How to keep your home cool this summer

With UK temperatures consistently rising, more and more people are worried about how to stay cool during the summer months. Here we've shared some of our top tips on how to keep your home cool during the summer.

Create a cross breeze 

A good hack to ensure the air flows quickly into a room is to create a cross breeze with your windows - if you have two windows which are in line with each other or positioned diagonally, keep them both open. You can also place a fan in front of each window (one fan blows in air from the outside, while the other window is reversed and blows air outside). 

Block out sunlight and heat

It is much easier to prevent a room from getting hot by blocking direct sunlight. Shutting blinds and curtains during the door can keep a room cool. It’s also wise to open all internal doors if you’re trying to cool a room down, as this will maximise airflow through the house. It is counter-intuitive to use appliances that generate heat in a room you are trying to cool, so keep this in mind before deciding to use ovens, hair dryers or other electrical appliances. 

Set fans to anti-clockwise 

You also want to ensure any ceiling fans are set to anti-clockwise so they don’t distribute the warm air. Tower fans are also recommended as their oscillating switches work by creating a wind-chill effect rather than lowering the temperature of a room. Likewise, you can position a shallow bowl of ice, ice packs or a frozen water bottle behind your fan, which can be very effective at quickly cooling a room. 

Invest in an air conditioning unit

If you’re still struggling to cool a room down, you may want to consider installing air conditioning. The demand for air conditioning in the UK has risen significantly in the past few years, with the UK Energy Research Centre predicting that 32% of households will have an air conditioning unit by 2050. A cheap air conditioning unit can range from around £1900 to £3000, with more expensive models setting you back around £6000 or more. 

Your air conditioner installation cost depends on a few different factors;

• Size of room or space you want cooling 
• Number of rooms you want cooling 
• The size and type of property 
• The make and model of air conditioner you choose 
• Your choice of extra features for your air-conditioner

Depending on your needs, the type of air conditioning model you choose will have enough power to keep your room cool, and your temperature stable, all day long. If your windows and doors are fully sealed, for example, you’ll need less power to keep your home cool, as the cold air will circulate inside rather than escaping outdoors.

Modern air conditioning units can also purify the air in your home, catching airborne dust particles and neutralising bacteria, fungi and microbes. For hayfever sufferers, this can provide relief from the irritants that cause hayfever symptoms during the spring and summer months.

After the initial installation cost, to help keep your air conditioning bills down, be sure to only run your unit when windows and doors are fully shut, never leave it running when you’re not home, and be sure to get your AC serviced regularly.