Staying cool in the summer can feel like a full-time job sometimes. Not to mention the high utility costs of pumping your
air conditioning day-in and day-out. If you're in need of some respite from the summer heat, keep reading for tips on other ways you can cool your home off in the summer.
Sleeping arrangements
If the heat is keeping you up at night, try this: when you get out of bed in the morning, grab your blanket and hang it up in the coolest room of your house or apartment and leave it there. Right before going to bed for the night, put them back on your bed and voila! Instant relief.
A waterbed can also help keep you cool in the summer heat. Water conducts and absorbs heat more than air, so like the pool in your backyard, it will feel cool pretty much year-round.
Another tip to cool off at night--sleep sans-blanket! An easy fix to your overheating at night problem. You might be one of those people who needs the safety of a blanket at night to protect you from monsters, so a thin sheet should be enough to keep you safe AND cool.
Water, water everywhere!
Drinking water to stay hydrated is not only important in the summer for health reasons, but it will also help keep you cool. Drinking water regularly will help cool your body down and will help you stay comfortable for hours to come. Try to drink at least eight ounces of water every hour to help keep you feeling cool during the summertime heat.
Keep your blinds closed
Unwanted heat often comes from windows, so utilizing your blinds and curtains can help
lower indoor temperatures by nearly 20 percent. Drawing the curtains during the day will prevent your house from becoming a greenhouse, essentially. So when you leave for work in the morning, make sure you close the blinds to keep your home nice and cool for when you return.
Night air, is the best air
When you settle in for the night, crack a few windows open and let the nighttime breeze come into your home. Temperatures drop significantly overnight so it's like built-in air conditioning. If you have windows across from each other you'll be able to achieve optimal cross-breeze status and sleep soundly all night.
If you don't have enough windows, stabilize a fan in the window,
BUT WAIT! Don't face it so it blows toward you, instead face it so it sucks the hot air from inside and blows it outside.
DIY air conditioner
Did you know you can build your own air conditioner out of a bucket, a fan and some PVC pipes? Yes. It's possible, and you'll feel like MacGuyver as you bask in the glory of your air conditioned room.
What you'll need:
- a bucket with a lid (or other container large enough to hold 2 or 3 gallon jugs)
- PVC pipes, you'll need at least two lengths about six inches long and a few inches wide
- small desk fan - about 8 to 10 inches in diameter
- Styrofoam to insulate the bucket
Directions:
- Put either two or three gallons of water in the freezer and allow them to freeze completely.
- Grab the bucket and trace a circle around the fan into the lid (this is where you'll cut). Make the hole about a inch smaller in diameter than the fan so that it will sit easily on top of the bucket.
- On the barrel of the bucket, trace the perimeters of the PVC pipes.
- Once all the circles are marked, begin cutting the holes out.
- When the holes are cut, insert the PVC pipe pieces into the front holes. Adjust the holes if necessary.
- Put your frozen jugs of water inside the bucket and put the lid on.
- Place the fan face down on the lid and turn it on.
- Bask in the cool air.
All GIFs provided by giphy.com.