Even though summertime is great, it has its disadvantages, as it is the hottest time of the year. This is why many people spend their time outdoors because they want to feel the comfort that cannot be gotten indoors.
Staying indoors in summer without having an air conditioner can be overwhelmingly uncomfortable if you have no alternative means of staying cool. This is where we come in.
In this article, I’ll be giving tips on how to stay cool in summer without AC or cooler. For the purpose of ease, these tips will be simple and easy, and after now, you will not have to stay in a hot and uncomfortable room ever again.
How To Stay Cool In Summer
Limit the Usage of Hot Appliances During Summertime
Most appliances give off residual heat. However, some appliances are designed for the sole purpose of producing heat, like the cloth dryer and the oven.
For the cloth dryer, consider substituting with an indoor drying rack or cloth hanger. As for the oven, a microwave is an absolute improvement, but even that generates some level of heat. You can also make the provision of cooking outdoors so that your room won’t have to be so hot.
Chill Your Bed
You can try sealing your bed sheets and pillowcases in a plastic bag and putting them in the freezer. This could help you stay cool while you are in bed. If you decide to do this, you should avoid silk or polyester blended sheets. Sheets that are 100% cotton are the best, according to the National Sleep Foundation, because it breathes better.
Some bed-cooling technologies, such as chilled mattress pads and toppers or cooling blankets, might also help. This method has been proven to be effective, however, the coolness will not stay very long and it might not be comfortable for everyone.
Invest In Blackout Curtains
These curtains have room darkening features built into its fabric. They block sunlight and naturally insulate the rooms in which they are installed. Neutral colored curtains with white plastic backings are recommended to reduce heat gain. These curtains can trap heat in during winter and keep light and heat out during the summer. The primary purpose of these curtains is to keep light from streaming into the home where it is not wanted.
Close Off Unused Doors
Closing off unused doors will prevent cool air from escaping from your room and into these areas during the hot time of the day. You’ll want to capitalize on the cool night hours too, by letting air flow naturally through your room. When you close other doors, you keep the heat out of those rooms and keep the coolness in your room.
Let the Night Air In
During months of summer, temperatures drop during the night. If this happens where you live, make the most of these refreshing hours by opening up the windows before going to bed. As long as the temperature outside is colder than the room temperature, the room will welcome in the cool breeze and this will increase comfort for you. Just be sure to close the windows and blinds before things get too hot in the morning.
Swap your sheets
Not only does swapping out your bedding freshen up a room, but it’s also a very good way to keep cool. Although textiles like flannel sheets and fleece blankets are fantastic for insulation, cotton is a smarter move this time of year as it breathes easier and stays cooler. As a bonus, you can buy yourself a buckwheat pillow because buckwheat pillows have naturally occurring air spaces between them, hence, they won’t hold on to your body heat like conventional pillows, even when packed together in a pillow-case.
Use Fluorescent Lights in Place Of Incandescent Lights
If you ever needed the motivation to switch from incandescent lights to fluorescent lights or LEDs, this is it. Incandescent bulbs waste about 90% of the energy they get by converting it into heat. So, tossing them out and replacing them will make a difference in cooling your home and lower your electric bill(talk about killing 2 birds with one stone).
Heat-proof Your Bed
If you are unable to heatproof your whole room, the next best thing will be to heatproof your bed. You can put a cool Chillow under your head while you sleep (a chillow is a cooling pad insert for your pillow that brings cooling relief throughout the night). For your feet, fill a bottle of water and put it in the freezer before placing it at the foot of your bed. All this can help you feel cooler and in comfort while you lie on your bed in your room.
Go Commando
When you’re alone in your room, it would be a smart move to lose the clothes and go naked so that you won’t feel very hot. Your underclothes may feel extra sticky and will not let your privates breathe properly when the heat is soaring. This is because your private area usually has more sweat glands and because of heat, the moisture will stay trapped in there. So, bid farewell to them during this summer season, particularly when you have to sleep.
Keep Your Blinds Closed
Studies show that up to 30% of unwanted heat comes from your window and utilizing curtains, shades, and the likes can save up to 7% on bills and lower your indoor temperatures by up to 20 degrees. In other words, closing the blinds essentially prevents your homes from being dangerously hot and uncomfortable, which is especially the case with south and west-facing windows.
Make a Few Long-term Improvements
In cases where you are really committed to the whole ‘no AC’ thing, you can make some long-term changes to your home which will keep it cooler for many seasons to come. For example, window insulation films are a smart purchase as they work similarly to blinds. They are attached to glass windows for the purpose of reducing heat transfer.
Two types are generally common in use and design to reduce heat flow via radiation and convection[1]. Another thing that can be done is the planting of trees or vines around the house and near light-facing windows. This will shield your home from excessive sun rays, reduce the amount of heat your home absorbs, make your investment worth it, and ultimately keep you cool.
Create ventilation
Rooms can get pretty hot and stuffy inside when there is no proper source of cross ventilation. In the case where your room does not have one too, you can actually create one by pacing a fan across a door or a window, so that a cross breeze is created by the outside wind and the fan. For a better result, you can place multiple fans in the room to create a super cool airflow.
Focus on The Temperature in Your Body, not The Room
Sometimes it is easier for us to cool down our body temperature faster than we can cool down or rooms If your ancestors survived without air conditioning, fans, and general comfort, so can you. From taking cold baths to sipping tasty iced drinks to applying a cold cloth to strong-pulsed areas like your neck and wrists, cooling yourself from the inside out is not a bad idea. Other tricks include wearing comfortable clothing that reduces the rate at which you get hot. Also, try keeping a bowl of water by your bed and dipping your feet if you feel hot in the middle of the night.
Final Thought
One of the thoughts most of us are preoccupied with during the summer season is how to overcome the heat. This has led to people researching ways on how to stay cool in summer. The good news is that this feat is easily achievable when you have the right information. This article has listed out a lot of ways we can manage the summer heat and keep ourselves and our homes warm.
Glossary
[1] Convection – Link
