Is It Even Possible To Have A Comfortable Home In The Summer?

With climate change racking the temperature up each year, making the humidity arrive earlier, and keeping the winters mild and rainy, it’s easy to think seasonal weather is no longer the comfortable and carefree experience it used to be. Indeed, the home suffers the worst of the climate ping-pong; your insulation might trap a lot of moisture in and make it hard to sleep at night, and who knows when your air con is going to fail again?!

However, there’s still magic to be found in blue skies and crunchy leaf piles. And while you do your bit for the environment to help bring that temperature down, we can help you make your home much more comfortable this summer. Don’t lose hope just yet; your living room, kitchen, and bedroom can become a summertime paradise! 

Dinners on the patio will always be a lovely way to spend a summer evening at home! (Pexels Image – CC0 Licence)

Identify Draught Points

Now you might think it’s a mistake to block out the draughts when it’s hot outside. After all, the more air being let into your home, the better right? Well just like in winter time, the more holes in your insulation, the more your temperature is going to fluctuate. 

That’s not good when the sun is blazing down on your home and warming it up from the mud to the bricks. You want there to be some kind of defense against the onslaught of heat! As such, make sure you’ve blocked off the worst draught offenders in your home. 

These tend to be around the windows (where a poor sealing job may have been done) and under the front and back door. You can buy draft excluders at any good home depot or decor store, and in a pinch you can use a towel to block off a gap. 

Some people even recommend getting the towel wet first, so any air that hits it is going to circulate around your room with more of a chill in it. However, your mileage may vary with this, so it’s up to you! 

Get Your Air Con Serviced Early On

You don’t want it breaking down in early August! If it does, you’ll likely have to wait a little while before it can be fixed, thanks to this being a peak period. You’re also likely to have to pay a much larger fee for the privilege – no thank you! 

To do your best to avoid a situation like this, get it serviced just before the summer gets into full swing. Sometime in May is best, but even early June works fine. Make sure you’ve cleaned the filter out as well, and even think about replacing it if you haven’t done that in a while. 

Only put the air con on for a few hours as well. It’s unlikely that you’ll want it on all day anyway, as that can be expensive. Use it during the early morning to cool the house down for the rest of the day, you’ll find your home much more comfortable. 

Keep the Bugs Out!

It’s common for bugs to make their way inside when it’s warmer. After all, they’re looking for a bit of cool and shade as well! However, while the occasional fly and moth is fine, you don’t want ants, spiders, and the horrible mosquito calling your home its own as well. 

Thankfully, there are various ways to get rid of these pests. Firstly, we recommend popping down some new houseplants that repel them, such as Lavender or a Chrysanthemum. If you would like to use this method and you’ve got pets, be sure to check if the plant in question will be toxic to domestic animals as well!

In terms of how to get rid of mosquitoes specifically, it’s a good idea to keep your home as non-tropical as possible. You can also set up bug nets around windows and beds, if your home is super prone to these pests in particular. Getting bitten while asleep is the worst thing of all!

Beat the Sun Rise

The sun rises quite early in the summertime, usually around the late 4am to early 5am hour. Are you up at the same time? Probably not, and we don’t blame you! However, you should consider using this time to keep your house cooler for longer. 

Before the sun can start warming up your house, draw all the curtains (and even put reflective foil on the windows if you live in a REALLY warm part of the world) to keep as many rays out as possible. 

Similarly, if you kept your windows open during the night to let the cooler air in, shut them now and stick a fan on to get that cool air circulating. If you do this regularly enough to keep the atmosphere in your home on a perfect low, you may not even need to use that air con as much! 

Install Outside Shading

If you shade from the inside, you need to shade from the outside as well. However, this point takes a bit more effort than any of the others on this list. Indeed, you may even need to plant tall bushes and even trees outside your front door, and they take quite a while to grow to the right height. 

You can, however, hang awnings over your windows from the outside, if you’re handy at DIY and have got a safe ladder to use. These awnings can prevent the sun from getting in the window on a season long basis, especially in hard to reach places like the second or third floor. Combine this with the tall plant strategy and you’ll have a super cool home in the years to come! 

Pop Ice Behind Any Fans

Get some ice out of the freezer, pop it in a bowl, and place it behind the fan while it’s turned on. You’ll soon notice the air being blown out is a lot cooler! As the fan pulls in the air from behind to push out from the front, the placement of the ice will ensure a layer of cool wind goes with it. This cools a room for longer than placing the bowl in front. 

Control the Humidity Level

If you’re going to be using the ice bowl method, as well as the wet towel method, we highly recommend you try this tip out as well. Humidity can be killer during the summer period. It might only be 80 degrees outside, but with the added moisture in the air, it feels like 110! 

Use a dehumidifier to suck this excess moisture out. Dehumidifiers dry out the air and can make the environment around you feel a bit cooler as a result. It won’t look cooler on the thermostat, but it will certainly feel so. 

Similarly, dehumidifiers won’t eliminate all moisture, and you shouldn’t want to do so either, but they can make enough of a difference so you’re not sweating while just sitting down. If it feels ‘muggy’ in a room, stick a unit on for 20 minutes with a fan going in tandem and you should notice a positive difference. 

To answer the big question: yes, it’s possible to have a comfortable home in summer! You just need to put some effort into keeping the sun out and away from your property. And remember, the biting bugs are going to be out in full force when the heat is up – always have some bug spray nearby!