9 simple tips for how to keep house cool in heatwave

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Summer is upon us and with that comes the need to keep our living arrangements cool in heatwaves. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen some record summer temperatures, at least here in Canada. With temperatures sitting in the 40C mark for 4-5 days at a time with little to no respite in the evening. With this increased temperature the demand for how to keep house cool in heatwave has risen. We’ve lived in apartments with and without AC, and now our house which didn’t have air conditioning when we moved in but now it does (thankfully!). So, over the years, I’ve learned a couple of tips and tricks for keeping spaces cool with and without air conditioning units.

Let’s dive into how to keep your house cool this summer.

Keep blinds and curtains closed

One of the most effective ways to keep the heat out is to simply not let the sun inside. How you might ask? Well, keep your windows covered with blinds, curtains, or covers to help the sun from shining inside the window and heating up your house. If you still love some natural light in your house, without heating it up you can purchase Louvered Blinds or Honeycomb Blinds. They reduce glare and summer heat from entering your home but provide natural light through the shade. You can also invest in some Black Out curtains as they can help with keeping light and heat out during the summer, this will provide you with a super dark room and no natural light.

Keep windows closed on hot days

Keeping your windows closed on hot days is a great way to keep your space cooler. When you open the windows it can increase the heat in your house. However, if the home/apartment is warmer than the outside temperature then yes opening your windows makes sense. In most cases in the summer a home or apartment will likely be cooler than the outside temperature, so keeping windows closed to keep the heat out can be a big help. This also can reduce an increased humidity in your living space which can make your space feel gross and wet. As well, for those like myself who are triggered by migraine attacks from humidity, this is helpful with health! If possible, double-pane windows are the best option for keeping the heat out in the summer. These simple tips of keep house cool close windows can help keep the heat out!

House Plants to keep your home cool

Yes, that’s right the types of house plants you choose to keep indoors can help with keeping your home cool this summer. Here are 5 house plants that you can have around your space that will help with how to keep house cool in a heatwave.

1. Snake Plant (Sansevieria)
2. Rubber Plant (Ficus Elastica)
3. Weeping Fig ( Ficus Benjamina)
4. Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema)
5. Palms (Arecaceae)

Having these plants scattered around your living quarters can be helpful in keeping your home cool in the summer. These are also a great environmentally friendly option for how to cool off a house compared to fans and air conditioning (although they’re not nearly as powerful with cooling!). Plants also make great new home owner gifts for folks!

Using Ceiling Fans

Ceiling fans are a great way to get cooler air around your space. This is perfect for folks with and without air conditioners and is a simple way to help with achieving a cool home. To cool your home using ceiling fans it’s important to know about the direction the fan is going. When it comes to how to cool down your house in the summer you want to ensure your ceiling fan is set to counter clockwise direction. Why? This pushes air down and creates a cool breeze that helps you with keeping your house cool in the summer. Be sure to give them a dust-off before operating them.

Using fans

Don’t have a ceiling fan but still want to figure out how to keep house cool in heatwave? You can pick up some standing fans, or desk fans. Fans come in various sizes and are a great way to cool off a house. I always opt when purchasing a fan to get one that oscillates to help with blowing cooling air all over the space and helps with how to cool your home. Just make sure to dust off your fans to keep them clean, and to turn them off when not in use.

If you have a portable air conditioning unit in one part of the house but wondering how to cool the hottest room in the house (without AC). You can put a fan near the edge of the AC room that blows the AC air to other parts of the house to help with how to keep cool in a hot house that isn’t fully air-conditioned.

Use Air Conditioning

One of the most efficient (and quickest) ways to keep a house cool in extreme heat is using Air Conditioning. This could be a portable unit, window unit, ductless, or whole home AC. Typically AC works quickly to cool off house from heat, however, it’s also not an energy-efficient way to deal with the heat. Ensure to have your air conditioning units serviced (if applicable) to help them run efficiently and effectively. We have ductless AC so we are able to cool our home in zones and don’t need to cool the entire house during a heatwave. If you’ve got it, or the option for it I would recommend keeping house cool in extreme heat with ac when possible.

Sealing Gaps

Do you have small or large gaps around your doors or window frames? This could be letting heat in the summer months, and cool air in winter months. Seal up those gaps to help keep the hot air out, and your cooler temperature in your space. Not only will this keep cool air inside easier, but it will help you with saving money on heating and cooling costs! Not sure how to seal gaps around your doors, take a look at this simple video to help you learn how to DIY sealing your doors and windows.

Open Windows in the Evening

If the temperature is dropping in the evening or overnight, you can open windows to naturally let your space cool off. Just remember that the outside temperature should be lower than your home/apartment temperature first to help it stay cool. This is one of the main ways we learned how to keep apartment cool during heat wave when we had one a couple of years ago. If it’s not cooling down overnight, be sure to keep windows and doors closed and use other methods for cooling.

Lightbulbs

Your lightbulbs might be the culprit of additional heat in your space. Most places have phased out incandescent lightbulbs, but some do exist places! These can produce heat and can contribute heat to space (not to mention aren’t nice on your electricity bill!). Swap those out for some LEDs to help with not adding additional heat to your space. As well keep off light bulbs when you can, even the most energy-efficient LEDs will still produce a small amount of heat. Try to use natural light when possible, in the summer months.

Using heat-producing appliances

Heat-producing appliances can cause so much heat to be in your space and when it’s a heatwave believe me you don’t need that. Take for example the oven, when planning your week and doing meal planning make sure to try to reduce oven cooking time or stop using it altogether (during the heatwave). Maybe you can cook on the BBQ that week more often, or use other appliances and cooking tools that use less heat. The same goes for my hair dryer, on warmer days I style it for air drying as turning on my hair heat tools can be horrible! These small changes can help you learn how to keep the house cool in summer by making small changes ahead of time.