9 Tips on How to Cool a Room Naturally This Summer

Summer is in full swing, which means you might wake up hot and sticky in the middle of the night. Heatwaves and unforgiving temperatures can make summertime much less enjoyable, especially when you can’t find relief. While the warmth is pleasant when you’re outside hosting BBQs, at the beach or the lake, or taking a dip in the pool, your house should be your oasis. 

Comparing these heat hurdles can be difficult amid soaring temperatures, so we’re going to share 9 tips for how to cool a room naturally.

1. Block Out the Sun

This might seem like the most obvious tip, but it’s something that most people overlook. The sun’s heat signature can warm up your home to an uncomfortable point, which can make being indoors unpleasant. It can also make sleeping a struggle, leading to many problems during the day. 

Sometimes your cooling system isn’t enough to battle the heat coming in from the windows. If that’s the case for you, then blocking the sun could be a perfect solution. 

Here are a few ideas for blocking out the sun: 

• Heat blocking window shades
• Blackout blinds
• External window shading
• Tinted windows

If you have rooms with south-facing windows, they can get unbearably hot in the middle of summer. If just closing the blinds isn’t doing the trick, you can try a sun shade or one of the methods above. You’ll be surprised at how much cooler the rooms in your house will be!

2. Open Windows and Doors

This is another seemingly obvious solution that can make a significant impact. Though you might think it’s as easy as opening your windows and doors and letting a breeze in, there is a right and a wrong way to go about this strategy. 

Make sure you open them up in the early morning (especially if you can do so in the early hours) and later in the evening after the hottest parts of the day are over. Keep your windows open at night while you’re sleeping because that’s when staying cool is most important (and it’s essential to get a good night’s rest).

A great tip is to open windows on opposite sides of the room. This creates cross-ventilation, which plays a crucial factor in keeping cool. 

3. Declutter Your Space

There’s something about a crowded room that makes it feel stuffy and overly hot. Removing unnecessary furniture and trinkets will make a room feel airier. Take down drapes and wooly rugs that feel claustrophobic. Invest in thin materials and keep decor minimal to achieve a breathable atmosphere. 

4. Be Mindful of Lighting

This is an eco-friendly tip and an incredibly effective method of cooling down a room. Incandescent bulbs are the main culprit. While they consume excessive amounts of power and run up electricity bills, they also radiate a lot of heat. Replace them with light-emitting alternatives like LEDs or CFLs. This tip can help save energy and reduce heat!

Beyond switching out your light bulbs, you can also be more conscious of how many lights you have on in a room. Lamps, sconces, and other fixtures emit heat so be conservative about how many light switches you have on in one room to reduce heat.

5. Try the Egyptian Sheet Technique

Want to sleep like an Egyptian? Egypt is a notoriously hot location, and one trick that originated there is sleeping on a slightly wet sheet. As it dries, it continues to keep you cool throughout the night. You can also try hanging a damp sheet in the window to create a natural air-conditioner effect. 

This is a useful tip, but if sleeping on a damp sheet sounds unappealing, you can try sprinkling some baby powder between your sheets. This helps to absorb sweat, which can keep you cooler.

6. Use a Fan

This list of tips wouldn’t be complete without this classic cooling method. Fans can be one of the best solutions to make summers more bearable for everyone. 

One of the best-kept secrets is to leave a bowl of mounded ice in front of the fan while it’s running. This is a great hack to get some cold air circulating the room. This is the way to go if you’re looking for a makeshift AC. 

It’s important to note that if you just turn a fan on in a hot room, you’ll just be circulating hot air. Want to get the most out of your fan? Point it towards an open window–especially at night.

7. Change Your Sheets

Now is the time if you haven’t already switched from your winter flannels to some silky, airy sheets for the summer. There are lots of different fabrics that are glorious to sleep in during these hotter months. These include: 

• Linen
• Bamboo
• Tencel
• Egyptian cotton
• Eucalyptus

These options will keep you from getting too sweaty at night and make the summer months much nicer. 

8. Eat Hydrating and Cooling Foods

Is there anything better than biting into a watermelon while hanging out at the pool? Something about hydrating, cooling foods in the summer hits the spot. They can also be a great way to cool down while out in the heat. 

Seasonal fruits are a great way to enjoy great flavors and up your water intake. These include: 

• Watermelon
• Cantelope
• Grapes
• Oranges

We all know we should be eating more vegetables, so that’s another food group you can leverage during the summer. Some favorites are: 

• Cucumbers
• Radishes
• Lettuce
• Herbs

This tip will help you not only achieve your goal of cooling down but also be healthy for you. Win-win.

9. Cook Outdoors

In the most unbearably hot summer months, no one wants to be caught in the kitchen with the oven on full blast (not when it feels like you’re already trapped in an oven). An oven generates lots and lots of heat, so the more you can stay away from it, the better. 

Luckily, there’s a practical solution. Cooking outdoors is a fun and easy way to keep cool. BBQs can yield various options for meals that you might not make otherwise, which can keep things interesting. 

If that’s not an option for you, consider meals that don’t require an oven to cook, such as salads, sandwiches, and other summer-geared recipes. 

Learn how Spring Power & Gas Can Help You Stay Energy-Efficient

Hopefully, you found these tips helpful if you’ve been wondering how to naturally keep a room cool in the summer. Finding ways to use less energy is a great way to be more sustainable and enjoy the summer comfortably. 

Spring Power & Gas can help you find other ways to stay energy-efficient. If you’re looking for more information on green energy, reach out to us today, and let us share the benefits of reducing your carbon footprint!