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Oct 20, 2024

How to Cool Down a Room Without AC | Real Simple

No air conditioning? Try these strategies to help you stay cool during a heat wave. Haley is a Wisconsin-based creative freelancer and recent graduate. She has worked as an editor, fact checker, and

No air conditioning? Try these strategies to help you stay cool during a heat wave.

Haley is a Wisconsin-based creative freelancer and recent graduate. She has worked as an editor, fact checker, and copywriter for various digital and print publications. Her most recent position was in academic publishing as a publicity and marketing assistant for the University of Wisconsin Press

Staying cool can be tough when summer temperatures are scorching, and can feel almost impossible if air conditioning is not available. Extreme heat can pose some pretty serious health concerns, such as heat stroke and heat exhaustion—so keeping your cool becomes critically important.

If you need to cool off your house (or yourself), try these cooling strategies—though if temperatures rise too high, it's best to seek out an air-conditioned location, like libraries, movie theaters, and cooling stations, near you.

The old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" definitely applies when it comes to keeping your house cool. These strategies can help you keep your house cool without air conditioning—or help reduce the amount of energy you need to keep it cool if you do have an air conditioner.

Sunlight in your home is a major source of heat—so close up those drapes.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, more than three-quarters of the sunlight that hits a standard window enters the home as heat, and covering your window can help you reduce that. A set of medium-colored drapes with a plastic backing reduces heat coming in by 33%, and insulated cellular shades can reduce unwanted solar heat by up to 60%.

In addition to closing your drapes and blinds (or instead of doing that) you can add a clear temperature control film to your windows. These allow sun to flow into your home (yay, natural light!) but reflect a lot of the heat away from your home. They also work in the winter by providing an extra layer of insulation.

A hot stove will (obviously) heat up your home, too. So go ahead and try some no-cook recipes that'll cool you off—and avoid adding additional heat to your kitchen.

(And if you have to cook? Consider firing up the grill instead to preserve the chill in your home.)

Dishwashers, washers, and dryers may be the biggest culprits, but even your phone chargers and small appliances can generate some heat in your home. Turn off—or better yet, unplug—anything that isn't necessary.

Awnings and shade trees can help block the sun from entering your windows—and keep your rooms feeling cooler. Window awnings can reduce the amount of solar heat in your house by up to 65%.

Minimize the amount of space that needs to be kept cool by closing off any rooms that aren't currently being used.

You may think about weather-stripping more in the winter, when caulking and sealing around your doors and windows helps prevent uncomfortable drafts. But a few hours with a caulk gun could help keep hot air from making its way in during the summer.

It's a small change that can make a big impact. One case study found that making energy-efficient upgrades like weather-stripping could reduce the potential for heat stress from 50% in inefficient homes to just 4%.

Incandescents give off light, sure, but they also give off a ton of heat energy, so keeping them on for hours at a time could be setting you back. Energy efficient lighting like LED or CFL bulbs produce far less heat and last a whole lot longer.

Even with the best prevention strategies, your house will likely get hot when the temperatures rise and the sun is beating down. Fortunately, there are a few more tricks you can use to cool down your home without AC.

Keep your windows closed during the day, when the air is hottest. But when the temperature outside is lower than the air inside, you can open your windows to create a cooling breeze indoors.

A fan placed to blow cooler air into the house will help you chill out faster, and opening windows on opposite sides of the house can create cross breezes that help cool it down faster, too.

Try opening a smaller window to let in air, and a larger window to let it out, which can increase the air speed (and make your home feel cooler), according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Running the exhaust fans in your bathroom and kitchen can help you exhaust out any heat from the shower or kitchen appliances. You can also use them in conjunction with open windows at night to help remove hot air and draw cooler air into your home.

Another cool trick? Open windows on the upper floor with a box fan blowing out, and open windows on a lower floor—the warmer air on the top floor will be ventilated out, drawing in cooler air below.

A good breeze and something cold can help cool off the room (and if you park yourself close to it, it'll ensure that you're cooler, too). There are several strategies you could try—hang a cold, wet sheet in front of the fan; place a large bowl or bin filled with ice cubes in front of it; or attach frozen water bottles to the back of the fan.

Ceiling fans are great at helping reduce the temperature—they can help a room feel 10 degrees cooler and use only 10% of the energy that a traditional air conditioner does, according to the NRDC.

Just make sure your fan is set with the blades running counterclockwise for cooling. (You'll want to set them running clockwise in the winter to help circulate warm air.)

Note, though, that a fan may make you feel more comfortable, but it doesn't help prevent heat-related illnesses, according to the CDC. Your safest bet for staying cool if the temps are getting into the high 90s? A nice cold shower or bath—or heading somewhere with air conditioning.

High humidity can make your home or room feel extra hot and stuffy. It can also prevent your sweat from evaporating, which means it keeps you from regulating your body temperature. To help kick that unwanted moisture to the curb, bring in quality dehumidifier.

Sometimes the heat is just inescapable. But, getting a good night's sleep on hot and steamy nights isn't impossible. Here are some ways to prep in advance for those kinds of evenings and what to do if you you're suddenly sweating come bedtime.

What you sleep in matters, so choosing a cooling sheet set that's made for people that run hot will be super beneficial in warm weather. When looking for your perfect set, think about material. Cotton, bamboo, Tencel, and hemp are all breathable fabrics that allow air to circulate around you while you sleep. Weave is important too and Percale is your best bet for for cotton sheets because it's less dense.

Jumping into some warm water definitely sounds counter-intuitive, but it can actually get you a much better night's sleep than a cold shower would. A scientific review revealed that taking a lukewarm shower an hour or two before bed will trigger physiological changes and lower your body's core temperature.

Cold showers, on the other hand, cause blood vessels to constrict, conserving body heat. Yes, you'll feel cold while inside the shower, but afterward you'll likely feel hotter than you did in the first place.

It's a surprise to no one that drinking before bed is bad for. your sleep, but did you know it can also cause hot flashes and night sweats? Alcohol speeds up your heart rate and widens the blood vessels leading to increased blood flow which will make you feel warm and toasty. On hot nights, you're better off with water (and plenty of it!) to replenish fluids lost to sweat.

If you need a true cool-down when you climb into bed, this little trick works wonders. Simple place your socks or pillowcases (or both!) in the freezer an hour or so before bed. When you take them out, they'll be nice and chilly and you can place them on your feet and pillows accordingly.

Putting on frozen socks is the amped up equivalent of sticking one foot out of the covers. Feet have a high density of blood vessels so cooling them down goes a long way to regulating body temperature. The neck is a great place to cool (via those icy pillow shams) because it's close to our thermoregulation center.

As we all know, heat rises. The higher up you are in both your home and in your room, the hotter it's going to get. Try sleeping on the ground floor or a lower floor, or, if you're already doing that, try moving your mattress to the floor.

U.S. Department of Energy. Energy efficient window coverings.

Alam M, Rajeev P, Sanjayan J, Zou PXW, Wilson J. Mitigation of heat stress risks through building energy efficiency upgrade: a case study of Melbourne, Australia. Aust J Civil Eng. 2018;16(1):64-78. doi:10.1080/14488353.2018.1453331

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Cooling your home with fans and ventilation. Accessed March 30, 2023.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tips for preventing heat-related illnesses.