Figuring out how to fight through the heat in summer can be difficult. And when temperatures rise high enough, the heat can become more than just an annoyance. It can become a safety hazard. Because of this, it’s essential that you know how you can cool your home.

Keep the Oven Off

Keeping the oven off during summer heat waves can help you ensure you aren’t adding extra heat to your home. If there are situations where you need to use your oven, try to use it at cooler times during the day like nighttime or early morning. Doing this will help you limit some of the heat in your home.

If you initially struggle to figure out what to cook without using the oven, maybe this is your chance to branch out with your meals. You can still use your burners because those tend to generate significantly less heat than does your oven. And maybe now is the time to embrace sandwiches, salads, and other foods that are eaten cold.

Use Your Fans

Fans can make a huge difference in your home temperature when summer is in full swing and it is incredibly hot outside. But it’s important that you understand how fans can help or not during the heat. If you live in a hot and humid place, using fans in your various rooms will definitely help cool you down. In humid conditions, a fan moves the air around faster and that movement prompts the water in the air to cool just like blowing on a steaming cup of hot chocolate cools it down.

But in hot dry weather, fans can actually exacerbate heat. Instead of cooling down the air, fans simply circulate the already hot air. As a result, it can make your home feel even more like an oven. Instead of blowing cool air on you, your fan will be blowing hot air directly at you making it harder for your sweat to evaporate and actually cool you down.

Reduce Incoming Light

It’s also important that you work to reduce the amount of light you have coming you’re your home. One of the best strategies is to adopt tinted windows. Window tinting repels solar heat in your home, allowing you to have your curtains open without heating the house up. The tinting reflects the light and heat outwards instead of absorbing it into your home.

If you’re unsure about tinting, consider the possibility of just getting it on some windows where the sun strikes the brightest.

Keep Your AC Running

Having your AC on during the summer may seem like an obvious strategy to keep your apartment cooler. But it’s important that you understand how your AC really works in order to set it correctly and not have the unit break down during the height of a heatwave.

If you have an older AC unit that is positioned beneath your window, know that the way it works is by sucking in air whose temperature is too hot, cooling it with a refrigerant, and then blowing that air back into the house. However, if you ever turn your AC unit off while away from your home and then try to crank it up again, it will struggle and could break.

Trying to take air that is quite hot and cool it enough to be at the temperature you desire for your home could easily result in problems or at least long delays before you’ll get the temperature you want. So keep your AC running.

Close Your Curtains

While closing your curtains throughout the entire day might not be an appealing option to you if you stay inside a lot, try to at least have your curtains closed at the hottest points in the day when the sun is at its strongest. Blocking out some of the light with your curtains will make a big difference in the temperature of your home—think about how much the temperature changes when you move from being in the sun to being in the shade.

If you really struggle to be in a dark environment, consider bringing in light sources that don’t use lampshades that obscure the light. A single bright light or lamp can make a big difference in the feel of your apartment. You can also add a variety of mirrors in your apartment to allow the light that does exist in the room to bounce around more.

Use a Dehumidifier

Using a dehumidifier can make a big difference in how you are able to handle the heat. Obviously, using a dehumidifier is only a good idea if you live in a place with high humidity. But if you are in an incredibly humid and hot place, decreasing the amount of moisture in the air in your apartment makes it easier for your body to regulate your temperature and cool itself.

When it is incredibly hot outside, your body naturally responds by sweating—releasing heat through sweat which evaporates in the air. When your apartment is incredibly humid, it is hard for that sweat to evaporate, resulting in potential overheating.

Use LED Bulbs

Another important way to keep your home from significantly overheating is to use LED bulbs. LED bulbs have a variety of benefits. But when you are in a significant heat wave, they can help reduce a little of the heat in your home because they do not heat up as quickly as traditional bulbs.

Additionally, LED bulbs will simply save you money on your energy bill each month because they don’t use up as much electricity each month and they also take longer to need to be replaced.

Finding the best way to cool your home may vary depending on your situation, your geographical location, and other factors. But do your best to assess your home and make simple changes to improve the setting there. If you simply are unable to adequately cool your home, make sure you spend at least some time each day in an air conditioned location during heatwaves to ensure you don’t get heatstroke.

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