When you have an apartment rather than a house, you may well feel like it is a lot more challenging to ensure that it is kept cool. However, there are plenty of simple solutions that can help to ensure that you are not going to roast during the summer months of the year. Ultimately, it is the case that a combination approach can prove to be the best one, and it may be that no single solution will be best, but you can practice a few of them – depending on your budget and the individual restrictions that are placed on you. So, here are a few steps for keeping your apartment cool.
Invest in the Right Air Conditioning Unit
When you think about keeping your apartment cool, your mind may immediately drift towards investing in an air conditioning unit. However, you may well need one that is specifically suited to your living situation, such as a wall mounted air conditioner without outdoor unit.
Of course, if you are renting your place, this may well not prove to be such a viable option, but if you are an apartment owner, it could be one that is worth looking into – particularly if you are constantly frustrated by the hotter months of the year and how much you end up roasting.
Close Drapes or Blinds During Hot Parts of the Day
Just as it is important to use your drapes in the right way in the winter to keep the heat inside, this is also bound to be true of the summer as well. When the sun is beating through your window, this is inevitably going to jack up the heat levels to the point that it is much harder to reduce the temperature all over again. Instead, you are much better off stopping the heat from getting inside in the first place by making sure that it is kept cool by closing your drapes or curtains; you can reduce the temperature by opening windows once the outside air temp is cooler than inside.
Use Portable Fans
This is a particularly effective solution if you are in a position where you are not able to install an AC unit at home. A few portable fans can end up making such a big difference to how hot you are in the apartment. If you choose a couple of strategic locations, such as in the living room and the bedroom, this will help you to have the maximum level of impact. If you really want to maximize the impact that the fan is having at home, you could fill a large bowl with ice and put it in front of the fan to keep you even cooler. This is a great DIY solution that many people do not know about and is certainly one that is going to be worth putting into practice.
Avoid Using Too Many Kitchen Appliances
During the hotter months of the year, the last thing that you want to be doing is blasting out the oven – so avoid any dishes that are going to take an extended period of time. You could instead look to invest in appliances that are not going to jack up the temperature at home. For example, it could certainly be worthwhile using a slow cooker instead. Otherwise, you could focus on the cooler meals out there that are going to help you out in not overheating. For example, some nice salads are a great choice to think about.
Open Your Windows Up at Night
Opening up the windows is not always going to be a natural solution if the outdoor temperature actually happens to be hotter than what you have got going on inside. However, if the night-time temperature drops down enough, it is certainly going to be worth opening up those windows as you are then going to be able to make the most of the cool night air. This is particularly the case in the bedroom when you are trying to drift off, as so many people struggle to sleep when it gets to be too hot at night.
Put Your Sheets in the Freezer
Speaking of the possible solutions that you can use to help you drift off at night, one possible option that you could try out is to put your sheets in the freezer (if you have the room). This can help to give you a highly pleasant cool experience to roll around in rather than feeling like you are too stuffy and struggling to get to the comfortable sleeping temperature that you are looking for.
Repaint the Apartment in Lighter Colours
If you have the potential option to repaint the apartment in lighter colors, this is a great one as these are not going to absorb the heat in the same way as the darker ones. At the same time, there is also something of a psychological trick as you naturally start to feel hotter when you feel like you are encased in darker colors, whereas lighter colors can certainly have the opposite effect, which is going to be more than worthwhile.
While you do not have as much control over the temperature of your home when you are living in an apartment, there are still a few steps that you can take to ensure that you are not going to overheat.
Ultimately, these are just some of the possible solutions that you can put into practice. Not every single one is going to work well for you, but some of them may prove to be perfect and will have the cooling effect that you are looking for. You could try out a few of them to see what works and what does not. Part of this is all going to come down to where you are living and the specific setup of your apartment, as well as how much control you have over the place; mainly whether you are renting the place or if you own it and can make more changes.
