If you hail from an area that’s known for extreme heat, staying cool is likely a year-round struggle. This is particularly true for people who reside in apartments without air conditioning. While beating the heat under these circumstances may strike you as a losing battle, maintaining comfortably cool indoor temps in the absence of A/C is much easier than it seems. Apartment residents looking to turn their homes into safe havens from excessive heat will be well-served by the following measures.
Install Dependable Ceiling Fans
When it comes to effectively cooling an apartment, dependable ceiling fans can do you a world of good. In addition to facilitating smooth airflow throughout your residence, ceiling fans can also circulate the cool air produced by your air conditioner – provided, of course, your apartment has A/C. Many apartments’ A/C units are found in the main living area, which doesn’t do you a lot of good when you’re in the bedroom, bathroom or any other part of the residence. However, with reliable ceiling fans installed throughout the apartment, you’ll be able to make the most of limited air conditioning.
Even if your residence lacks A/C, ceiling fans are sure to prove useful in your home cooling efforts. When their blades are adjusted to spin counterclockwise, ceiling fans will produce downward-flowing cool breezes, which can be particularly refreshing during the sweltering summer months. Furthermore, if the temperatures in your area tend to drop overnight, consider opening some windows and allowing your ceiling fans to circulate the naturally cool air throughout the apartment.
Ceiling fans come in a broad variety of sizes and styles. For example, if you don’t have much ceiling space to work with, keep an eye out for compact ceiling fans. Additionally, if you’d like your new fans to double as light sources, simply shop for ceiling fans with lights.
Don’t Use Your Oven When the Sun is Out
Oven use stands to increase the temperature in your apartment by a fair amount. The smaller the space, the more prominently the effects of oven use will be felt. Furthermore, when combined with blazingly hot outdoor temperatures, oven use stands to turn your living space into a sauna. So, if doing so is a viable option for you, make an effort to limit oven use during daylight hours – at least during periods of extreme heat. To minimize temperature increases, take care to run your kitchen’s ventilation fan whenever you use the oven.
Limited oven use is likely to be a big ask for people who enjoy cooking. Fortunately, there are a wide range of oven-free recipes that are high in taste, low in fat and can be prepared in a timely, stress-free manner. In fact, once you get a taste of oven-free food prep, you may never again view ovens in the same light.
Block Out the Sun
In addition to making your apartment uncomfortably bright, excessive sunlight also stands to raise indoor temps. One effective way to tackle this problem is leaving your curtains closed during the sun’s peak hours. The less sunlight that finds its way inside, the cooler your residence is liable to stay.
You can take things a step further by investing in blackout curtains. These curtains are designed for the express purpose of minimizing sunlight, ensuring that they function as more effective sun-blocking aids that standard-grade window dressings. Additionally, certain types of blackout curtains can drown out excessive noise from outside. As such, anyone who resides in a noisy, high-traffic area should look into upgrading their current drapery.
Although many of us prefer warm weather to cool weather, excessively hot temperatures stand to make your residence extremely uncomfortable. High temps can prove particularly inconvenient for people who reside in apartments that lack air conditioning. Additionally, even if your apartment has A/C, running it around the clock stands to ratchet up your utility bills. Fortunately, beating the heat in an apartment is a much simpler undertaking than cooling off a full-sized residence. The smaller the living space, the easier it is to alter the climate. So, if you’re looking to turn your apartment into a comfortably cool sanctuary from the heat, put the tips discussed above to good use.
