Summer has started. We are experiencing much higher temperatures in recent years which, just like with cold weather, can affect people’s health. During Winter, our advice is centred around keeping residents warm, but it’s just as important to keep cool during hot weather so we have compiled a list of ways you can do this.

The first thing to know is that heat rises. This can often lead to upstairs bedrooms being particularly warm by the end of the day. If you have a loft, then you can open your loft hatch to help the heat rise further than the bedroom and collect in a space that you don’t use.

Keeping blinds and curtains closed during the sunniest times of the day will help keep your home cool. This goes against our instincts of wanting to let the light in, but is particularly beneficial during peak hours between 12-3pm.

In the early hours of the morning, or later in the evening, you can start to open your windows. You can create a crosswind through your home by opening windows on opposite sides of the property. This will help create a flow of fresh air, instead of recycling warm air in the property.

If you do open your windows, you can place an electric fan in front of it: this will help draw cool air into the home and direct it towards a specific area/person. Electric fans do use energy, but most standard fans only cost around 1p per hour, so is a relatively cheap method of keeping cool.

Another tip is that the warm spaces we signpost to during colder months could also be cool spaces during hot spells. Visiting a free space with air-conditioning, such as libraries and community spaces, will help you keep cool and save money.

If you want to stay cool and reduce your energy consumption at the same time, you can replace your showers with shorter, colder showers. Another energy efficient tip is to increase your property’s insulation. Installing insulation in your property works to help prevent your home temperature being affected by the outside temperature. This means that it helps keep your home warm in the winter and cooler in the summer.

If you are interested in improving the insulation in your property for the future, there are a number of grants that could help. You can contact us on 0800 988 2881 for a free eligibility check.

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