When summertime temps rise and flirt with 95 degrees and higher, completing the simplest of tasks can be downright unbearable. And if heading indoors doesn’t deliver the cooling relief you crave, there are more ways to feel like “you” again, as you’re about to see.
Chill your pillow
A hot, humid room can make sleep intermittent, at best. If you have room in your fridge or freezer, stuff your pillow into a plastic bag and keep it there until it feels nice and cool, but not freezing cold. No room? Freeze the pillowcase instead. This creates a temporary cooling effect that can help you doze off. Keep an extra pillowcase in the freezer or the fridge in case you wake up in the middle of the night.
Cool your sheets
On a hot but breezy evening, wet a bed sheet in cold water and wring it out until it’s just damp. Hang it in front of an open window closest to your bed to make the slightest breeze that much more enjoyable. You can also use a damp sheet as a nighttime blanket. Fill a clean spray bottle with cold water and a little bit of rubbing alcohol and give the sheet a spritz should you wake in the middle of the night.
Keep the fan on
Boost the cooling power of your air conditioning system by running a ceiling fan in reverse. As the AC lowers the temperature, the ceiling fan will circulate the cooled air throughout that space, thus creating a wind chill effect. Doing so allows you to turn the temp up a degree or two to save on cooling costs without sacrificing comfort.
Get ice cold
While working at a desk or cooking at the stove, place a bowl of ice in front of a small table fan and let the fan blow cool air over you.
Reduce appliance use
Opt for lighter fare that doesn’t require the stove or oven to prepare a meal. Turn off lights in unoccupied rooms. Only run the dishwasher and washing machine when full (but not overstuffed), preferably early in the morning or at night. Hang your wash on a clothesline whenever possible. These small tricks will not only help keep your house cooler but reduce energy use, which saves you money.
Cross ventilate
Place one box fan in front of a window with the blower side facing out, then place another at a window on the opposite side of the room, blower side in. You can even add table fans in between if needed.
Keep it closed
Closing shades, blinds, curtains, and shutters can reduce indoor temps by as much as 20 degrees. Using a window or room air conditioner? Keep the door to that room closed to reap the full benefits.
Put double-hung windows to use
Open the bottom section of your windows on the upwind side of the house and the top section on the downwind side to help direct airflow throughout your home.
Make some tea
Doesn’t a chilled glass of iced tea sound refreshing? Make it menthol for even greater refreshment. Menthol triggers sensory receptors in our mouths that make us feel cool.
Instant relief
For an immediate cooldown, wrap an ice pack in a dishtowel and apply to pulse points like the wrists, backs of knees, side of the neck, and under the arms.
And now back to your air conditioning system, and why you might need so many other measures to keep cool for hours at a time. If that’s the case, then you may not have central air. Maybe you depend on window or portable units. Or, perhaps you do have central air, but even there are more factors that can lessen its effectiveness that we can possibly list here.
So, let’s keep it simple, if you don’t have central air conditioning system at least 10 years old, contact Anthony’s for a home cooling analysis and new system quote. If you do have central air but can’t remember the last time it received preventive maintenance, call us right away to schedule service. That one act can cure bunches of problems on its own.
