BBQs and paddling pools at the ready! While sunny summer days make for cherished family memories and Instagram stories, the heat can make a home uncomfortable.
As temperatures rise, rooms can feel stuffy even with open windows, and sleep is sweaty and impossible. So how can you stop your home from overheating?
This blog covers tips and solutions for keeping your rooms cool.
Simple Solutions For Quick Relief
Let’s review a few easy, quick habits you can adopt to reduce your home’s temperature significantly with minimal effort.
Close Window Coverings
Drawing curtains and blinds during peak sunlight blocks the sun’s rays from entering your property. This keeps the air inside your home cooler and reduces that stuffy feeling.
However, as some forums and blogs suggest, don’t be tempted to use tin foil to cover windows. While foil works well as a DIY shade provider, it can put your window under thermal stress as it heats throughout the day. This can cause the glass to fracture or crack, landing you in a costly fix.
Get The Air Moving
Placing fans in problematic rooms helps you feel more comfortable because of the wind chill effect. The movement of air across your skin makes you feel cooler. You can also freeze a container of water and place the tub of ice in front of the fan for a DIY air-con feel.
Crack The Window
Open windows and doors at cooler times of day to help warm air escape and encourage cool air to circulate through the house. However, remember to close them back up when you turn on any fans, or you’ll lose most of their benefit!
Unplug Electronics
Electronic devices generate additional heat. To reduce the heat in the home, unplug or disconnect them when not in use.
Long-Term Strategies For A Cooler Home
There are things you can do to future-proof your home against overheating in the years to come. These strategies require more planning and financial output but will serve you well against summer heat.
Get Gardening
Planting trees and shrubs in positions that will block sunshine as they grow is a great technique for simultaneously increasing shade and natural beauty. Think hard about where you’ll plant things first; losing your view completely would be a shame.
Consider A Cool Roof
A cool roof is a roofing system that reflects more sunlight and takes on less heat than a conventional roof. It might be made of reflective paint, tiles, or even a specially designed sheet covering. Cool roofs are extremely effective but pretty costly.
Invest In Window Coverings
Spending on window coverings like shutters or blinds is a simple solution that will last years, improve curb appeal AND work hard for your home all year round.
Premium window coverings keep your home cool in the summer and boast thermal benefits for cold winter days.
The Power of Shutters for Temperature Control
Unsurprisingly, we’re team shutter.
High-quality shutters offer beautiful aesthetics, functional benefits and are a worthwhile investment. They boast tons of benefits, such as superb light control, privacy, durability and energy efficiency.
Here’s how shutters can help you control the temperature of your home…
Insulation
Shutters act as an extra layer of insulation, reducing heat gain in the summer and heat loss in the winter.
Light Control
Adjustable louvres allow you to control the amount of sunlight entering your home, reducing heat buildup.
For extra convenience, automate your window coverings. This way, you can set your shutters up to block out the sun completely when it’s strongest.
Material Matters
Material MattersDifferent shutter materials provide different benefits.
- Wooden shutters like Fiji and Cuba are hard to beat when it comes to insulation, but this type of shutter requires more maintenance than others.
- ABS shutters like ‘Java’ are extremely durable and moisture-resistant, making them ideal for humid environments like the bathroom or kitchen.
- Aluminium shutters like ‘Portchester’ are reflective, working well to reduce heat absorption and improve security.
Your Home’s Secret Weapon Against Overheating
One surprising way to protect your home against excessive heat is to install an awning on the outside.
Yes, you’re right – an awning is a great source of shade for your garden… But how does that help reduce the heat indoors?
Think about it. When you rig up an awning to an external wall, you can then extend the awning over windows to shade inside rooms from the outside. Awnings provide shade by blocking the hot sun from entering through windows and doors.
Awnings create shade, which lowers indoor temperatures, reducing the need for fans and air conditioning and saving money. And unlike trees and shrubs, awnings don’t compromise your view.
An Innovative Solution For Permanent Cooling
Drumroll, please…
Let us introduce you to the groundbreaking Microlouvre KoolShade technology for clever home shading that will last you a lifetime.
Made in Britain, Microlouvre KoolShade is a 100% recyclable metal fabric that can be fitted over your glass externally to create solar control glazing. Customisable with colour for brands and logos or kept simple for domestic homes, KoolShade fabric maximises appearance and function with perfect outward vision combined with an impressive solar control heat block.
Is Your Home Too Hot?
There are plenty of ways to reduce heat gain in your home, ranging from simple, quick fixes to long-term solutions that will make your home comfortable all year round.
Are you in the market for new window coverings but overwhelmed by the choice? Are you looking for a lasting shading investment? Visit our website to book an appointment with us; whether it’s virtually, in person, or at our showrooms, one of the team will be happy to chat about your needs.
