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Morning Everyone, with this week being a little mental I thought It may be worth sharing some ideas on how to try and keep cool in this mental sun we've got going on.
Here's a small list of simple things you can do to help shave a few degrees off.
before I start though, Have you drank 500ml of water today? if not you should. You'll be sweating a lot more than you think so its super important to start the day off with some real hydration.
1) Fans blasting outwards. It's quite simple and very effective, especially if you have multiple fans. The idea is simple, you've probably seen it before, simply place your fan so its blowing out of the window.
2) If you have multiple fans create an airflow corridor. From the way the wind travels open a door/window and run fans through the hallway to an open window at the other end, the wind tunnel you create will be a big difference maker, especially if you have animals
3) Reflect as much as possible. A few years ago I made a trade off, to make my house cooler although it did make it look like a crack den. A got some strong cardboard and attached shit tons of tin foil so it was completely reflective, I then attached that to the OUTSIDE if the windows. You can do this inside the windows but the thermal build up in the glass and foil can lead to things smashing if they're touching. - Another tip here is to use the reflecting windscreen covers you get for cars, they work a treat as well. taping foil to blinds helps a lot also but ideally you want to try and stop the heat from touching and building up in the windowed glass to begin with.
3) Cold glasses - Get some kitchen roll, get it wet and wrap it around your glass, then pop your glass in the freezer for 10-15 minutes
4) Do not close all of your windows. Make sure you're only closing windows on the hotter side of the house. When the sun moves around its important you move with it. open any side catching a breeze or in the shade. Once the outside temperature drops below indoor temperature open everything including your front door (depending on where you live obviously)
5) Shut curtains/blinds before the sun hits the window, South-facing rooms will need this the most.Make your own blackout to fill the window like the reflective ideas above will be better than curtains and blinds.
6) Don't cook indoors, adding thermal masses into the center of our homes is likely not a good idea. BBQs or even a Takeaway if you can. Try and avoid Hobs and Ovens but I suppose an Air Fryer would be no issue.
7) Freezer some bottles or bowls of water, any kind of frozen mass. Put these in front of a fan that is directed on you. it won't help like an aircon would but if you spend a lot of your time in small rooms like I do working then it can be a fantastic.
8 ) Pulse points - any pulse or pressure point you want to keep cool, they'll trick your body into thinking you're cooler. Google says wrists, feet, neck and forearms should be key focuses.
9) Heat rises, if your bedroom is unbearable consider sleep downstairs if it's at all possible. The difference from up to downstairs could be drastic enough to get some ZZZs in.
10) Really important one - open your loft hatch. As mentioned above, heat rises. so if you can provide another space for the heat to rise into it will keep your upstairs cooler. If someone has an attic room please make sure they're not spending a lot of time in it. If your house is on a hill or has one point slightly higher than the rest, that room will take the brunt of the heat build up.
11) Turn off electronics. This is device dependent but if you're like me idgaf about energy ratings when I buy shit so things like my TV and Monitors can get seriously hot, not to mention most of us have ball vapes. if you're not using it try and kill power to it completely.
12) Cats and Dogs are usually great at finding cooler places but if you have them put down some cooling mats, cermamic tiles, etc. anything that promotes a cooler floor for them to lay on. If your animal is dumb and keeps going to lay in the sun, please try and keep inside in a shaded area.
13) lukewarm showers, not cold showers. Cold showers encourage your body to hold on to any heat in can find, instead a luke warm or room temp shower can typically cool you better.
14) Think about your bedding. Take the duvet out, have it off the bed prior to getting in so its as cool as can be, if you're brave get your pillow cases and duvets and put them in the freezer (in a bag) for 10-15 minutes and it'll really make things cold enough to sleep. you can also do things like lay on cat/dog cooling mats to provide a little extra relief.
15) This last tip is more stating the obvious and isn't going to be for everyone. Buy an aircon. We bought ours for £280 last summer and its the best £280 I've ever spent. I had to do some research and the choice was limited, you may find you need to go out of your way to find one but it has drastically changed things for me and my mrs. the fact we can get up after nights like we've been having and feel half decently well rested makes it such a worthwhile investment. If you work and you've got to try and sleep through all this before going to work then I would double recommend getting one. Just pay attention to the room size that it can cool.
None of these things will make today feel like its 20c (except the reflective materials and aircon), but it might just take the edge off enough to stop you losing your mind and having a literal melt down.
Stay Hydrated, and take it easy!
Here's a small list of simple things you can do to help shave a few degrees off.
before I start though, Have you drank 500ml of water today? if not you should. You'll be sweating a lot more than you think so its super important to start the day off with some real hydration.
1) Fans blasting outwards. It's quite simple and very effective, especially if you have multiple fans. The idea is simple, you've probably seen it before, simply place your fan so its blowing out of the window.
2) If you have multiple fans create an airflow corridor. From the way the wind travels open a door/window and run fans through the hallway to an open window at the other end, the wind tunnel you create will be a big difference maker, especially if you have animals
3) Reflect as much as possible. A few years ago I made a trade off, to make my house cooler although it did make it look like a crack den. A got some strong cardboard and attached shit tons of tin foil so it was completely reflective, I then attached that to the OUTSIDE if the windows. You can do this inside the windows but the thermal build up in the glass and foil can lead to things smashing if they're touching. - Another tip here is to use the reflecting windscreen covers you get for cars, they work a treat as well. taping foil to blinds helps a lot also but ideally you want to try and stop the heat from touching and building up in the windowed glass to begin with.
3) Cold glasses - Get some kitchen roll, get it wet and wrap it around your glass, then pop your glass in the freezer for 10-15 minutes
4) Do not close all of your windows. Make sure you're only closing windows on the hotter side of the house. When the sun moves around its important you move with it. open any side catching a breeze or in the shade. Once the outside temperature drops below indoor temperature open everything including your front door (depending on where you live obviously)
5) Shut curtains/blinds before the sun hits the window, South-facing rooms will need this the most.Make your own blackout to fill the window like the reflective ideas above will be better than curtains and blinds.
6) Don't cook indoors, adding thermal masses into the center of our homes is likely not a good idea. BBQs or even a Takeaway if you can. Try and avoid Hobs and Ovens but I suppose an Air Fryer would be no issue.
7) Freezer some bottles or bowls of water, any kind of frozen mass. Put these in front of a fan that is directed on you. it won't help like an aircon would but if you spend a lot of your time in small rooms like I do working then it can be a fantastic.
8 ) Pulse points - any pulse or pressure point you want to keep cool, they'll trick your body into thinking you're cooler. Google says wrists, feet, neck and forearms should be key focuses.
9) Heat rises, if your bedroom is unbearable consider sleep downstairs if it's at all possible. The difference from up to downstairs could be drastic enough to get some ZZZs in.
10) Really important one - open your loft hatch. As mentioned above, heat rises. so if you can provide another space for the heat to rise into it will keep your upstairs cooler. If someone has an attic room please make sure they're not spending a lot of time in it. If your house is on a hill or has one point slightly higher than the rest, that room will take the brunt of the heat build up.
11) Turn off electronics. This is device dependent but if you're like me idgaf about energy ratings when I buy shit so things like my TV and Monitors can get seriously hot, not to mention most of us have ball vapes. if you're not using it try and kill power to it completely.
12) Cats and Dogs are usually great at finding cooler places but if you have them put down some cooling mats, cermamic tiles, etc. anything that promotes a cooler floor for them to lay on. If your animal is dumb and keeps going to lay in the sun, please try and keep inside in a shaded area.
13) lukewarm showers, not cold showers. Cold showers encourage your body to hold on to any heat in can find, instead a luke warm or room temp shower can typically cool you better.
14) Think about your bedding. Take the duvet out, have it off the bed prior to getting in so its as cool as can be, if you're brave get your pillow cases and duvets and put them in the freezer (in a bag) for 10-15 minutes and it'll really make things cold enough to sleep. you can also do things like lay on cat/dog cooling mats to provide a little extra relief.
15) This last tip is more stating the obvious and isn't going to be for everyone. Buy an aircon. We bought ours for £280 last summer and its the best £280 I've ever spent. I had to do some research and the choice was limited, you may find you need to go out of your way to find one but it has drastically changed things for me and my mrs. the fact we can get up after nights like we've been having and feel half decently well rested makes it such a worthwhile investment. If you work and you've got to try and sleep through all this before going to work then I would double recommend getting one. Just pay attention to the room size that it can cool.
None of these things will make today feel like its 20c (except the reflective materials and aircon), but it might just take the edge off enough to stop you losing your mind and having a literal melt down.
Stay Hydrated, and take it easy!
