Air conditioning is an important part of our everyday life. As just one example, 4.6 million Australians use at least one air conditioning unit in their day-to-day life.
However, it can still be hard to decide on the particular air conditioner that we want to install in our homes as we have to consider the type that best suits our particular needs and the investment that it represents.
We know that buying air conditioning is an important decision to make, and in the meantime we don’t want you to suffer from the heat while you make up your mind and decide which system will be most suitable if you proceed.
For this reason, we have come up with some useful tips to help stay cool without air conditioning.
Turn off the lights
If you want to keep your house as cool as possible you need to reduce as many unnecessary sources of heat as possible to reduce overall heat load inside.
It is worth noting that 90% of the energy used by fluorescent and incandescent bulbs is emitted as heat. This is why when you keep the lights on you can feel instantly warmer.
The best advice is to rely on natural light during the day and switch to LED lights wherever you can. By doing this, you won’t only reduce heat emissions but also reduce energy consumption and therefore save on your power bill.
Keep hydrated
When you feel heat within your body, one of the best tricks to cool it down is to simply drink water.
This is effective because the body can’t cool itself down without enough fluid within. By drinking water and staying hydrated you will help support your natural bodily processes.
Close your blinds
You may be thinking that opening up or exposing the windows is a good idea to cool the house down. However, windows can be responsible for up to 40% of heat gained in your home.
If you have windows that face the sun, it is recommended to close the curtains or blinds to keep the sun from coming directly into the house and heating it up.
By using shades, you can lower the indoor temperature by up to 20 degrees.
Open the windows at night
While it might be better to close and cover the windows during the day, don’t be afraid to open them up at night as temperatures cool down. By doing this, the cool air and breeze can blow through your home and help you feel fresher upon waking the next day.
Before opening the windows, it is worth considering the need for insect screens (if not already installed) and the security of your home.
Change your curtains
You can look at investing in neutral, white or blackout curtains to reduce the heat in your home up to 33%.
For a cooling effect, these curtains should be made from velvet, suede or felt. Their purpose is to prevent sunlight from streaming into the home when the sun’s warming rays aren’t required.
Take a cold shower
The temperature of your body will naturally cool down if you take a really cold shower. It will also help you feel fresher during the day, and certainly wake you up!
If you feel it is necessary, you could take two showers a day just for that cool, refreshing feeling.
Use fresh clothes
To keep cool, its recommended to avoid wearing fabrics that trap in heat and moisture. Also, it’s best to choose light-coloured clothing made of linen or cotton.
By doing this you will feel fresh and cool without having anything counter-productive on your body.
Reduce the use of appliances
Appliances can easily increase the temperature in a room. To keep cool, try to limit their use during the heat of the day.
For example, you might cook at night and then store the food for lunch the next day, or do the laundry of an evening rather than in the morning.
Another recommendation would be to switch to an outdoor grill or slow cooker if you are used to cooking with an oven or stove, as the oven and stove significantly increase the temperature indoors.
Use doors to your advantage
If you close the doors to rooms that nobody is using, you will prevent warmer air from moving into the cooler occupied areas of the house. This will keep you feeling more comfortable and prevent wasting any efforts in place to cool the occupied spaces.
Choose the most accurate bedding
For bedding, try to keep it simple and fresh.
For cooling, put away all the blankets made out of non-breathable fabrics such as satin and polyester and choose those made out of more breathable materials such as flannel, fleece or cotton.
The same goes for sheets. It is best to make sure they don’t trap heat and moisture which makes you feel warm and uncomfortable.
Choose thin, light sheets and blankets to help you stay cool at night.
Take advantage of fans
Fans can’t lower down the temperature in the room, but they can help with a natural cooling process. When you turn them on, they create a wind-chill effect that will instantly make you feel cooler.
This is because a fan blows air around and away from your body, which carries hot air away from the body and allows sweat to evaporate more readily.
It is especially recommended to use fans when the outside air is cooler than the inside air, which normally happens at night.
Remember that fans cool down people and not rooms, so don’t forget to turn them off when you leave the room to avoid wasting power. Every little bit counts!
Enjoy frozen food
The hotter months is the perfect time to eat ice cream and drink beverages with ice.
It is recommended to add, or chose options with, as little sugar as possible. Dietary benefits aside, your body can react to the sugar and raise the internal temperature again which would defeat the purpose of the food or drink.
Furthermore, you can choose to eat foods that contains a lot of water, such as watermelon which consists of around 90% water.
By following these tips, you can feel a significant improvement in body temperature and comfort this summer.
Remember that our ancestors survived without air conditioning once, so if they were able to do it, so can we (within reason).
Air conditioning certainly still has its place. Please note that if you do not keep yourself cool enough amid high ambient temperatures, there is always a risk of developing heat exhaustion that is dangerous for your health. This can lead to heat stroke in extreme cases which is fatal.
There are also benefits of air conditioning, literally conditioning the air indoors.
We hope you have found these tips useful. Our Expert Team at Ice Blast certainly considers many of these factors when customizing conditioning recommendations, including type of lighting installed, use of appliances and heat load, door and window position and their ability to open or close, blind and curtain type, and fan position and usage.
It is recommended to contact an indoor climate expert if any further climate adjustments are required in your home or business.
