Summer Proof Your Home: Engineering Comfort in High Temperatures

During the summer, you want a space that keeps you cool and allows you to relax without having to worry about overheating or feeling uncomfortable due to being too warm. Especially in countries that don’t usually have built-in air conditioning like the UK, when the summer months finally bring the heat it can make for a really muggy home environment. This has led to many homeowners looking for the best solution to keep their space cooler when the sun is glaring.

You might think opening the windows will allow the breeze to enter the home and cool you down, but this can actually give you the opposite effect. This is because you might be letting more of the heat from the inside into your home and this will make the space muggier. If you do open any windows, keeping the blinds or curtains shut can help filter the air better. However, there are much more effective ways to keep the home cool during the summer months.

We’ll explore the best solutions for warm weather in the home, as we give you tips and tricks to keep it feeling cool during the summer. Continue reading to find out more about how to improve your home.

How to Keep Home Cool in the Summer

Encourage Air Flow

The air flow within the home can improve your comfort, reduce humidity and lower energy bills, especially when the weather is warmer outside. Strategically opening windows and doors rather than leaving them wide open can be effective, such as opening them on opposite sides of your home to create a clear path for air to flow through so it doesn’t all get stuck within your rooms. 

Sometimes, making the inlet opening slightly smaller than the outlet opening can increase the velocity of the air flowing through the room, creating a stronger breeze. You should also make sure that obstructions aren’t blocking the direct path between open windows or doors.

C.H.R.I.S Technology

Your conservatory can be one of the most effective areas of the home for staying cool in the summer and warm in the winter. This can be improved with conservatory conversions with CI Group offering C.H.R.I.S technology that has been specifically designed to help you get better temperature control within your home extension. It works by using materials like true aluminium foil, thermowadding membrane and vapour control membrane that all help reflect more light.

Not all homes have a conservatory, of course, so before you should consider all the benefits of getting one installed onto your home to give you a better understanding of the C.H.R.I.S system and similar smart building technology.

Improve Air Conditioning

As mentioned, air conditioning isn’t common in countries like the UK but it is slowly growing in popularity due to summer temperature records being broken more regularly in Britain. It’s become more affordable throughout the years and can be installed without much hassle, as they now no longer require to be drilled in your walls. Portable air conditioners have made it much more attainable and can effectively cool the home during the summer months.

Localising the area you’re cooling can also help you save on your energy bills, as rather than turning on your air conditioning for the whole house you can take your portable air conditioner to the room where you need it to be active. By this time, most of the heat will be taken out of the room and leave just the coolness to enjoy.

Use Reflective Window Film

Reflective window film is a highly effective, relatively low-cost and easy-to-install solution for keeping your home cooler in the summer. It works by addressing solar radiation, the primary way heat enters your home through windows. The film has a specialised metallic or ceramic coating that acts like a mirror to a portion of the sun’s energy to help prevent your home from overheating, so you can have a more relaxing space.

When sunlight hits the window, the film bounces a significant amount of the infrared (heat) and ultraviolet (UV) radiation back outside before it can pass through the glass. This prevents the heat from ever entering your living space.

Extractor Fan Usage

Extractor fans can help cool a home by removing hot, stale air and potentially drawing in cooler, fresh air. You can strategically use extractor fans to create airflow and reduce indoor temperatures to help you with managing the summer heat when it gets too unbearable. Some smart home technology extractor fans have smart features that can adjust their operation based on air quality and occupancy to better enhance the air flow in the home.

You can also focus on cooling specific areas like the bathroom or kitchen by strategically using extractor fans in conjunction with open windows, such as venting heat from these rooms in the evening. If you know you’re going to be spending a prolonged period of time in a specific room, you should turn on the extractor fan around an hour before accessing it for the best results.

Choose Effective Window Coverings

Interior and exterior coverings can help with temperature management in the home, as they can be fit snugly within or over the window frame to minimise gaps where heat can leak in or out. Automated or smart blinds can be programmed to adjust based on temperature or time of day, offering hands-free efficiency so you don’t need to open or close them manually and keep tabs on what the heats at its heaviest.

Awnings are highly effective for blocking out the sunlight before it hits the windows, which results in large reduction in solar heat gain. This rises up to 65% for south-facing windows and 77% for west-facing windows depending on the size and thickness of the awning. You can also get a lighter colour awning for higher effectiveness.

House Plants

Biophilic home design has many benefits to both your physical and mental wellbeing, including improved productivity, enhanced focus and better sleep. However, one of the most underrated benefits of incorporating more house plants into your home is that it improves air circulation and can actually make your home cooler. Plants go through transpiration, which results in the water taken in by the plant being sweated out and therefore making the space properly perspirated.

Aloe vera, snake plants, pothos, ficus trees and Chinese evergreen are all plants that are known to improve air flow in the home and make it cooler during the summer. They all release significant cool moisture into the air and reduce the heat significantly over time.