In the summertime a lemonade or cool drink makes you feel great, it cools you down and brings your body temperature down a bit. A dip in the cool lake, running through the sprinkler also feel great in the summer! The same is true in the wintertime. You want to warm up and feel cozy! That hot cup of tea, a blanket and a fire feel great.
One of the most costly expenses on a monthly basis is temperature regulation. Heating and cooling your home costs money every single month and there isn’t much you can do about it without thinking outside of the box. Oddly enough the other day I thought my air stopped working, and it was a particularly hot day and I probably wouldn’t have fallen asleep that easily that night without some cool air. Turns out the digital settings were resetting itself to turn the air off! This complex technology I tell ya.
Because of that though I did some research as to how to cool your home down in the summer without using the air conditioning. It’s cool to understand these home hacks because you can save money and it’s very eco-friendly! These techniques are simple, quick and can cool your home down during the day or night without having to depend on air.
Some of these ideas will make you go “So freakin cool” because if you’re geeky and like to hack your home, health and life then these ideas will impress you. The other benefit beyond cost savings and a more environmentally friendly energy usage is that you get to feel better in the summer. Sleeping in a cooler environment helps you sleep better so even if you just use these ideas an hour or so before bed to cool your home down and while you’re sleeping your quality of sleep should increase and be more rejuvenating.
4 Ways To Cool Your Home Without Air Conditioning
1. Turn The Ceiling Fans On Counter-Clockwise:
Turning the fans on is obvious, even if the temperature doesn’t decrease more airflow helps you feel cooler. What you may not have known though is that you want to run the fan counter-clockwise because by doing this the fan actually sucks the hot air upwards, instead of pushing it downwards where you are. This cools the bottom half of your room by sucking the hot air up and keeping the cool air lower. Counter-clockwise means the fan should be spinning turning left, just to be clear!
2. Use Ice Packs In The Windows:
I really found this one really cool and unique. Take the amount of windows you have in your home, say it’s 12. Get 12 ice packs and freeze them in the freezer, then put a large ziploc back around each ice pack after it is frozen. Simply take these ice packs and place them in the window in between the screen and the window with the window open. The breeze will run through these ice packs in every window in your home and create a cooler airflow. It works well and it’s technically free because your freezer is running every day.
3. Close your Shades More Often:
The more light you let in your home the hotter it will be. By closing the shades you allow less light (and heat) to come into your home. The only downside to this is that light from the sun gives you serotonin which is an important hormone for health, happiness and sleep. You also may not want to be in a dark cave all the time! I recommend closing shades partially to cover up the ares with the most sun beating into your home and to still let the wind blow through.
4. Use Less Internal Lights:
Just like the sun beating into your home through the windows heats up the temperature in your home using too many lights during the day or night will increase the temperature as well. Light bulbs emit heat! To feel cooler and optimize your hormones better you should definitely be using less lights (and dimmer lighting) later at night.
5. Cook Less:
During the summertime your body is naturally going to be warmer because it’s hotter outside. Cooking less and using less oven, stove top and anything else that produces heat in your kitchen will keep your home cooler. Take the time to eat raw fruits and vegetables, juices, smoothies and salads more! The right fruits and vegetables can help to cool you down. Foods such as watermelon, most fruits really! cucumbers and other water filled fruits are great.
6. Use A Buckwheat Pillow:
The cool side of the pillow feels great at night because it helps to cool our body temperature so that we can sleep better. Research has shown that sleeping in a cooler environment (around 70 degrees farenheit) helps us get higher quality sleep. The cool (backside) of the pillow feels great because our head emits a large amount of heat from our bodies to cool it down, in fact the reason we yawn is to stretch our heat and breathe to release heat from our head to cool our body temperature. A buckwheat pillow is a naturally cooler pillow than cotton. Click here to learn more about buckwheat pillows.
7. Make a Cooling Spray:
Remember about 10 years ago when those fans with a water spray bottle came out? You could spray yourself with water while you cooled down with the air also. Those worked well! You can recreate that in an even better way. I take essential oils like peppermint and eucalyptus (because of their cooling properties) and put that in a spray bottle with water and store it in the fridge. The Cold water and cooling effect of the essential oils on my skin works extremely well! I spray this on my arms, under my armpits and you can also spray this on your pillow and bed before night to give you a cool, fresh, relaxing bed to sleep on!
8. Diffuse Cold Water:
Humidity is another reason for feeling hot and a warm home. If you simply get an aromatherapy diffuser (they are 35bucks or so on amazon) then diffuse cold water mixed with cooling essential oils (like listed above) the cooling mist will cool you down and give you a better breathing experience to as it purifies the air. You’ll feel better and sleep better. This is the aromatherpy diffuser that I like (click here to learn more)
9. Take A Cold Shower Or Bath:
Many people may read this and say “what?” why would I do that? other than the obvious reason of cooling you down it also cools your home down instead of heats it up. I’ve tested this myself, if I take a steaming hot shower the temperature in my home goes up about 1-2 degrees farenheit. A cold shower or bath will cool you down and not heat up your home. You can add ice to keep the bath really cool and even add a few drops of eucalyptus or peppermint essential oil to relax and breathe better also.
I hope that you got some new inspiration and ideas to try out in your home to be more budget friendly, eco-friendly and to get into DIY mode again! Use the elements, wind, water, and think how you can combine these efforts above!
By using these techniques you will:
1. Breathe Better:
Indoor air is much more polluted than outdoor air, fresh air is better for your health!
2. Save Money:
Using less air conditioning lowers your bills!
3. Eco-Friendly:
Using less energy leaves a smaller environmental footprint.
4. Sleep Better:
Fresh air helps you sleep better and a cooler environment in general does also!
Image: wikimedia
Recent Comments