Keep Cool this Summer without your A/C

Image by goblinbox_(queen_of_ad_hoc_bento) via Flickr

Now that summer has really started to heat up outside it’s important to keep cool inside. While you can drink water to quickly cool yourself down, keeping your house cool without constantly running the A/C is a little harder. Here are 4 ways to keep your house nice and comfortable for your family this Minnesota summer:

Change your sheets

Nice cotton sheets will help keep you a lot cooler than flannel or fleece sheets while you sleep. You can also try a buckwheat pillow. They are naturally colder because of the air space in the buckwheat hull.

 Open Windows Strategically

By directing the air in your house you can create a nice cross breeze right through your living room. If you have windows on both sides of a room try opening one a couple of inches on the bottom and the window across the room a couple of inches on the top. Wind will naturally filter through cooling the room.

You can also do this with your whole house by opening a downstairs window on the shady side of the house. Then open a window in another room on a higher floor. The hot air will rise and leave through the window while the cool air will come in through the downstairs window.

 

Make sure your house is well insulated

While many people think about insulation during the winter, a well-insulated house will also stay cooler in the summer. The cold air stays in and the hot outside air doesn’t have any ways to creep in. With a well-insulated house it’s important not to heat it from the inside. Try cooking outside or making a crockpot meal instead of using the oven on a hot summer afternoon.

Make your ceiling fans turn the other way.

You can switch your ceiling fans to rotate counter-clockwise. Adjusting them this way and then running them at a higher speed creates a wind-chill effect and keeps you and your family cooler.