August is one of the hottest months of the year. Obviously, it’s a great time to get outside and enjoy outdoor summer activities. Of course, when it’s necessary to be inside, it’s a good idea to have an air conditioner that works well.
If you are already living in one of our apartments, you have some kind of air conditioning provided. And we have staff to keep it working for you all summer. But what if you would like to keep your electric bills at a minimum, or you live somewhere that doesn’t have air conditioning, or your air conditioner stops working properly? Then what do you do?
Here are a few quick ideas that will help you stay cooler inside your apartment…
Go For Cotton
If you’re outside in the sun and want to have your clothes wick away the sweat and evaporate quickly, man-made fibers can do the trick. But indoors, you have a different problem. The main issue is staying comfortable during the night for sleeping. In order to get your best sleep, cotton sheets can help. And, lounging around in cotton before bed can be quite comfortable too. It’s an excellent fabric at light weight because it is breathable. That helps with airflow keeping you cool.
Keep Clothes Light And Loose
If you choose to wear heavy clothing in the heat of summer, that’s your choice, but you might want to rethink it. Without air conditioning, it’s better to wear light weight clothing and let it hang loose. Nice cotton skirts for the ladies and loose cotton shirts for the guys are a good place to start. Then carry that through to pants (or, better yet, shorts) and even underwear. And, as mentioned above, at night some loose cotton pajamas can help.
Freeze Your Sheets
It’s not fun tossing and turning all night because of the heat. Often if you can fall asleep you are much more likely to stay asleep, so how about starting with a chill? You can pack your sheets into a plastic bag and then put that bag in the freezer. (The bag is necessary to keep your sheets dry. Cool and moist doesn’t sound very enjoyable!) Pull the sheets out of the freezer right before going to sleep. Put them on the bed and enjoy the coolness. Of course your sheets won’t stay cold all night, but the initial cool blast can help you be more comfortable so you can fall asleep faster.
Focus More On Air Flow
If the air conditioner is not delivering, or you want to leave it turned off, fans are the next best thing. Air moving all around you makes a big difference. It is certainly much more comfortable that still air. Put fans in every room you may be in and point them so that you feel the flow. If you are sitting within a cross breeze of several fans, it can be quite comfortable even if the air conditioning is low or turned off. Even if your air conditioner works fine, you can use fans to reduce your spending by keeping the A/C on a lower setting.
Drink Plenty Of Water
When warm, it’s important that you drink more water to stay hydrated. It’s a good idea to have water before bedtime as well. And, if the heat causes you to toss and and turn in bed, it’s likely that you will slowly become dehydrated. Having a glass of water nearby to sip from time to time will help with that. Another idea related to water is the thought of taking a cold shower. Doing this before bed can nicely reduce your temperature so that you reenter the temperature comfort zone. Combine this with the frozen sheet trick and you might be good for a few hours.
Keep Lights Off
Do you still have incandescent light bulbs? If so, they put out a lot of heat. You should replace them with LED bulbs if that’s an option. LED bulbs give off very little heat. CFL lights are better than incandescent too, but they still generate some heat. Any heat you get from light bulbs will warm your rooms and warm you. While you might not notice this in the winter the bulbs can add to your summer heat discomfort. Therefore you should only use lights when you need them.
I hope you enjoy these tips to help you keep your cool while the summer heat remains.