Keeping Your Room Cool
If you rent a property, there’s a chance that the unit doesn’t have an air conditioning system. And even if you are fortunate to have AC, you may still want to cut down on your energy costs and save money cooling your space. After all, if you live in a particularly hot climate, AC can make up 60-70% of your electric bill in the summer. Turning it off has the potential to save you over $200 a year.
If this is the case though, especially in the summer months, it can be difficult to keep from sweating in your own home. The good news is that there are many alternatives to air conditioning that can bring down the temperature in your rental so you can fight off the heat and enjoy cooler air.
How to Cool Down a Room Without AC
If your home doesn’t have an air conditioner, you’re probably desperately searching for suggestions for how to cool down a room. Heat can make it difficult to focus or be productive, and on top of that, it’s simply uncomfortable. For this reason, we’ve compiled a list of six different tips for how to cool a room without AC.
1. Open Your Windows Late at Night and Early in the Morning
If you live somewhere where temperatures tend to drop in the evening, one of the best ways to cool down a room is to open your windows late at night after the sun goes down or early in the morning before the sun comes back up. This allows you to create a cross-breeze and let the cool night air into your room. If your windows are higher up, it’s even easier for the warm air inside to be pulled outside, away from you.
In the morning, make sure to close your windows back up before the temperature begins to rise for the day. That way, you can trap the cool air inside — for free!
2. Invest in Blackout Curtains
In contrast with opening your windows at night, you should keep them closed and covered during the day, even if you’re someone who enjoys the sunshine. Obviously, leaving your windows open on a hot day will let hot air into your home, but even with the windows shut, sunshine makes a significant difference in the air temperature of your room.
If your windows have blinds, you should keep them closed during the day to keep out the heat, but it’s a good idea to invest in curtains, too. Blackout curtains are a great choice because they’re made from thicker material that both absorbs heat and bounces some of the rays back outside to efficiently cool your space. These curtains alone can reduce the amount of heat coming in through your windows by up to 24%.
3. Adjust Your Ceiling Fan for the Season
If you have a ceiling fan, it may seem like an easy fix to keep it running often in place of AC. If it doesn’t feel like it’s working like it did a few months ago, though, you may need to adjust your ceiling fan for the current season. Ceiling fans have two modes: clockwise and counterclockwise. In summer, ceiling fans should move counterclockwise to create a breeze in your room that improves the air circulation and cools you off. In the winter, however, the fan is built to move in the opposite direction, clockwise, to push the warm air down from the ceiling and warm you up.
If your ceiling fan feels like it’s not helping pull cool air in (or is making the problem worse), check which direction it’s spinning in and change the settings if necessary to keep your house cool instead of mistakenly heating it up.
4. Decrease the Humidity
Another way to beat the heat is to decrease the humidity in your apartment. If you live in a humid climate, you may have heard the phrase, “It’s not the heat, it’s just the humidity.” There is some truth to this — humidity is often the factor that makes us feel hotter and sweatier on hot days because it produces thick, damp air. When you sweat, you become dehydrated more quickly in addition to being simply uncomfortable by a high body temperature. This can make it unbearable even just to walk around your house.
But how can you combat this? The easiest way to get rid of some of the moisture in the air is to purchase a dehumidifier. A dehumidifier won’t reduce the temperature of your space like a fan would, but it will eliminate some of the humidity in the room so your body can more easily regulate itself and cool you down. If you live in an area with a high percentage of humidity in the air on a regular basis, it’s smart to invest in a dehumidifier to keep your home more comfortable.
5. Sleep Low to the Ground
As mentioned in some of the other ideas on this list, heat naturally rises. You may have noticed this when changing a lightbulb or painting while standing on a ladder. The closer you are to the ceiling, the warmer you’ll be.
This concept also applies to your sleep. If you have a loft bed that’s closer to the ceiling or a tall bed frame, you’ll feel the effects of the heat in your room more than if you sleep lower to the ground, where cold air is sinking. Consider switching to a shorter bed frame or moving your mattress to the floor entirely to stay as cool as possible when you sleep.
6. Unplug Your Tech
While this method isn’t as obvious, it’s just as important. You may have heard of standby power, also known as “vampire power.” This concept refers to energy wasted by your technology (think TVs, computers, microwaves) when it is plugged in but not in use. Standby power not only increases your energy bill, but also emits heat. Ever reached to unplug a device from a charger and it was hot to the touch? That wasted energy used by idle technology is converted into heat, which can eventually affect the warmth of your house.
Additionally, lightbulbs often give off more heat than you might imagine, especially when left on for long periods. Keeping lights off when not in use can help cool your room without AC, especially when using LED lights. It’s smart to switch to energy-efficient lighting because it emits less heat and saves you extra money on your energy bill each month.
While the heat coming from your technology and lightbulbs is minimal, it all adds up, so it’s best to take precautions to keep your room cool without AC.
Conclusion
With these recommendations at your fingertips, you’re well-equipped to beat the heat in your home and stay cool despite the summer sun. You can still keep your home cool in the summer, regardless of whether you have air conditioning in your unit, and all while prioritizing energy efficiency and conservation. Try a mix of some or all these suggestions for how to cool down a room without AC (and save time, money, and energy in the process).
