Staying Cool Without AC

I have a love/hate relationship with air conditioning. On one hand, having my house a comfortable temperature when outside it’s sweltering is pretty amazing. On the other hand, running the AC is expensive and having it on constantly not only makes the house feel a little stuffy and is terrible for my sinuses. Not to mention sleeping without AC is rough sometimes.

So, obviously, I’ve found plenty of tricks to stay cool without having the air conditioning unit running constantly. Here are a few tricks for keeping your AC bill and temperature down:

Don’t use your oven

You’d be amazed at how much your oven heats up your whole house. During the hottest weeks of summer, plan meals that are all on the stove top or don’t require heat at all, like salads and sandwiches. As a bonus, lighter meals and cooler meals tend to help keep you cooler in the summer as well!

Hang your laundry outside

Like the oven, the dryer also lets off a lot of heat. If possible, hang your clothes out to dry on a line instead of heating your house with the dryer. If you don’t have a dryer, then only run it in the evenings, when the temperature has dropped some.

Dress Appropriately

This goes without saying, but if you want to stay cool then you’ll need to wear summer clothes. Ditch the blue jeans and try and stick to clothing that breathes to help keep you cool.

Stay Hydrated

When it’s hot outside, you’re going to lose more water than normal so it’s super important to stay hydrated. So, when you’re feeling a little warm grab your favorite iced beverage and relax!

Invest in fans

Fans are the best! Even if the air is warm, getting it to circulate will do wonders for cooling things down quite a bit. You don’t have to spend a ton of money on it–a cheap box fan will work just as well as an expensive oscillating one.

Keep the curtains closed

Blocking out the sun and keeping the lights off will easily help you keep the temperatures down. In the morning, close the curtains on the east side of the house. When the sun goes down, close the curtains on the west side to block out the hot afternoon rays.

Use those cool mornings

In a lot of places, the mornings will be cooler than the afternoon so take advantage of it and throw open all your windows to let that cooler air in. As soon as it starts to get hot, close them and enjoy your cooler air. If it’s humid I might recommend keeping things closed up though, as humidity will make it miserable.

Stay inside when it’s hot

The best part of summer is being outdoors, but I highly recommend trying to stay inside during the heat of the day. Where I live, it’s anywhere from noon to 3 p.m. but some places it will be earlier or later in the day. If you do decide to venture out during the heat of the day, be sure to take it easy and drink lots of liquid!

What other tips do you have for staying cool? Share with me in the comments!