One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning® of Bucks County is Elkins Park's go-to company for heater repair and AC services. But what if you want to live without AC this summer?

It is possible with ideas like the ones we're going to give you. First, we have five ways to stay cool while the sun beats down during the day.

Increase shade around your home.

If the sun shines directly on your home's exterior or gets into your home through the windows, the heat will get inside and raise the interior temperature. It's only logical, then, to block the sunlight. Consider planting tall trees with leaves that will capture the sunlight and provide shade for your home. To keep the sun away from your windows, you can install awnings.

Repaint your house.

Since darker colors absorb more heat, a house with a dark layer of paint on it will get hotter when the sun shines on it than a light-colored house.

Use fans, including bathroom exhaust fans.

Like air conditioning, fans work by moving and circulating air. To get the most out of your fans, they should do more than just push air around. For example, by positioning a fan so that it blows air outside, you'll remove hot air from the room instead of just blowing hot air around.  Run your ceiling fans counterclockwise to move the air up, and try running multiple fans in one room to increase air movement.

Your bathroom exhaust fans are there to circulate air, so you can use them too, especially if you take a hot shower that steams up your bathroom.

Don't use your stove.

Of all your household appliances, your stove can be the biggest offender when it comes to heating your house. That's a good thing during the winter, but not so much during the summer. There are many alternatives to cooking with your oven and stove: go out to eat, order takeout, cook with your microwave, make foods that don't require cooking (like salads), or cook outside on a grill or barbeque.  

Get a new roof.

Like painting your house, this may sound like a major undertaking, but a new roof can have a significant impact on your home's temperature. When the summer sun beats down on shingles, they absorb the heat, whereas materials like slate, concrete, clay, metal, and some types of tiles are better for insulating your home against a rise in temperature.   

Staying Cool at Night

If you were to ask people their least favorite thing about summer, near the top of the list would probably be the fact that it's often too hot to sleep comfortably. Here are some ways to keep cool and sleep through a hot summer night:  

Put your sheets in the freezer.

Yes, you read that right. Put your sheets in a plastic bag and leave them in your freezer for a few minutes. They'll warm up once you get in bed, but at least you and your sheets will be the coolest thing in the room for a while.

Sleep with damp sheets.

This trick can be dated all the way back to Ancient Egypt. Just dampen a sheet or towel with cool water and use it as a blanket. To prevent the water from soaking through to your mattress, put a dry towel between the mattress and the damp sheets.

Sleep on the floor.

The science behind this tip is as simple as can be: warm air rises, so you stay cooler the farther down you are. Put a mattress on the ground floor, or even in the basement of your home to keep the heat far above you.

Sleep in a hammock.

Hammocks offer more air-flow than beds, so you won't heat up as much. Combine this with tip #3 (a hammock low off the floor) for maximum coolness.  

Use a cold water bottle or a sock full of rice.

Cold compresses (ice packs or similar devices) are a great way to apply coolness to a specific area of the body; use enough of them at once, and you can stay cool from head to toe. Just like some people take a hot water bottle to bed with them during the winter, you can apply the same idea to staying cool in the summer.

As for the sock full of rice, it will absorb cold and reach an icy temperature if you leave it in the freezer for about an hour, and will stay cold for about a half an hour.  Fill a sock with rice, tie it off, and take it to bed with you when it's ready.

But there's an easier way to stay cool.

We're not knocking any of these methods. They do work, but they aren't always particularly convenient, fashionable, or cost-effective.

Instead of getting so creative, you can stay cool the best way of all — with a working air conditioner from the company that handles AC and heater repair for the Glenside area, One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning® of Bucks County.

To see whether your AC is ready to take the heat or in need of maintenance, watch our short video, "3 Signs That You Need AC Repair Now":

And for all your HVAC needs, contact One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning® of Bucks County.

Sources:

https://greatist.com/happiness/tricks-to-sleep-in-the-heat

https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/how-to-keep-your-house-cool-without-cranking-the-ac/