14 Ways to Keep Cool in Your Home Without Air Conditioning

Here in the South, the weather has definitely taken a turn toward the sweltering. There have been some unseasonably warm days already, with highs in the 90s, and the temptation to flick the switch on that A/C unit to “on” is very strong. Before using the air conditioner, consider this: home cooling accounts for 5 percent of the energy we consume in the U.S. each year. That’s about 140 million tons of CO2 emissions annually! Here are some ways to fight that urge by keeping your house cooler naturally.

1. Keep the shades drawn during the day. When sunlight streams through the windows, it creates a miniature greenhouse effect in your home.

2. Reflect the heat. If you do want to open the windows, consider investing in some reflective window film to help keep the heat outside where you want it to be.

3. Let the cool evening air in. If temperatures are on the chilly side after the sun goes down, crack a few windows open to let a breeze come through and cool the house. Just be sure to close them before the temperature starts to rise again!

4. Insulate! You want to keep cool air inside, so grab that caulk gun and seal off anywhere that air might be escaping. A handy draft dodger can help seal up those tricky leaks at the bottoms of doors and windows.

5. Get rid of incandescent lights. Not only do those suckers use more energy, they generate a lot more heat than CFL or LED light bulbs.

Up next: more ways to keep cool without A/C!

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Read more: Conservation, Green, Home, conservation, cooling, energy, heating, home, home energy

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Joe R.

9:06AM PST on Jan 21, 2012

Great tips. Thanks.

send a green star

Cindy M.

8:35AM PDT on Jul 3, 2011

I'm wondering if dehumidifiers would help those in humid areas.

Anyway, I made a solar oven for the summer, but you can buy one too. Just takes longer to cook and can be set up in the morning since it won't burn food, just keeps it warmed. Great for canning too. Crock pot would work too

Remember that if you're hot, your pets are way hotter with their furs glued onto them. So the tips on wet towels and cool drinks won't help them. But if in a bad situation, they often won't drink. Then you wet their foreheads to cool their brains, just be sure the water's not hot.

for a solar oven you basically need a box big enough to put your food in, not too big because it's harder to heat. Make it black in a non toxic way and cover with a window to seal heat in but let sun in. (Can cover food containers with black too, like put jars in an old black sock.) Then attract more sun to your oven by creating silver reflectors that reach out at sides of box, can be tin foil covered & glued even. Google for more info.

Do realize that the trees are amazing coolers, but if you'll ever want to use solar energy, they get in the way. They'll also either take a while to grow big enough or cost a bundle to get full size. But they are nice!

Sue H.

11:30AM PDT on Jul 2, 2011

I can take the heat most days, but the humidity makes me horribly sick. I drink cool liquids like a fish go to the bathroom every 15 minutes or so as a result and still feel awful. So I use the AC. The apartment building I live in is virtually uninsulated with a black roof. The apartment under mine is always 8 degrees cooler and the one above almost 10 degrees hotter. When we have a heatwave and high humidity my apartment never falls below 30C day or night with the humidity feels like 40C. When the heatwave is over it takes 4 or 5 days to cool down to normal even when it is only 16 degrees outside. I keep the curtains closed to keep the sun out and open windows at night if it is cooler outside than in. So I don't feel bad when I turn on the AC it saves my life every year.

Gianna M.

8:01AM PDT on Jun 26, 2011

Great comments. the ice, and using just a flozen open container is great, I actually use it in my car, placing it in front of the fan or when the car is left under sun when parked.

Carol C.

3:45PM PDT on Jun 21, 2011

Noted. Thank you.

Josh T.

4:34PM PDT on Jun 20, 2011

Thanks Becky!

Halim M.

3:37AM PDT on Jun 1, 2011

Thank you for the useful tips.

Krista T.

2:08PM PDT on May 30, 2011

Looking forward to trying some of these tips. The problem in the south is the high
humidity - you just drip with sweat. Terrible! Looking for ways to lower my electric bill - will try almost anything -once ! Thanks for all the tips !

Joy W.

3:19AM PDT on May 30, 2011

Thanks for the great tips.

Charles B.

6:34PM PDT on May 29, 2011

Thank you Becky!