I’m an early riser, I will often turn off my AC and whole house fan (see below) and open windows in the morning to let in cool air and give my AC a break. Even turning off the AC for three or four hours will save energy and money.
Use the HVAC system’s fan, rather than the AC. All HVAC systems will have a fan setting you can set to “On,” so that it runs continuously. Just keeping air circulating in my home makes it feel cooler. Using the fan requires less energy than the actual AC.
Use table fans, ceiling fans, and standing fans instead of the AC. This post explains why fans can save you so much money, and gives you links to several fan options. The picture above is of my office. I use this small fan to cool the room, and a standing fan to cool other rooms I’m in, rather than AC for the entire house.
Skip the stove. All summer long, I use this toaster oven and microwave instead of my stove to save energy and money and reduce heat in the kitchen . You could also use a Crock Pot, Insta Pot, or Airfryer to avoid heating up your house. Or, order in from your favorite restaurant (but skip the plastic cutlery and plastic seasoning packets) or pick up take-out.
Eat cold foods. I take advantage of all the fresh fruits and vegetables in farmers markets and grocery stores to make meals I don’t have to cook! It’s the perfect season for salads, soups you make in a blender, sandwiches, and smoothies.
Replace incandescent light bulbs with LEDs. I’ve replaced every light bulb in my house with an energy-saving, cool LED. Incandescents emit more heat than light. LEDs are the opposite. These are the actual LEDs I’ve installed.
Use heat-emitting appliances like dishwashers and clothes dryers at night, rather than during the hot daytime. Utility companies always ask consumers to wash dishes and clothes at night to reduce the demand on the utility grid. But here’s another reason – those appliances emit a lot of heat you don’t need to add to your home during the day. Don’t forget to run full loads as much as possible.
Dry clothes on a line or drying rack. Clothes dryers can emit a lot of heat while they’re on. Especially in the summer, drying racks get the job done fast. Here’s the rack I use.
Wear fewer clothes. Go barefoot and wear loose fitting shorts, t-shirts, skirts and dresses to stay cooler.
Take a quick, cool shower, or wash off with a cool wash cloth. Leave your skin damp; as water evaporates, you’ll cool down.
Do chores that make you sweat, like scrubbing and vacuuming, in the early morning hours when it’s coolest.
OUTSIDE
Install outdoor awnings and porch curtains. Overhangs and curtains can prevent the sun from pouring through your windows.
Use a portable patio umbrellas to shade windows. Outdoor waterproof curtains work, too. The key is to keep the sun out!
Stay in the shade as much as possible if you do go outside. Wear a hat or cap with a visor, and carry a “sunbrella” to keep the sun from beating down on you.
Plant shade trees. Summer is not the time to plant anything! But come September, take a look around your house and see if you can find a couple of places to plant native trees that will grow relatively quickly and provide cooling shade.
Use a portable fan outdoors. It’ll keep you cooler, and blow away mosquitoes, too. If you have a protected, covered porch, you can install a ceiling fan designed specifically for the outdoors.
Any other ideas? Please share them over on the Big Green Purse Facebook page.
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