There's goose egg like walking out of a summer heat moving ridge and into the frigid condolement of air conditioning. But for some homes, especially those congenital before the 1950s, AC isn't an pick. So how practice yous go on a house cool in the summer without air conditioning?

The answer: summer-proof each flooring, i by one.

Here are the 18 all-time ways to proceed your house cool without AC, from top to lesser – starting with the attic.


How to Continue Your Dwelling house Cool Without Ac


Unfinished and Uninsulated Attic

Best Means to Cool a House:
In the Attic

1. Vent Your Attic

Attics take the burden of the estrus our homes face up during the summer, co-ordinate to Scott Trento of QuietCool Whole House Fans:

Quiet Cool Systems Logo

"Your attic is typically 20 to thirty degrees hotter than the rest of your home. If there'due south not plenty venting, information technology'due south going to trap a lot of hot air which can rut up your entire home. Utilise an cranium fan to improve ventilation."

Scott Trento | QuietCool Whole House Fans

Cranium fans are typically either gable or roof-mounted. "Roof-mounted fans are installed on the exterior of your roof, while gable-mounted fans are installed correct onto your existing vents," says Trento.

Installing gable mountain fans is easy, equally they are designed to adhere to the existing vents of your attic. To install a roof mount attic fan, you'll need to cutting an opening for it – this is a little more than work but it creates a tighter seal and stronger suction, which helps absurd your attic more efficiently.

For a cooling solution that adjusts to the atmospheric condition, y'all can opt for a Smart Attic Fan, which automatically changes fan speeds depending on the temperature inside your attic. "Plus, the Smart Attic Fan is great for DIYers because it's mostly plug-and-play," says Trento.


2. Insulate Cranium Walls

Another way to keep your habitation absurd in the summer is to insulate your attic from top to bottom. This will lower the amount of estrus that enters your attic and prevent information technology from escaping to the rest of the habitation below.


3. Opt for a White Roof

On a sweltering day, traditional blackness roof materials can become over 100 degrees hotter than the air around them. A white roof tin can be a smashing mode to keep your business firm cool in the summer because it reflects heat instead of absorbing it, keeping the warmth from seeping into the rest of your dwelling.

You can install white roof panels or utilise white roof coating if yous have a flat or metal roof.


Upstairs Hallway With Door Open to Bedroom

All-time Ways to Cool a House:
Upstairs

iv. Place Box Fans in Windows

Like the cranium, your upstairs tends to trap rising heat and using window box fans is a great way to continue a house cool in the summertime naturally. When cooling a room with fans in windows, face them outward to vent the hot air out, especially when information technology's hotter outside.


5. Invest in the Right Ceiling Fans

"One of the best ways to go along cool without Ac is to install ceiling fans," according to cooling proficient Dan Nelson, senior managing director at Large Ass Fans.

"Anywhere people tend to congregate, whether it's the bedchamber, living room or kitchen, those are the spaces where you're going to get the most benefit from a ceiling fan," says Nelson.

But where the fans are installed is but the half of it; picking the right sized fan for your room is too important for effective cooling:

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"Smaller rooms, around 15 feet by 15 feet or less don't need anything larger than a 52-inch ceiling fan. For 20 feet by xx anxiety rooms, we recommend a threescore-inch fan. For larger rooms, 30 feet past 30 feet and higher up, you're going to want an 84-inch fan."

Dan Nelson | Big Ass Fans

New ceiling fans may be plush upfront but they are much less expensive than installing and using Air-conditioning in the long run. "Ceiling fans are incredibly energy efficient, and our Energy STAR® Certified Haiku fans really stand out," says Nelson. "If y'all run a Haiku fan not-stop for a year direct, you can expect to pay between $5 and $10 in electricity."

Put to the same test, the most inefficient ceiling fans would toll around $120 per year, but even this is much cheaper than air conditioning. The cost to run central air can exist as high every bit $120 per month – and that's if you only run information technology half dozen hours a day.

Haiku Ceiling Fan in Bedroom Helping to Keep House Cool Without AC

DC-powered fans, similar the Haiku by Large Donkey Fans (pictured), are cost-efficient and quiet, making them ideal for bedrooms.

Tips for Buying Ceiling Fans to Cool a Room:

  • DC-powered fans utilize 70 percentage less energy than AC-powered fans and are much quieter.
  • Fans with fewer blades are more than efficient – choose a fan with three or four blades.
  • A fan with a steep blade pitch, around fifteen degrees, will move air better than a fan with flat blades.

6. Optimize the Fans You Take

If new fans aren't in the upkeep, you lot can take steps to improve the ones you have.

Here are a few maintenance tips for cooling a room with fans more efficiently:

Run Fans Counter-Clockwise: In the summer, run your fans counter-clockwise on their highest setting to button air straight downwards and create a wind chill event. In the winter, set them back to clockwise on low to slowly strength warm air down into the room.

Clean Them Regularly: Keeping your ceiling fan grit-free isn't just hygienic – it can also help your fan piece of work better. Dirt on fans can estrus upwardly the motor, which can make them run more than slowly.

Polish the Blades: Polishing a fan's blades tin reduce drag, improving its power to move air. To do this, remove the blades and wipe them downwardly with a clammy cloth. And so, dry and coat them with a light piece of furniture or metallic polish, depending on the material of your blades. Permit completely dry before reinstalling.

Gear up Whatever Wobbling: If your fan is wobbling, it's working a lot harder than it has to and won't cool your room down well. Tighten or replace loose screws in your fan, including within the light fixture.

Oil Your Fan: V to six drops of light car oil tin get rid of annoying squeaking sounds and aid the motor run more than efficiently. But know that not all fans can be oiled – some motors are completely sealed up. Look up your manufacturer's guide for instructions on oiling your ceiling fan.


Woman Using a BedJet Bed Cooling System to Keep Her Bed Cool Without AC

To continue cool while you sleep, use a pedestal fan or a BedJet (pictured) to button cool air into your bed.

7. Spot-Cool Your Bed

If you're trying to figure out how to absurd your bedroom with fans, focus your efforts on your bed. Use a pedestal fan to push cooler, middle-room air onto your bed while yous sleep.

The climate-controlling BedJet fan uses the coolest air that sits on the floor of your room to help yous stay absurd under the covers on the hottest summertime nights:

BedJet Logo"The BedJet is designed to get rid of the main reason yous're feeling hot and stuffy in bed: body oestrus and wet. It pulls air from the floor of your room which is typically a few degrees cooler than the temperature reading on your thermostat. It is really effective for keeping y'all cool in bed if your bedroom is 78 degrees and under."

Sarah McClutchy | BedJet


eight. Utilize Breathable Sheets

Breathable bedding is crucial to a absurd nighttime's sleep. Silk or sateen sheets are calorie-free just tend to trap heat – stick to natural bedding materials similar cotton or bamboo for lightweight, breezy coverage.


9. Have a Night Cool-Down Routine

Having a cool-downwards routine is a great way to stay cool in the summertime without AC. Not just does it keep your body temperature lower, but it can also assistance keep your home cool naturally.

Because concrete activity creates body heat, start settling downward about an hour before bed, and turn off electronics also. Then, get-go cooling yourself down: drinkable plenty of water ice water and mantle a cold pack on the back of your neck.

"Taking a colder-than-normal shower before bed can assistance yous cool down too," McClutchy adds.


x. Flush Out Hot Air in the Evenings

In addition to cooling yourself down, Dan Nelson likewise suggests cooling your home downwardly by "flushing" out hot air each dark:

Big Ass Fans Logo"I thing nosotros recommend is a 'night flush' – open up the tops of windows at night and circulate the fresh, cooler night air inside with ceiling fans. Then in the morn, shut your windows and blinds to trap that cool air in, then you can start the day off at a much lower temperature."

Dan Nelson | Big Donkey Fans


First Level of Home With Natural Lighting

Best Ways to Cool a House:
Downstairs

11. Draw the Blinds

While natural lite is great, too much of it can plough your home into a sauna during the summer months. "Describe the blinds during the hottest parts of the day to go on rut out," says Nelson. "That volition aid keep the space cooler."

To double your protection against the sun's heat, invest in white-backed coma shades for your largest windows.


12. Avoid Using the Stove

Using your stove or oven will add together unwanted heat to your kitchen. Attempt to limit your cooking to the early on morn and plan dinners that don't require heating upward, similar pasta salad or lettuce wraps. For a hot repast without a hot kitchen, effort grilling out or using a crockpot.


13. Unplug Appliances You lot're Not Using

Plugged in electronics generate estrus even when they're off or not in apply, which can make an already hot home even hotter. Unplug things like toasters, fans or device chargers when y'all don't need them.


fourteen. Turn on Bathroom Fans

Bathroom exhaust fans are groovy at keeping your home moisture-gratuitous, but they can as well be a great way to continue your home absurd without Air conditioning by sucking hot air out and assuasive cool air to supersede it.


15. Opt for Breezy Article of clothing

When trying to keep a home cool without AC, it's important to focus on keeping yourself – not the room – cool.

"Ceiling fans don't cool spaces downwards, they cool people down," says Dan Nelson. "If yous tin can go on yourself cool by wearing shorts instead of pants, or t-shirts instead of sweaters while you've got a fan running, you'll feel more comfortable and won't need as much energy to cool off."

The correct pajama fabrics are important likewise, according to Sarah McClutchy: "If you're trying to stay cooler in bed during the summer, lightweight cotton pajamas are a great option, while wool and fleece should be avoided."


16. Add Outdoor Shade

You can go on your house cool in the summer naturally by using shade to block heat from your habitation. Landscaping with copse can be great for privacy, merely information technology can likewise go on the sun's rays off of your business firm. Y'all tin also install awnings to keep the sunlight off of your windows.


17. Switch to No-Heat Lightbulbs

Incandescent lightbulbs emit a lot of extra heat, so switching to low or no-heat bulbs like meaty fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) is a unproblematic mode to keep your house cool in the summertime.


Semi-Finished Basement Media Room with Laundry Machines in Back

Best Ways to Cool a House:
In the Basement

18. Create a Cool Cave

Luckily, most basements stay fairly cool year-round. Use this to your advantage by creating a fun infinite to retreat to during the dog days of summertime. Y'all'll feel more than comfortable while using less cooling power, saving y'all money on your electric bills.

If your basement is a cluttered mess, get-go by organizing your storage and tossing what you don't need – for a major decluttering, rent a dumpster for the weekend to handle your junk removal.

Then, make the space your own: add a few fans, a rug, some chairs and a projector to claw upwards to your laptop and you've got your very own, literally cool movie lair for the summertime.


Still Hot? Try a Whole House Fan

Quiet Cool Systems Whole House Fan Cooling a Home Without AC

If you've tried every terminal house cooling hack and it however feels like you're walking on the sun, you lot might want to invest in a whole house fan.

Whole house fans use just 10 percent of the energy of a traditional AC unit and are much cheaper to install. And unlike AC which uses chemicals to button cooled air into your abode, whole house fans are designed to pull heat out naturally.

Quiet Cool Systems Logo"AC keeps common cold air trapped inside, simply a whole house fan can actually cool the mass of your dwelling house. It can pull out heat sitting in or on your walls, furniture and even appliances and vent it out through your cranium, keeping your abode cooler overall. Whole firm fans can also improve indoor air quality by keeping fresh air running through your house."

Scott Trento | QuietCool Whole House Fans


Looking for more hot-weather condition home comeback tips?

Cheque out our favorite summer projects:

  • 15 Home Maintenance Tips to Bandbox up Your Home This Summer
  • 5 Easy DIY Garden Projects on a Budget
  • How to Use Plants to Repel Bugs

How do you go along your firm absurd without Ac? Permit us know in the comments!