
As temperatures continue to rise, the heat might have you feeling trapped in your own home. On the hottest days, it might be difficult for your air conditioner to keep up, meaning you’ll be left with a home that’s not as comfortable as it should be. The good news is that there are steps you can take to help control the heat so that you stay cool, even on the hottest days. To help beat the heat, here are four simple tips for keeping your home cooler during the summer.
Run Those Ceiling Fans
If your home has ceiling fans, then it’s important to make them an ally in your summer cooling strategy. By running the fan in the room that you’re currently occupying, you can help make the room much more comfortable. An important note is that fans do nothing to lower the temperature of the air in a room since it’s just the sensation of moving air that feels cooler on the skin. Therefore, when you leave a room, make sure the fan isn’t running.
Increase the Shade
Another important strategy in the fight against a hot home is working to prevent the sun from coming into your home as much as possible. Of course, shades and blinds do an excellent job at this, but they can block your view of the outside. A better solution is to install double glazed windows that block the sun’s brightest light and most harmful rays while allowing you to still see outside.
Vent the Heat
If you have an unventilated attic, a summer day can cause the temperatures inside that attic to soar to 150 to 160 degrees. Even with good insulation in your ceiling, this heat can cause the air in your home to become warmer. Therefore, it’s important to enhance the ventilation in your attic to allow this heat to escape before it has a chance to make your home uncomfortable. Plus, proper ventilation will help prevent moisture from accumulating that could cause structural problems.
Enhance Your Protection
If your home is located in the middle of an area with a lot of trees, it’s unlikely that you struggle much with a hot home in the summer. Even if your home isn’t surrounded by trees and greenery, though, you can still add shade to the exterior of your home to help lower its temperature. The best option here is to have trees to both provide shade and help clean the air. However, if you don’t currently have large, mature trees, you can add shade sails at strategic locations to help provide some relief.
Though the hottest days can be miserable, the good news is that they don’t occur every day. Sometimes the best approach to take to help keep yourself cool, then, is to simply rest and relax and enjoy a glass of your favorite cold drink. Then, when the temperature cools a bit, you can get back to doing the activities you normally enjoy.