Keeping your home cool

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Here in Fife, we are more used to turning up the thermostat to keep our homes warm than trying to cool things down. However, over the last few years, we’ve started to see summers bringing us more consistent warmer weather. With these more frequent warmer days, many of us find our traditional homes, which are built to keep the heat in, are becoming uncomfortably warm and stuffy.

You don’t need to invest in an expensive air conditioning unit to keep your home cool. In this guide, we’ll discuss some of the practical, affordable steps you can take to keep your home comfortable and keep your energy costs low.

 

Managing the Sunshine

The most effective way to keep your home cool is to stop the heat from getting inside in the first place. It can be tempting to open your windows during those warm, sunny days, but when the sun is beaming in, it can create a ‘greenhouse effect’ that amplifies the warmth in your home. Take these simple steps to keep that unwanted heat out;

  • If a window gets the sun, make sure to keep curtains and blinds closed through daylight hours
  • When it’s warmer outside than in, keep your windows and doors shut; opening them will only let the warmer air in
  • Once the sun goes down, and it’s cooler outside than in, you can safely open your windows to allow the warm air that’s built up to escape, and let the cool air in
  • Keep your trickle vents open to allow a steady flow of fresh air into the home throughout the day and night

If you’ve not already considered installing thermal curtains in your home, which, in addition to helping to keep the heat out in the summer, can help to keep it in during the winter too.

 

Using Fans

Electric fans don’t actually cool down the air; they just move it around to create a “windchill effect” on your skin. While they won’t have any impact on cooling down your home, they can help keep you cool and move the air around your home to where you want it.

You can use a fan to create a cross-breeze, pushing cooler air indoors and taking warm air out. For example, if you have a north-facing window letting in cool air, you could point a fan facing away from this window into the rest of the house, then in a south-facing room, have another fan pointing towards the open window, pushing the heat out.

If you want to improve on the cooling effect of your fan, consider placing a bowl of cool or iced water in front of it.

 

Avoid adding extra heat

You can generate a surprising amount of heat in your home without realising it, through the everyday use of appliances.

Rethink your cooking; ovens and hobs can emit a huge amount of heat into your kitchen. On hot days, try to stick to meals that don’t require an oven or opt for appliances that use less energy, like microwaves or slow cookers.

You can make the most of the warm day outdoors and hang your washing out to dry. Your tumble dryer uses a lot of heat to dry your laundry, which ends up in your home.

Appliances running on standby will use a little bit of energy to keep running, and all emit that energy as waste heat. Making sure everything is switched off that doesn’t need to be on is a no-hassle step to take.

 

Open the hatch

Is the heat still too much? Opening up your loft hatch is a surprisingly effective way to cool your home. It gives warm, trapped air a natural escape route out of your home, helping to bring the temperature down indoors.

 

Insulation check

Insulation isn’t just useful for the winter, improving the insulation in your home will also help to keep the heat out of your home in the summer. Having a well-insulated home will help keep out the heat on those warm, sunny days.

There may be grants available to insulate your home, you can find out more about these in our grants and funding guide.

 

Staying safe at home

A home that’s too warm can lead to ill-health, especially if you have health issues. It’s important for everyone to take simple steps to stay well and hydrated, including keeping well hydrated throughout the day.

Taking a cool shower can also help you cool down after a long day, with the added benefit of a cheaper shower as you’re not using as much electricity to heat up the water.

 

Get Advice

Would you like more information on managing your energy use at home? Contact our Energy Advisors for free and impartial advice.

Our energy advisors can be contacted by: