How To Keep House Cool Without Air Conditioner – 2022 Guide

| Last Updated: August 24, 2021

When you are outside in the heat, nothing beats walking into an air-conditioned house. While it may dry out your lips, it is a lifesaver when the weather is particularly warm, especially at night. 

However, if you do not have the luxury of air conditioning, keeping your house cool in the warmer months can feel almost impossible. 

Not only is there no escape from the heat outside, but the nights tend to be the worst, and the heat can make it difficult to get a good night’s rest.

If you are fed up with the heat in your house, you will be relieved to know that there are many ways you can keep your house cool without the need for an air conditioner. 

In this article, we will be talking you through all of these different methods to help find a solution that will work the best for you. 

1. Insulate Your Attic

While you may associate insulating your attic with helping to retain heat in your house, insulation can help to keep your house cool.

When you insulate your attic efficiently, while this will stop heat from escaping your house during the colder months, it will help to prevent heat from entering the house via the attic in the warmer months. 

Insulation does not have to be expensive and you will be surprised by the difference it will make in helping to keep your house cool when it is warm.  

In addition to insulating your attic, did you know that you can insulate your windows too? By installing window films, your windows will become far more efficient. 

2. Install Ceiling Fans

If you do not already have ceiling fans installed in your home, you should certainly consider them. While they are an investment, they are not overly expensive and they will help to keep the heat in your house circulating.

In addition to this, if you are on more of a budget they are a lot cheaper in comparison to installing an Air Conditioning unit. 

When you are looking for a good ceiling fan, you should consider one that has three to four blades. These fans are a lot more efficient in comparison to ones with more blades. 

While there are many fans available, if you are concerned about the running costs, a fan that uses DC power instead of AC will be more efficient in the long run.

3. Use Your Ceiling Fans Correctly

If you already own ceiling fans, you will want to ensure that they are running correctly. While any ceiling fan that is being used will help to cool a room down, there are specific ways in which you can make the fan more efficient. 

While your ceiling fans should be on a clockwise rotation setting during the winter, do not forget to change them to a counter-clockwise setting in the summer. While this may not seem like a big change, you will be surprised by the difference in temperature after you have done this. 

By using an anti-clockwise rotation, will helpAlso to push the hot air towards the ceiling and the room will feel a lot cooler as a result.

4. Fan Maintenance

Photo credit: TheSpruce.com

In addition to changing the fan settings, you should also ensure that you are keeping on top of the maintenance. After all, you want your fans to remain as efficient as possible.

There are a few different ways you can do this, such as keeping them free of dust, ensuring they are turning correctly, and oiling them if they become a little stiff. If you keep on top of these small maintenance jobs, your fan will continue to work at an optimal capacity. 

5. Keep Your Blinds Closed

While it is nice to have sunlight coming in through the windows of your home during a hot day, this will significantly increase the heat in your home.

Given this, we would recommend closing the blinds in your home during the day. Especially in rooms, you plan to use more in the evening, such as bedrooms and living rooms. 

Blackout blinds tend to be the best option, especially if they are white.

Not only will they stop any light from entering through the window, but the white color will reflect the heat rather than absorbing it.

6. Standing and Desk Fans

In addition to investing in ceiling fans, standing and desk fans can help to keep the air circulating too. 

When it is particularly warm, they will not help a great deal in removing the heat, but they can make a room feel cooler due to the circulation it creates.

If you direct the fan so that it is facing you during the night, this can help the room to feel a lot cooler than it is by creating a breeze.

A great way to make standing and desk fans feel cooler is to place a bucket or bowl of ice in front of it. This will create your DIY version of an AC unit. When the cold air blows over the iced water it will cool and when the air reaches you it will be a lot more refreshing. 

This technique can also be used with a cold towel placed in front of the fan. While this technique is not quite as successful, it can still help to keep a room cooler.

Photo credit: thesleepadviser.com

7. Add Window Fans

Installing window fans is a great way of keeping your room cool without having to worry about the bugs that will come in through the window during the night. 

These fans can help to create a cross breeze in your room and are a great solution. 

8. Avoid Using Your Oven

While this is not always possible, reducing the amount of time you are using your oven will significantly decrease the amount of heat in your home, and kitchen in particular.

We would recommend microwaving or grilling as an alternative as this will not add to the heat already in your home.

9. Extraction Fans

If you have extraction fans in your kitchen or bathroom, regularly running these when it is warm will help to remove excess heat in your home. 

While it will not remove it completely, it will extract some of the heat. This will help to remove the warm air in the house with cooler air from the outside.

10. Open Your Windows

This is one of the simplest things you can do but it will help significantly. However, we would recommend that you keep your blinds closed even when the window is open to stop the light from entering the room.

Even if it is warm outside, opening the window will allow the air in your home to circulate and be replaced by slightly cooler air. 

The only downside to leaving your window open during the warmer months is the potential of bugs and insects entering your home. However, even if you only open the window slightly, this will allow for better airflow.

While it is good to keep the windows open during the day, opening them during the night can help to remove the warm air and replace it with cooler air. At night, the temperature outside will drop significantly and you should take advantage of this. 

11. Keep Your Interior Doors Open

While it may seem tempting to close the doors to unused rooms during the day, this will trap the warm air inside these rooms. The best thing you can do is to keep as many doors open inside your home during the day.

This will significantly help the airflow and will keep all areas of your house much cooler. 

When it is cooler in the evening, keeping your backyard door open can also be useful. This will allow the warm air to escape and the cooler air to enter the house. While this can attract bugs and flies, if you open the door in short bursts this can help to keep your house cool without too many insects entering your home. 

12. Turn Off Electricals

Electricals that are left to run when they are not being used can create a surprising amount of heat. While this may not seem significant in the cooler months, when it is warm, the last thing you want to do is add more heat to your home.

Electricals such as the TV, computers, games consoles and laptops should always be switched off when they are not in use, especially if they are running overnight. 

13. Turn Off Lights 

Similar to electrics running unnecessarily, you should also ensure that you are turning off lights when they are not in use. While they do not produce a lot of heat overall, they will add to the heat slightly.

The more energy-efficient your lights are, the less heat they will generate. If you are using older light bulbs, it is certainly worth considering more economic bulbs instead. 

Summary

We hope that some of the suggestions that we have recommended have been helpful. As you can see, there are many things you can do to ensure that your house stays cooler when it is particularly warm.

While an air conditioning unit is the quickest and best way to keep a house cool, there are many other ways to keep your house cool, such as allowing airflow and using ceiling, window, and desktop fans.

The majority of these tips are inexpensive and certainly worth trying. When it comes to keeping a house cool, it is all about finding the best solutions for you. 

While some of these suggestions will only make a small difference, when they are all combined, you will be surprised by how much cooler your house will become.



My name is Bob Wells and I am a retired HVAC tech from Washington state. I am currently retired and no longer do much with HVAC, however, I feel like I have a lot of knowledge in the subject and I wanted to create a website where I could talk about what I've learned and help upcoming HVAC techs. Find more info about me and HVAC Training 101.