Keeping Cool This Summer The Frugal Way

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling the heat this summer. We live in South-East QLD without air conditioning and I’m 33 weeks pregnant. Mostly the temperature has sat around 30°C (86°F) since the beginning of November, apart from the few days it was up closer to 40°C (104°F). And it’s humid, very humid.

So how do you keep cool while keeping your electricity bill and your carbon footprint down? You could avoid the heat as much as you can by going to the shops or local library (and work is usually air conditioned) but here are some tips for staying cool at home.

Short term cooling measures

1. Keep the blind and curtains closed to keep the sun out

2. If you have a hot NW wind blowing, keep the windows closed to keep the heat out

3. Otherwise, open them for cross ventilation to keep the air flowing

4. Heat rises. Try to vent the hot air upwards and outwards as much as possible

5. Stay downstairs

6. Insulate your west facing windows with aluminium foil

7. Turn off all unessential electric appliances. Even on standby, electric appliances can give off heat, making the house hot.

8. Eat salads and food that you don’t have to cook much. A hot oven will really heat up your house.

9. Keep the lights off. This is especially so if you have those hot down lights.

10. Plan around the weather. According the the BOM, UV  here at the moment reaches extreme at 7:50am and stays that way until 4:20pm. As the sun rises around 4:30am, I find that these few hours until 9am is the best time to get stuff done before it gets too hot. Unless I really have to, going out in the middle of the day doesn’t happen at this time of the year.

11. Sweat: the body’s natural cooling system. If you’re not meeting clients or what-have-you, don’t worry about being sweaty. A breeze on sweaty skin is very cooling and it’s why we sweat. It’s no coincidence that hot, spicy, sweat inducing food is consumed in some of the hottest climates in the world.

12. Alternatively, use a spay bottle to spray water on your skin to emulated the sweat response. Especially effective if you stand under or near a fan.

13. Stay still. The less activity that you do, the less you’re making your internal body temperature rise.

14. Place a box fan in a window. This helps bring cool air in (not effective if the air outside is scorching).

15. Freeze bottles of water and place in a drip tray in front of a fan. This kind of gives an ‘air conditioned’ effect as the frozen water cools the air as it passes by. Alternatively you could place a tray of ice or a bowl of water or ice wrapped in a towel and hung in front of the fan, just make sure that the air is directed through or just over it.

16. Hang your washing inside. Any breeze that comes through open doors or windows will be cooled by the water on the washing.

17. Or pin a damp sheet over an open doorway or window or in front of a fan for the same effect.

18. Cover yourself with a wet sheet and sit in front of a fan.

19. Sit in front of a fan on a picnic chair or other chair that allows air flow, with a damp t-shirt hanging over the back of it.

20. Use a damp cloth on the back of your neck and on your forehead. Or wrap a wet scarf around your neck.

21. Place some ice against the vein in your neck or wrists where you usually take your pulse for some instant cooling.

22. Leave your hair damp.

23. Soak your feet. Cooling your feet can often cool your whole body. An alternative to soaking your feet is to put on damp socks, although I don’t really find this idea appealing.

24. Use peppermint. Peppermint has a cooling effect on the skin. Add a few drops to a foot bath or dab a bit on your wrists. It’s usually not a good idea to use peppermint when pregnant or lactating.

25. Take a cold shower. I’ve read that this doesn’t work because the cold water closes your pours and makes you hotter in the long run, but I don’t find this at all. I’m cool for long after a cold shower. As I have the ‘luxury’ of being at home, I shower at the hottest part of the day or after doing the housework, so that I get some relief in the afternoon without taking more than one shower.

26. Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water and steer clear of caffeine and alcohol.

Long term cooling measures

27. Get a whirlybird. These help circulate hot air out of the roof cavity.

28. Take advantage of the government’s free insulation. Insulation will help make the house a more comfortable temperature and less of a heat trap. While this is an excellent scheme, beware of shonky installers. 

29. Paint the roof white. This helps reflect heat.

30. Use green shade on the sunny side of the house. This is the western side of the house (gets the afternoon sun) for down-under dwellers, or the southern side for northern hemisphere dwellers. Deciduous trees are good, because they will let the sun (and warmth) in in winter when you want it. If you’re a renter, then potted trees, plants and vines can also help.

31. Put up some shade cloth on the sunny side of the house. Shade the house from the sun.

32. Install ceiling fans.

33. Acclimatise. The first year we moved to QLD it was summer and that summer was a lot cooler than now, but I had mild heat stroke half the time. It really wiped me out. But you get used to it (23°C and I’m freezing now!) The longer you live without air conditioning, the more you get used to the heat and it doesn’t bother you as much anymore.

For those with Air Con: efficient air-conditioning

34. Insulate your house. If you have air con, then insulation is a must as around 40% of cooling (and heating) power is lost through an uninsulated roof.

35. Close doors and windows to keep the cool air in.

36. Cool only certain rooms. Close the door to rooms that don’t need cooling. The toilet, laundry, garage, spare room or whatever, don’t need to be cooled.

37. Insulate windows with curtains or blinds to help the air con run more efficiently.

38. Set the temperature at around 24°C (75°F) (18°C-20°C (68°F) in winter) according to Energex for most efficient cooling

39. Maintain your air con by regularly replacing filters and cleaning it. It will run more efficiently and save you money.

40. Go an extra 10 minutes without. Every time you go to turn the air con on, decide to go just another ten minutes to save on electricity.

41. Only use it when it’s really, really hot and turn it off when the house cools down. Otherwise use the frugal cooling methods above.

and one extra that I’ve read lots but don’t get…

42. Get a programmable thermostat. You are going to have to explain this to me. I read on US PF blogs everywhere to “save money by installing a programmable thermostat”. I’m assuming it’s for houses that have central heating and cooling. The idea (I think) is that you can programme your air con to run more efficiently when not at home.

Say what?

Here I am have guilt trips every time I even think about wanting an air con unit, and there are people in the world heating and cooling their house when they’re not even at home?! No wonder we have a climate crisis. Save money – turn it off when you don’t need it. If this is not an option (due to how it works or whatever) then maybe a more ecological way of cooling and heating needs to be considered.

What are your favourite ways to keep cool in Summer?

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1. fun frugal summer holiday ideas
2. keeping young kids amused round up
3. Laundry Made Frugal
4. tip tuesday – keeping a restock list
5. 15 Ways to Keep Warm this Winter