filed under Environment
Tricks for keeping the house cool in this damn heat wave.
7:40PM ON
06/10/2008
BY
funkEpunkEmonkE
I recently saw a photo of outdoor material covering the door of a home in Italy, with the caption that it keeps the house cool. Great! I thought, and went out to by some material…didn’t work - so I’ve googled my brains out and came up with some good advice to keeping your house cool and prevent you from sudden death while saving on the electric bill (meaning, you don’t have to turn on the a.c.). Here goes:
Run your dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, and other heat generating appliances at night, when it’s generally cooler. Better yet, ditch the dryer all together and use a clothes line. Your whites will never be whiter, and the sun provides a natural antibacterial quality you won’t get in detergents.
Make sure you have the BEST light blocking shades on the South and West windows. I take it a step further and shade them all during the day. Also, keep your windows closed until about 8 pm to combat the heat and humidity. If you don’t want to close the windows, grab a squirt bottle and spray down the curtains. They cool the house naturally as they dry.
A bowl of ice in front of a fan works just like an air conditioner, but much cheaper.
Put your window fans downwind and facing out to create a cross breeze. I do this at night. Think - the breeze is sucked in and through the house.
For something a little less conventional in the Northeast, you can hang tightly woven bamboo shades OUTSIDE the windows and prevent any heat from even getting to the windows in the first place.
Use a ceiling fan - it consumes 90% less energy and will still get you cool.
Any of you readers have a method you’ve been using to keep cool this week?
Above: Italians keep cool in the hot summer months by closing the famous wooden shutters on their windows, often giving the impression that nobody is home. But they also drape their open doors with exterior curtains, to keep out the afternoon sun and heat and let in the breeze. This age-old, green remedy helps combat high electricity rates and a general lack of air conditioning. - Apartment Therapy
June 10th, 2008 at 9:12PM
kendall Says:
You’re supposed to wet the curtain. As the wind blows, it causes condensation and makes the room cooler. Kind of like the same principle as an air conditioner.
[Reply]