Summer is a wonderful season in British Columbia, but the extreme heat is nobody’s favourite thing. Here are some tips for keeping your house cool in the summer heat without traditional AC.
How to keep your home cool during summer?
- Dehumidify. A dehumidifier helps remove excess moisture from the air, which leaves you feeling cooler even in hot temperatures. Buy one or save your money and jump to point 10 right away.
- Don’t cook or cook outdoors.
- Use ceiling fans – The Right Way. The base of your ceiling has a switch that changes the direction of the air flow. During the summer months, your ceiling fan should blow forward in a counter-clockwise direction, forcing air down and making you feel cooler.
- Use natural light and high efficiency lighting. 1oo watt light bulb can increase the heat by 11 degrees per hour.
- Plant shade. This takes some planning but will provide you great results. A tree in full bloom can block over 70% of solar radiation from entering your home. Shade providing plants in front of windows that receive the afternoon sun cool down your house. You may have to wait a few years for full effect.
- Shade your windows if completely dark house during the summer with all the shades closed doesn’t make you depressed. ?
- Vent the hot air out. Use stove top vents, bathroom and laundry room vents to dump hot, humid air.
- Invest in better insulation. Consider more energy efficient options for windows, doors and insulation.
- Get a cool roof. Most shingles are black because they are made out of tar. Cool Roofs are ones that reflect sunlight. One of the most affordable ways is to paint your roof with a light coloured paint specifically for roofs. Before you start rolling a paint brush, make sure this will not void your roof warranty.
- You can do all crazy things above, or simply install not traditional but innovational Ductless Heat Pumps we offer customers in Fraser Valley, BC, Check 7 Reasons to Go Ductless here.
