As soon as spring rolls around in the Northern Hemisphere, you’re never far – these days – from a potential heatwave. People’s reactions to a rise in the mercury vary wildly from person to person, but with each hot day, more and more people will agree that the novelty eventually wears off. There’s certainly such a thing as being too hot, and while we don’t all reach that point at the same time, we all get there eventually. So it’s a good idea to have a plan for keeping cool in a heatwave, and all the better if it’s one that keeps you cool from sundown to sun-up.
Chase the sun (but not like that)
Direct sunlight pouring into your home causes the space to get warmer, quicker. If you have a cat, you’ll notice that they enjoy lying on the window sill when it’s particularly sunny – because a cat will always seek out the warm spots. But this greenhouse effect warms your whole home, and even one degree more can quickly become intolerable. So when you can see the sun soaking in through your windows, lower the blind and/or close the curtains; it’s best if you have blackout blinds and curtains for this specific purpose. During the day, the sun will cross over to the other side, so make sure to follow it and draw the blinds there, too.
Use fans in a smart way
Running a fan in your home or workspace can be reassuring in the hotter weather, but for many people it soon becomes clear that you’re basically moving hot air around and getting little relief from the heat. The smart move here is to place a bowl of ice or a frozen water bottle in front of the fan, and as the ice melts the fan will blow cooled water particles in your direction. This is the same principle by which air conditioning works, and it’s highly effective.
Speaking of air conditioning…
Running the air conditioning in your home cools the air, but when should you run it? Leaving it on all day is surely going to be too expensive, so should you ration it to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck? Well, no, not really. In fact, leaving the air con running may work out cheaper – it’s all about the temperature at which you set it. Find a temperature where you feel comfortable: let’s say between 20ºC and 24ºC. Set your evaporative cooling service to keep things at that level, and it will only run when it needs to, before returning to idling the rest of the time. This will use less energy than letting the temperature climb into the 30s or above and then running the air con, so it makes financial sense.
Windows: open at night, closed during the day
There’ll be a temptation to open your windows when your home is warm and it’s sunny outside, but this isn’t an efficient thing to do. If it’s hotter outside than it is in your home (and it invariably is in the morning), then you’re just letting in cool air, so keep them closed. Overnight, the temperature drops by several degrees, so keep the windows open a crack when you go to bed; you’ll sleep more soundly and wake up to a fresher, cooler house.
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