How to Cool Down A Room

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Looking to save a little money this summer? Who isn’t?! One of the easiest places to start your savings mission is with your air conditioning unit. Did you know that up to 70% of energy consumed in the summer can be related to AC use? Something that is easily prevented, if you know how to stay on top of your energy bill! We hope these tips help you and your family save big this summer!

For those hoping to save money this summer, one of the easiest places to start your is with your air conditioning unit. Did you know that up to 70% of the energy consumed in the summer can be related to AC use? This is something that is easily prevented if you know how to stay on top of your energy bill! To help you do just that, we hope these tips allow you and your family to save big this summer!

Here are 15 Ways to cool down your room

Are you hoping to save money on your electricity bills this summer? One of the easiest place to start is with your air conditioner! Did you know that up to 70% of the energy consumed in the summertime can be related to air conditioner use? Using your air conditioning more responsibly and efficiently is an easy habit to pick up and make a dramatic impact on your energy and money savings. Learn more about how to cool down a room in your home during the summer using the tips below.

15 Tips For How To Cool Down a Room

1. Temperature Control

While this may sound higher than expected, 78 degrees is the most recommended temperature for a home thermostat to be set to in the summer. On the flip side, this recommended temperature is actually ten degrees cooler at 68 degrees during the cooler months. Running things a bit warmer when it is hot outside and a bit colder during fall and winter will allow you to stay comfortable while saving both energy and money. Keep this in mind during the day, especially when no one is home – there’s no need to pump cool air into a room when there’s no one there to enjoy it! If you find the temperature is too warm or too cold for your liking in the evening, you can set your thermostat to automatically adjust it at a certain time by a few degrees. Better yet, you can use a ceiling fan to cool the room!

2. Keep Your Air Conditioner in the Shade

Shading your air conditioning unit can play a major role in helping to keep your home cool. This blocks out the warm air surrounding your system, which reduces the work it has to do when circulating cool air from outside into your home. In fact, this tactic can improve the overall efficiency of your air conditioner by up to 10%. Utilizing shade coverings to the entirety of your home can offer some surprising returns, totaling up to one or two hundred dollars each year. If it’s possible, locate your outside air conditioning units in shaded areas around your home. This will help the unit to run more efficiently and allow for a much cooler room.

3. Stay Open!

Contrary to popular thought, closing off AC vents in unused rooms can do more harm than good. When you close your air vents, you reduce the number of routes that air can travel and at the same time, the pressure that is used to circulate it throughout your home remains. This course of action can commonly be attributed to worsening or creating new leaks in the ductwork. This kind of damage will have to be repaired, costing you instead of saving you money as had been planned. Prevent yourself the headache of having to repair the ducts and keep the vents open.

4. Check for Leaks

As a follow up to the previous tip, you can make sure your room is cooling efficiently by hiring an expert to check for leakage in air conditioning ductwork. Excessive pressure brought on by sealing up vents, coupled with time, constitute the main culprits for leaking. If your home is over ten years old, your ductwork should be checked annually. Sealing leaks will allow you to improve the level of comfort in your home, and you’ll also be safer, more energy efficient, and will not have to pay as much money each month on your electric bill. If you inspect your ducts on your own, refrain from using tape to seal off leaks as this requires long-lasting measures meant to withstand pressure.

5. Close Your Blinds

Blinds, shades, and other window coverings have an aesthetic and functional benefit as they are able to block out a portion of the heat that enters our homes. During the warmer months, you can practice free room cooling by covering up your windows during the day. The effectiveness of your shades can be increased by purchasing light-colored blinds that reflect the sunlight. In the event your drapes are slightly darker, a light-colored backside will help cut down on the heat that they are able to distribute into the home. You can also shade your windows from the outside to further decrease the heat that is able to enter your home.

6. Use A Fan to Cool Your Room

Utilize a floor and/or ceiling fan for a cost-efficient way to cool down your home without using the air conditioner. However, there are some things to be aware of while they’re in use. While it feels as though floor and ceiling fans have the ability to decrease the temperature within our rooms, they are in actuality just circulating the air, and if your house is already warm, the man may just push around hot air. Instead of moving around hot air, point the fan out an open window so that it can push the hot air outside, allowing for cool air to move inside. Additionally, if you place a fan across from an open window you can create a cross breeze to cool off the room.

7. Change Out Your Light Bulbs

One lurking variable that often contributes to the heat we feel in our homes are the lights. Light bulbs illuminate our spaces but can also convert a considerable amount of the energy into heat. This is the case for less energy efficient bulbs, namely incandescents, which end up giving off ninety percent of their electricity as heat energy. To save energy and keep your rooms cool, switch to more efficient bulbs like compact fluorescents and LEDs. These bulbs last longer and ensure little hassle for you in the long run. As your current light bulbs burn out, replace them with efficient bulbs until you’ve gradually phased out your incandescent bulbs.

8. Cook Outside

Ovens and stoves can contribute to the spread of warmth across your home. Minimize the amount you use your oven by cooking outside to help cool down your home. Grilling allows you to keep heat from entering your home and has the added benefit of giving food a notably different taste. If it is colder outside or you want to stay inside for your food preparation, use the toaster oven or microwave. Both of these appliances use less energy than the oven and will be able to prepare your food quicker without the added bonus of creating unwanted heat within your home. 

9. Cool Your Pulse Points

Instead of manipulating your environment to cool things off, sometimes a simple personal adjustment is all it takes to beat the heat. Applying a cold towel to your wrists or neck can help lower your body temperature because these spots are pulse points that carry blood close to the surface of the skin. When cold water is applied to these spots, it can cool off the blood and body as well, allowing us to overcome the sensation of uncomfortable warmth.

10. Stay On Lower Levels

Something important to remember about heat is that it rises. As our homes heat up during the day, that warmth not only spreads throughout our rooms, but it also rises to higher levels. As a result, for those with an upstairs home office or those who spend time in rooms located on upper levels, feeling the effects of the heat may be much more prevalent. Simply retreating to the lower levels of your home, even for only a brief time, should help you feel more comfortable.

11. Keep from Snuggling

Cuddling at home with loved ones is often a common occurrence. However, if the goal is to cool down a room then it will have to stop since we exchange body heat when in close proximity to others. Though it may have been well-intended, keep a bit of distance while around others to prevent any undesired temperature increases while together in a room. During the winter however, snuggling is one of the easiest ways to raise body temperature.

12. Use the Freezer

While the freezer is responsible for keeping our food products cold, it can also be used to make a room feel a bit colder. This tip specifically relates to upper level bedrooms, as rising heat can create an uncomfortable environment and impair our ability to fall asleep. Instead of relying on paying for the use of room-cooling technology to lower the temperature, consider taking advantage of energy you are already consuming and place your sheets into the freezer just before bedtime. The temperature of the room and your body will gradually diminish the cold you feel, but it is capable of cooling things off just enough while you are still awake. Be sure to bag up your sheets before putting them into your freezer to keep them clean and smelling fresh.

13. Dress with Less

Instead of relying on an energy consuming device that can help to cool off a room, consider making a simple alteration to your attire. Dressing in short sleeves, shorts and  loose-fit clothing is an easy way to cool off while getting a bit more use out of your garments. You can even assign “around the house” clothes to hold onto some of your older yet breezier clothing items. At night you should opt for thinner, more breathable pajamas to feel cooler. Coupling this with a fan or an open window will ensure an easy and restful sleep.

14. Take a Cold Shower

Simply exposing yourself to a crisp, refreshing source of cold  water can be enough to beat the heat. While cooling off pulse points does help, taking a cold shower drives it home. It does not have to be for an extended period of time but just enough to cool off. Before throwing the shower temperature to absolute zero, you should start it at a bearable level and then slowly work your way down to more frigid conditions.

15. Use Cotton Sheets

Stripping away some blankets or the comforter is the best way to have a cooler bed. Limiting your coverings will indeed assure you a cooler evening, but making the switch to light-colored cotton sheets for your mattress will make sure you get a colder sleep. Cotton material has greater breathability and ventilation than other materials. Especially on hotter nights, if you have a set of cotton sheets and aren’t using them to cover your mattress, make the switch.

How Will You Keep Your Room Cool?

Start off with a few of the above tips that feel the most accessible to your current habits, for there is no need to overwhelm yourself with an overhaul of your energy saving practices! Whether it is relying on a fan instead of air conditioning to cool your room, closing the blinds on sunny days, or switching out your incandescent light bulbs for LED ones, there are plenty of ways that you can cool down your room efficiently without breaking the bank. Try one of Payless Power’s tips for how to cool a room today!

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