Holy shenanigans, it’s hot out, already. It’s only the start of June, but it feels like the end of July out there. While our a/c is on, we don’t like to run it constantly. I hate the feeling of it, my husband hates how much electricity it eats up, we both don’t like the environmental consequences of it. When the days scoot into the 40s, though? We end up turning that bad boy on, but usually not until the late afternoon or early evening. Why? Because we’ve learned how to keep our house cool during the day so that it only hits 22/23 degrees at around 4pm. And then, we keep it at that temperature and take it down in the evenings.
That being said, if you have a/c, don’t be a fool. If it’s too damn hot in your house, turn it on. No one needs to die because of too much heat.
Learn to Acclimate
This is for all of those who have an a/c, but wish to cut down on their use. Those who don’t, have no choice but to acclimate to the weather. We keep the a/c at 22/23 degrees to keep ourselves comfortable, but not freezing inside. It’s hot outside, but who wants to step into an ice box? It makes your body feel weird and gives me headaches, changing from such intense temperatures so damn fast. So, we’ve acclimated. The first hot day of the year usually gets me cranking the a/c up, but after that, it feels normal to have my house in the low 20s. Besides, stepping in from 40 degree weather outside still feels refreshing.
Use your Furnace Fan
You may not even need to use the a/c if you’ve a furnace. Click on the fan only and it’ll take the cold air from the basement and move it around and upstairs. This works so well when the basement is cold that it has taken my house temperature down a couple of degrees. Much better than just a personal fan.
Fans
That being said, having a few personal fans is the only way to get through a heat wave. Think about installing ceiling fans in your bedrooms, and even your living room if it gets hot in there! Coupled with open windows during the cooler evenings, it can bring your house temperature right down, moving the cool air into the house, if fans are placed strategically near windows.
In my first apartment, we only had a window box a/c unit. It got the place cold, but only the living room and the kitchen. Our bedrooms were left to become hot boxes unless we wanted to freeze in the living room and leave that damn a/c on 24/7. Ice packs and wet towels in front of the fan helped a bit to keep me cool, but I’m not going to lie, it’s not an amazing option.
Open the windows at night to cool the house down.
This is the big reason as to why we rarely have to use our a/c. We just open our windows up at night. All of them. The house can sometimes go down to 16 degrees on cooler nights, which is great because it ends up being 27 by 11am outside the next day. Once you’re leaving for work, close them all up! If you’re not leaving, keep an eye on the temperature of the house and outside.
Use Curtains to your Benefit
Shut your drapes/blinds when the sun hits. You and your plants may not like total darkness, so close them during the hottest times of the day when the sun is beating on your house. That means different curtains get closed in my house depending on where the sun is in the sky. We can usually leave the ones facing east open in the morning as the sun isn’t as hot yet, but not so for the other part of the house. We have a big window that faces west, so when that afternoon sun hits – look out – it can melt you. Leave a bit open to have some sunshine peaking through if you need a little boost or are trying to read indoors.
Don’t Use the Oven
Or anything that will heat up the house. Stick to cold meals, or use the BBQ when it gets hot as hell out there. And, why yes, you can bake cookies on the BBQ.
