Top Ways to Cool Down Your Room without AC

When the baking heat of the summer starts to kick in, it is all too tempting to immediately turn to the AC to get things back on track again. There are a couple of reasons why this may not be an option for you. First of all, it could be that there is a certain part of the house in which AC is currently not installed. Alternatively, you may simply wish to take on the environmentally friendly approach.

Another reason why AC may well not be an option at the moment is that it has broken down and is currently out of action. In this situation, you may need to turn to an AC contractor to ensure that you get things back on track once again. Whatever the reason for not turning to AC in the first place, you have a number of different options available for keeping your room nice and cool. Let’s look into just a few of these right here and now.

Ensure the Windows Are Properly Covered During the Day

When the sun starts to stream in through the windows, it will heat your room up very quickly indeed. In these situations, it is important that you cover up the windows properly as this will ensure that the room doesn’t overheat before you have had a chance to do anything about it. You should also look at the type of dressings that are on the windows, ensuring that they are properly suitable for the season. You don’t want any big, heavy drapes that are better suited to the winter months of the year. Instead, something lightweight that covers the window nicely is the much better option to go for.

When the sun is no longer shining directly at that spot, you can always open them back up again. As a side note, your drapes can also be extremely useful in ensuring that you have proper insulation during the winter months of the year, and your home is not losing any heat unnecessarily. Many people simply leave their curtains alone when they are such a useful—and free—way of controlling the temperature in their home.

Make Sure the Doors Are Properly Insulated

Proper insulation doesn’t just help to keep you warm during the winter – it should also be effective during the summer months as well. Before you even get into the issue of insulation, you can try something even simpler than that. Just close off the parts of the house that you are not using as this will keep the cool air within the rooms that you are trying to impact. Any doors that have gaps at the bottom should be focused on. This is especially the case if they lead onto the outside world. You can use weather strips as a simple and cost effective way of closing off the gaps. During the winter, a draught excluder is a useful way of keeping the heat inside but this may not be as suitable during the summer as these often tend to be big and heavy.

Avoid Using the Oven as Much as Possible

When you are doing any cooking during the warmer months of the year, you should avoid excessively using the oven as much as possible as this is a surefire way of heating up the room. This is particularly true if you are planning any meals that take longer. Of course, these aren’t the ideal options for when it is warmer anyway, but there is no point in adding extra heat in your home that could have otherwise been avoided. Instead, you should opt for lighter meals, which are more likely to help you out during this season as well. Of course, it may not be realistic to avoid using the oven during the whole summer. Instead, you need to be a little more strategic about it. This way, it will ensure the minimum impact. The best way of doing this is by waiting until later on in the evening when the air starts to cool down. This way, you can open up some windows without heating up the room any further. After all, if the temperature outside is warmer than inside then there is every chance that opening the windows will have the opposite effect to the one that you were intending.

Make Sure to Use Your Fans Properly

When you are not relying on AC to cool down a room, it is almost inevitable that the appliance that you are going to turn to is the electric fan. Bear in mind how a fan works. Many people simply think that they cool a room down, but they don’t operate in the same way as AC. Instead, they just move the air around, which means that where you are positioning the fan is going to be all important.

Ideally, you want to create a situation where there is a cross breeze, which will help to circulate the cool air that you are looking for while also pushing the hot air out at the same time. You should be looking to seek out where the coolest part of the house is. This way, you can position your fans at an angle so that they are directed towards the hottest part. Some people try the technique of putting a big bowl of ice at an angle in front of a fan. This can be a makeshift way of cooling down a room that works better than you may imagine.

You can also ensure that you are using your ceiling fans properly. Many people simply don’t know how to use them and they are less likely to be able to adequately get the cooling impact that they are looking for. So, you should set the blades to rotate counterclockwise rather than clockwise. This will help to push the air straight down in the way that you are hoping for. During the hottest days, you should look to increase the fan speed even more.

Use Your Windows Properly

There has already been a look at using your curtains or drapes properly, but the same should be true of your windows as well. This means keeping an eye on the temperature outdoors and indoors. An internal and external thermometer can help you to do this. Your automatic instinct may be to simply open up a window when it gets warm as a way of cooling you down. However, if the air outside is warmer than inside, this can actually end up having the opposite effect to the one that you were intending.

So, you are better off keeping the windows closed if it is too hot outside and it is going to have a negative impact. However, if the temperature drops outdoors to the point that it is cooler than inside, you can feel free to open up the windows. This is often more likely to happen during the nighttime hours. This can help you to have much cooler mornings, and you can then close the windows again when you need to.

Wear cooling fabrics

While this may not be a specific tip to cool your room down during the warmer months of the year, it can help to keep you nice and chilly. You should make sure that the fabrics that you are wearing are having the cooling impact that you are hoping for. This means wearing loose layers as much as possible, and not putting on too many. If all of your fabrics are synthetic, you can start to look at some natural fibres that are more likely to have the cooling properties that you are looking for.

In your bedroom, you should also look at your bedclothes and consider whether or not they are having the cooling impact that you are looking for. Again, the types of fabric are going to have an impact, but you should also look closer at what sort of blankets and duvets you have piled up on there. It is often the case that people choose to layer down during the summer months, and they may even have separate ones that they are using during this time.

Don’t Run All Your Appliances

Just as the earlier top tip was to not use your oven too much, you also don’t want to have all your appliances on full blast, especially the ones that are giving off heat. Therefore, you should be a little more strategic about what you need to use and when. There is simply no point in adding extra heat into your home during this time, even if it is just a small amount at a time.

Cooling your room down without using AC is more than possible and these are just a few of the top ways of achieving this feat. Ultimately, you need to make sure that you are using a combination of different approaches and end up fully satisfied with what you settle on doing. Some things may work sometimes, and some on other occasions.