They say that too much of anything is bad for you. That goes for everything in life—food, habits, or how you spend your time, among others. It is also a quote that you can apply to the environment—you do not want to experience the extreme ends. That is why at home, you want to be in control of its overall temperature. The balance between the heat and the cold should be established, and you can accomplish this by having a heating or cooling system. These would be major undertakings for your house, as they need a significant amount of space and construction for them to be installed. You need to plan out where you want to put them and how much the project would cost. It will definitely eat a good chunk of your budget, but this is a meaningful investment for you and your family. Their health and comfort will be the main beneficiaries once that is completed.
One can combat the biting cold by increasing the layers of clothing or turning up the heat in your house. Heat, however, is not as simple to manage.
Sources of Heat
The temperature of your home could be raised due to a number of factors. First would be your environment. The sun, of course, is mainly responsible for all of this. The heat index seems to peak around the noontime. On a really hot summer day, sporting an umbrella would not be enough to protect you, as the heat will be reflected back to you by the street you are walking on. And if you can feel that, then it means that it can be radiated to your house too. Concrete or asphalt is good at storing heat and then slowly releasing it to the air.
Your heavy electronic appliances are also sources of heat. The refrigerator is a prime example. You are advised to position it in such a way that its rear is about a foot away from the wall. It keeps its insides cold by removing the heat from it, which is exhausted out to its backside. Air conditioners are similar; the only difference is that they are installed in openings either through the wall or a part of the window. The exhaust side faces outdoors, so all that warm air will be kept outside.
Let the Air Flow
Air can bring in the heat inside your house. That is all fine and good as long as it can find ways to escape. But if you keep things mostly closed at home, you may find yourself feeling like you are being cooked in an oven. You can simply open up your doors and windows to let the warm air out. But moving forward, you can creatively use some of your existing items in the house.
If you have several fans around, you can position them so that they will form an airflow loop. Placing them near your house’s openings will have them serve as intakes for fresh air, which most probably will accumulate in the middle of the floor area and become stale. You can then place a couple of fans there to lead the stale air out of the house. It is not going to look glamorous, but it is a quick and practical way to keep things cool indoors.
A Fabricated Solution
Curtains can serve as pretty decorations for your windows, but they can also serve as insulators. If you have some that are of the blackout type, not only are they excellent in providing shade, but they also work great as heat absorbers.
Floors that have smooth surfaces such as those made of marble, tiles, or polished hardwood, can get hot when they are exposed to sunlight for a long time. That will reflect the heat, which will then circulate within the house. Placing a carpet will help you avoid this dilemma. Not only does it have a fabric surface, but it also has a thin layer of cushion that can absorb heat. If you want a solution on the cheap, you can use doormats, towels, or old clothes instead.
Interesting Insulation
Sometimes you are unwillingly ignoring the solutions that are right in front of you. Take a look at your car. You cannot do much when you have it parked outside, under all that heat from the sun. Before using it, you have to open up the windows or doors to let the hot air out. But you may also be using a sunshade for your windshield. Some use reflective materials to reflect the sun rays while also having thin padding that will absorb heat. You can use this in one of your house windows, or you can buy a few more to cover most of them.
An interesting and extremely cheap alternative to sun shades is cardboard. If you have boxes just lying around from stuff that you bought recently, you can put them to good use as makeshift window shades.
High temperatures can cause discomfort and can pose risks to those who have chronic conditions like hypertension. Keeping your house cool will make you feel good and your loved ones healthy. You do not have to spend much. With the materials that you already have at home, you can craft cooling solutions.
