Four Ways To Keep Your Home Cool Without Wasting Any Electricity

When you look at any articles teaching you how to keep your home cool, they all start with the same point. 

“Install an HVAC system” or “Put some fans on”. 

While both ideas are good and will work, there’s one tiny problem – they use lots of electricity. We live in a world where homeowners are paying way more than ever before. The cost of home ownership is really high, and rising energy prices are part of this. To make matters worse, you spend all winter using your heating system, so when the summer comes around you want to give your electricity a rest. 

Well, you’re about to see four ways to do just that! Here are some ideas to help you keep your house cool without wasting any electricity: 

Install heat-reflecting windows

Heat-reflecting windows do exactly as advertised: they reflect heat away from your home, keeping it cool. 

This works thanks to a special type of glass that allows light in but reflects heat out. It’s perfect for the summer when there’s lots of hot weather, ensuring your home doesn’t overheat. If you’re due some windows replacement, this is a fantastic idea to upgrade your home at the same time. 

Those of you that already have fairly new windows could consider some heat-reflecting window film instead. It sticks to your windows and does a similar job, but slightly less effectively. You will still notice a difference, but heat-reflecting windows are the better option of the two. 

Close your curtains or blinds

You don’t have to close them all the way, but slightly closing curtains/blinds can keep your home cooler. It stops the sunlight from beating down on your rooms and keeps things nicely shaded. You can get some nice summer curtains or blinds that are thinner than normal and allow a decent bit of light through still. 

As such, your rooms won’t be plunged into total darkness, but they’ll still be shaded from the sunlight. Try this before you leave the house every day and you’ll notice an immediate difference when you get back. It will no longer feel like you’re living in a sauna – your house will actually feel quite cool. Plus, a nice set of curtains or blinds can help increase your home’s exterior appeal, so that’s a neat bonus. 

Switch to a hard flooring type

Hard floorings are extremely stylish yet very practical around the home. If your house is covered in carpet, it’s going to be really warm. Carpet fibers trap heat in and insulate your home really effectively. That’s great news in the winter, but not so much in the summer. 

If you replace your carpets with different hard flooring types – like tiles, laminate flooring, vinyl, or hardwood – you’ll see a dramatic change. These floors don’t retain heat and can be cold to the touch. That’s perfect when you’re trying to keep your home cool! Less heat gets retained and the whole house feels much cooler. It also feels brilliant when it’s hot and you walk around barefoot on hard floors. 

Moreover, it’s much easier to prepare hard flooring for the colder months. You can easily lay down some big thick rugs that trap heat in and add some insulation to the floors. You’re also able to put on thicker socks when you walk around. It’s much harder to cool down a house with carpeted flooring, which is why hard flooring is better for temperature control. 

Install radiant barriers

This may sound fancy, but it’s a common home cooling technique recommended by the government. Radiant barriers are reflective materials typically installed on the inside of your roof. They work by reflecting radiant heat back away from your house. 

You see, when the sun shines on your roof, heat conducts through the roofing material into the roof. The roof is now really hot on the attic side, so it radiates heat down and the rest of your home starts getting warm. A radiant barrier can prevent this from happening – or at least reduce radiant heat conduction. 

The result is a much cooler attic space, which translates to a way cooler home. If you can keep your roof cool, then the rest of your house should follow suit. 

Next time someone tells you to whack your AC up high or buy an expensive home fan to keep cool, you can refer back to these four ideas. All of them are extremely effective at regulating temperatures and stopping your house from overheating. No electricity needs to be used at all, saving money on your summer energy bills.