With large parts of Malaysia expected to experience scorching heat at least until the middle of the month, it can be tempting to leave the air-conditioner running 24/7.
Sadly, not everyone has this luxury, and it’s not exactly kind to your wallet, either. To help you beat the heat, here are seven tips to make your home more bearable without relying on more electrical gadgetry.
1. Keep the sun out
Whether curtains, blinds or shades, window coverings are a must. Blackout curtains, in particular, are excellent for keeping sunlight out. You can also opt for layered curtains (one thick, one sheer), or even hang curtains over your blinds.
Another option is to tint your windows and glass doors: different tints filter different amounts of sunlight, allowing your home to remain cool while still allowing natural light to come in.
Best of all, these solutions increase privacy while enhancing the visual aesthetic of your interior spaces.
2. Stay cool on the outside
Wider eaves, awnings, or trees can create shade in the immediate surroundings of your residence, and possibly prevent sunlight from shining directly onto walls and bouncing back into the home.
A thriving garden is another way to mitigate heat, as it creates a pocket of coolness thanks to plant transpiration and the evaporation of moisture from the earth.
Even apartment dwellers can create a happy green oasis on their balcony or by their front door.
3. Control humidity
Humidity, of course, refers to the amount of moisture in the air. Too much humidity makes us feel sticky and warm; too little stops us from enjoying the cooling effects of evaporation.
If you live in areas with low humidity, you might want to introduce moisture, which leads to evaporation and, in turn, cooler temperatures. Ways to increase humidity include:
- installing a water feature in our outside your home;
- cultivating more trees and greenery;
- using a spray bottle and regularly spritzing it in front of your fan;
- placing a basin of water in front of your fan (add some ice as a bonus!);
- filling large receptacles and placing them around your home for the water to slowly evaporate.
To reduce humidity, check out point No. 7 below. In the meantime…
4. Floor it, baby
Remove carpets and rugs and leave your floors exposed. Natural stone such as marble, granite and quartz stay cool naturally, while terrazzo is also a good option as it is a composite of natural stone chips.
Don’t forget that you can also use natural stone for your kitchen and bathroom countertops, which will help keep these spaces cool.
In the good old days, many houses had cement floors, which are a natural cooling option for your home. And here’s a shout-out to those who still live in houses on stilts!
5. Remember, hot air rises
As hot air rises, one solution might be to stay low by setting up temporary sleeping arrangements on the floor.
It’s also a good idea for vents to be located high up so hot air can escape. Exhaust fans can be helpful, though these would involve the use of electricity.
Alternatively, installing turbine ventilators on your roof would allow hot air to exit the home more efficiently.
6. Master the flow
The aim here is to manipulate circulation in your home so that cool air reaches you and warm air exits.
Visualise how air currents flow through your home. Which side of the house receives a nice breeze at particular hours of the day, and which doorways or windows could you open to allow this to happen?
Close your doors and windows accordingly to route the breeze through your home until it reaches the main occupancy area – beyond which, you should open other exit points.
Keep corridors dark and remove rugs so the breeze can help bring down the temperature in these areas.
7. OK, here are some electrical solutions
If all else fails and you absolutely need to depend on electricals and electronics, here are some handy pointers. Firstly, switch out your lights for energy-efficient ones that use less power and, pertinently, emit less heat.
Use appliances that generate heat only at night where possible. Do ensure there is sufficient space around the appliance for ample ventilation.
If you’d like to use your air conditioner, set it above 24°C to help you save on costs. Alternatively, find out if your unit has power-saving features such as an “eco mode” or similar.
Finally, let’s go back to reducing humidity, which can be done by setting your A/C on Dry mode. This reduces the moisture content in the air, thereby cooling down the room.
You can even set it at a higher temperature so your A/C does not need to work so hard, as this supposedly consumes less energy. If the air ends up feeling too dry for you, simply switch back to Cool mode at any time.
Source: FMT
