If you live in a hot country such as India or another where Summer is coming soon you will know the joys of blue skies and sunshine but also how uncomfortable it can sometimes get.
Visitors to Goa during April through May will discover that it is not the coolest time to visit and spare a thought for the poor British who always seem to suffer during any unseasonal heatwave.
Many people will love any chance to embrace the sun and will take themselves to swimming pools or the sea to cool down. These are the perfect opportunities for BBQs, picnics, and boat trips on the nearest river.
However, no matter how much you might love sunny hot weather, there are limits, and there are also times when your home can feel unbearably stuffy, humid, and uncomfortable.
This is the time when it is good to have a few ideas handy for cooling down your room or office.
Why is it important to keep cool
You may think that being too hot at home or work is uncomfortable and an inconvenience. It can affect your sleep and your energy levels but in the end, it’s the price to pay for having good weather.
The truth is, overheating is dangerous and you can even suffer heat stroke indoors if your core temperature goes over 40 degrees Celsius. Babies and the elderly are more prone to this type of heat stroke but it can affect anyone, especially in a work environment.
Symptoms of heat stroke include nausea, diarrhea, dizziness, excessive sweating, and extreme sleepiness. At its most extreme, heat stroke can cause severe changes in a person’s mental state, seizures, and even coma.
Fortunately for most people, a hot home or workplace means discomfort, but nonetheless it is important to know how to cool down different areas with different methods.
Cooldown your office
Since the pandemic hit the world, working in the office for many actually means working from home. Wherever your office is it may be likely that you will spend several hours there every day. The last thing you want is to sit there with sweat pouring down your back and struggling to concentrate.
Fortunately, these days the home office has a ton of gadgets available and these include desk fans.
Desk fans in these modern times don’t need to resemble inferior models from the past. Nowadays there are some cutting-edge, efficient models on the market. When you want to know how to circulate air in a room, some of these fans can definitely help.
If your budget can stand it and you spend too long in the office then the Dyson Air Multiplier that promises to circulate air throughout a room for only about $270.
If you prefer something with a smaller price tag then there are many desktop fans and air circulators available for far more modest budgets.
Cooling down rooms at home
If you are lucky you may have a house designed for maximum cross-ventilation otherwise you will have to create your own way to cool down.
There are many simple things you can do to cool off in hot weather; take a cold shower, open all the windows, put a damp sheet in front of a window so the air cools as it flows through.
All of these will help but when the heat is getting a bit too much you need some more effective ideas. There are plenty of options available to fit all budgets luckily and here are some of them.
Environmentally friendly and inexpensive ways to cool down a home
There are a lot of simple tips and methods for cooling down rooms that either cost little money, no money or may even save you money!
Here are a few you can try which will have a positive effect on your room’s temperature.
Switch off appliances on standby
When appliances are left plugged in they use up phantom or so-called vampire power. This is energy that is siphoned off silently without any results to show for it. Research has shown that up to 10% of household energy bills could be caused by not unplugging appliances.
As electrical appliances have advanced, manufacturers have gotten better at making devices more energy efficient but it is still worth unplugging them. Not only will you save money but you will reduce the heat given off and help to lower the temperature.
Don’t use the oven
For that matter don’t use the dishwasher, washing machine, tumble dryer, or other heat expending appliances. Use the hot weather to give the BBQ a chance to be used and eat al fresco.
If it is so hot that you are looking for ways to cool down then you definitely won’t need the tumble dryer, and try and hold off from using other appliances until you really need to as they all give off large amounts of heat.
Keep the windows closed in the day
If you are out or can leave windows closed, do so. Opening windows in the daytime lets in humidity and heat. If you leave it until the evenings to open them your house should be cooler.
When you need the bigger guns
Sometimes all the tricks in the world just won’t cool down a room and you need to search for more methods or get something a bit more powerful in. This means fans, air conditioners, and even HVAC systems.
Try out some different fans
The most common way to cool a room while remaining fairly eco-friendly is the fan. Try fitting ceiling fans for a low-tech solution to cool rooms. You can also get a bit creative by putting ice in a container in front of a fan. This will cool down the air as it passes over the ice.
There are also portable air conditioners that are filled with ice and these can effectively cool a single room.
Air conditioning units
As mentioned above, you can get portable air conditioners of different types. The portability means you don’t need to fit air-con into different rooms, you can just move the a/c unit with you.
However, if your needs are a little more then having air-conditioning installed is one of the most effective ways to cool down any room quickly.
Ductless HVAC systems
HVAC stands for heating ventilation and air conditioning, and these systems can be expensive but when your house is situated in Delhi or Mumbai in May then this may be the system you need. A ductless system won’t just effectively cool a room, they can be fitted so a whole house or several rooms are cooled down.
Cooling yourself down
If you can’t get your room cool enough then there are a few ways you can reduce your body temperature or trick it into cooling down.
Try the following tricks:
- Drink hot tea – the tea raises your core temperature which in turn makes you sweat and may make you lose more heat than you took in
- Peppermint essential oil – spray this lightly on the skin to make you feel cooler in hot weather
- Wear light natural materials – light material, light coloring, and natural materials all help to keep you cool
- Eat spicy foods – spicy dishes can help increase circulation and heat receptors in the mouth will make you sweat and thus cool down
Summary
There are many ways to cool a room. Reduce usage of heat polluting appliances, turn off any standby devices such as monitors, or laptops, open windows to create a cross-breeze, and if all else fails reach for the air-con remote.
