How to Cool your Home Naturally

Our climate change reality means that the earth's temperature is rising. Basically, our environment is getting warmer. 

Greenhouse gases like Carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are some of the leading causes of ozone layer depletion and global warming.

In trying to cool ourselves and our homes, we resort to technologies like air-conditioning systems. Air-conditioners are sadly one of the biggest sources of CFCs. 

So while it's cooling us, it is releasing ozone layer depleting substances, which leads to more warming, then us trying to cool ourselves again - as you can see, it's a vicious heating cycle.

Now, most ACs have stopped running on CFCs and now use halogenated CFCs which are supposed to be safer. However, they are not completely safe and production of ACs with halogenated CFCs are expected to stop by 2030.

But, there's still the issue of energy conservation. According to the US department of energy, air conditioners use about 6% of all the electricity produced in the United States. 

What's the energy and environmentally conscious individual to do?

How can you cool your home naturally bearing all these in mind?

Below are some practical steps to take to cool your home naturally:

Plant trees

Planting trees helps combat the problem of climate change. Not only do they have a restorative effect on the larger Environment, they also affect us directly in our micro environment. The presence of trees provide a cooling effect, provide shade and shield us from direct sunlight 

Open the window

This provides for cross ventilation. Open all windows and doors within the house to allow for the free flow of air within and without the house. This is especially useful on airy days.

It's important to note that if opening your windows will cause extra sunlight or pests coming in, shut them. 

Use fans

Fans use less power than air-conditioners which make them a fantastic choice for saving energy. So by using fans instead of air conditioners you not only get to enjoy a cooler home but save up on the electricity bill.

Keep the heat in the kitchen

The home tends to feel very hot during cooking. This is because of the heat coming from the stove, cookers, oven and the steam from the pot.

Ways to control this include: covering the pans when cooking and closing the kitchen door which can allow the heat to get to other rooms. Or simply close the doors to the other rooms. If you close the kitchen door, keep the windows to the kitchen open to prevent overheating.

Stay in the shade

This is an easy way to keep cool on a hot day. What if you don't have trees? Thankfully, shade here isn't referring to trees alone. It describes any form of protection from the sun e.g. your porch.

A very simple way to build a shade for your home is by extending your roofing. 

The shade:

• Keeps the sun farther, and provides a cooler place to stay. 
• Decreases heat and sunlight penetration.
• Also helps in ventilation when you need to open your doors or windows as you won't have to worry about the sun seeping through.

Keep blinds closed

Now, what if it's a very sunny day? Then it's time to close the blinds. Beyond blinds, you can use heavy curtains to prevent unwanted heat coming in. While using heavy or blackout curtains may reduce light penetration, combining them with fans will result in quick cooling.

Cool yourself

Due to activities like cooking or working out, you may feel exceptionally hot. Instead of trying to cool your room, focus on bringing down your body temperature. 

This can be by taking a cool bath, drinking cold water, using a cold compress, wearing light clothes. 

Doing any of these in addition to being at rest (lying or sitting with minimal activity), will result in you feeling cooler in no time.