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5 Tips For Keeping Your House Cool

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Summer is one of the most enjoyable seasons, but the constant heat can become oppressive during the long days and balmy nights. Keeping cool and staying comfortable is important, but cranking up the A/C isn’t always ideal. Using A/C more often naturally means higher energy costs. But that doesn’t mean that turning on the air is the only way to keep your house cool. Instead, there are other, more affordable ways to keep your home at an agreeable temperature that will still allow you to enjoy the summer without sweating and sticking to clothes, sheets, and furniture.

Fans

Evaporation is a cooling process, and moving air currents aid evaporation. It’s like putting the windows in your car down instead of turning on the A/C – getting the air moving in your house can help you stay cooler, especially with a few tricks. Large standing fans or fans with heads that rotate are great. Still, window fans can be beneficial, especially because many have an exhaust function to spin the blades the opposite way to remove hot air from a warm room during the day. Another cool trick is filling a bowl with ice water right before a fan to get a nice, misty breeze coming your way.

Nighttime Air

The air at night is naturally cooler than the air during the day, so it’s important to get the cooler air in at night to fill your house for the coming day. If you have window fans that blow warm air out of the room during the day, now is the time to switch them to blow in the cool air from outside into the room. Keeping windows open during the night throughout the house is a good idea, but make sure to close them in the morning as the day starts to heat up.

Shadings

Having the right shades can mean the difference between your house being an oven or a cool oasis. Investing in some shadings like the Hunter Douglas Silhouette or Pirouette will keep your house cool and look great, too. The Silhouette and the Pirouette are beautiful additions to any room but also diffuse harsh exterior light as they enter your house through windows. These shadings have fabric sheer backings and soft vanes that allow you to spread light out evenly throughout a room while also keeping out bright light, UV rays, and glare, which can keep your house cooler and more comfortable.

At Beyond Shades, serving Elmhurst, IL & surrounding areas, we can help you find the perfect shade to keep your home cool and protect your home furnishings. Schedule an appointment today!

Incandescent Lights

The lightbulb that Thomas Edison invented is no longer the lightbulb of today, and for good reason. Incandescent light bulbs give off almost 90 percent of their energy as heat energy. The design is highly inefficient, resulting in a house that is hotter than it needs to be whenever the lights are on. For a more energy-efficient, cooler lighting system, switch to compact fluorescent bulbs throughout your house.

Keep Your Body Cool

Keeping your house cool is important, but your body is equally to blame for getting so warm. If you could feasibly lower your body’s temperature, it wouldn’t matter as much that your house was so warm. The good news is you can! Sip on cool, tasty, iced drinks throughout the day, like pitchers of iced tea and lemonade that stay in the fridge, and instead of drinking a hot coffee in the morning, make your coffee the night before and put it in the fridge for the morning. Even something as simple as running cold water over your wrists or your face a few times throughout the day can dramatically affect how your body feels in the heat. By incorporating these kinds of things into your daily routine, you’ll be sure to feel more comfortable throughout the warmer months.

Summer can be fun, but not when you’re suffering in a home that won’t cool down. By following these tips, you’ll stay cooler without having to resort to cranking up the A/C and getting stuck with paying money for high energy bills that could instead be spent on vacations or cookouts.

Jessica Kane is a professional writer interested in interior design and home decor. She currently writes for Designer Drapery Hardware, a leading vendor of all types of drapery hardware, such as rods, finials, and brackets.

Rachel Gregersen
Rachel Gregersen

Owner of Beyond Shades and also an accomplished designer with 25+ years of experience specializing in interiors, architecture, and window fashions, dedicated to meeting clients' unique needs.

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