Does your home feel like a baking oven during the California summer? You’re not alone! Cool your home without using AC with our helpful tips.
Keep Windows Shut and Covered
On a sweltering day when your house feels like an oven, you might feel a need to open all your windows and doors to get more air circulation. But this only lets more warm air and sunlight into your home, heating it rather than cooling it.
Pro Tip: Blackout curtains are the best option for completely darkening and cooling a room.
Keep your windows shut tight and draw your curtains to keep more warm air from entering your home. Try to cool down the air in your home instead of bringing more hot air inside.
Replace Windows
If you’ve had the same windows in your house for years or decades, closing them and drawing the curtains may not be enough—it may be time for a total replacement. New windows look better and seal your home, keeping the cool air in and the warm air out.
Plus, summer and the warmer months are the ideal seasons to replace your windows since you don’t have to worry about open windows freezing your house in the winter. Think of it as an investment into making your home more efficient and easier to heat and cool.
Open Windows at Night
During the day, when the sun is roasting and your house can feel like a baking oven, you want your windows closed and darkened. But at night, when the sun retreats and the temperature cools down, that’s when you want to open all your windows and doors to let in the cool night air.
We all know it’s colder and more comfortable at night, even if it was a scorcher of a day, so utilize that to cool your house when the sun goes down. Plus, after a day of having the windows and doors sealed up, that fresh night air will feel better than ever!
Adjust the Ceiling Fan
Most people don’t realize they can change the direction of their ceiling fans’ rotation to counterclockwise during the summer.
Because cold air settles while warm air rises, the fan will push the cooler air back down towards you instead of into the ceiling as before. It’s a simple tip many didn’t realize they could do that can instantly help cool down their home without AC!
Utilize Mobile Fans
It’s common in the summer to see houses filled with mobile fans to try and cool down a hot home. But remember that fans don’t cool the air—they circulate it, so how you use them is more important than how many fans you have.
Find the coolest and warmest parts of your house and angle your fans so that it pushes the cold air towards the warm spots and the warm air away from living spaces.
