Summer is here
in full force. Hardly a day goes by without one reading about summer foods that
are cooling to the body, summer activities, summer vacations, summer clothes,
etc. Almost everyone today has an air-conditioner, or cooler and other such
cooling gadgets in their home, these gadgets work full time during the
swelteringly hot months while also contributing to one’s energy bills. The following
are a few tips that shall definitely help in cooling down one’s house in
summer.
For those that
live on the top floor of a building – the sun hitting the roof in the day makes
it extremely hot for the inhabitants living on the floor below. A very cost-effective
and simple option would be to whitewash your terrace/roof. The stark white
deflects sun rays and looks good too. One can also go for other similar
reflective coatings – solar reflectance and thermal emmittance being the two
key material surface properties that determine a roofs temperature.
If one has space
on the terrace or in the balcony – growing plants is a very good idea. Apart
from cooling down the area and looking good, gardening is a very soothing and
satisfying hobby, albeit hard work. There are very few that don’t love the
smell of the Earth after the rains. Imagine sitting on your terrace or in your
balcony, sipping a cup of tea on your deck chair/swing, combined with a faint
whiff of flowers and wet earth from the just watered plants – BLISS!
However, in
order to prevent one’s plants from getting burnt or dying out it is necessary
to have a form of shade for them. One can cover an area with green nets
(agro-nets) that are very easily available at the market or even at your local
nursery where one buy’s the plants from. These agro-nets are not only
eco-friendly but also keep out about 70% of the heat.
The balcony too
can be covered with this green netting. Though using bamboo shades is a good
idea too. Again, this not an expensive option, and is easy to install as well.
Bamboo shades require no maintenance, filter out sunlight and block direct
heat.
One can cover
windows with roll up bamboo shades or also use light flowing curtains. Going
for lovely light pinks, blues, greens and oranges for windows not only makes
the room cooler but looks very attractive too. Having a room with light colours
on the walls automatically cools down the space.
Ideally, one
should get air-conditioners and coolers serviced before the onset of summer.
This ensures that they will work effectively. Also, then one does not have to
worry about waiting for 2 odd days without any cooling because the product conked
out as it was not serviced.