6 Ways to Survive the Heat Without Air Conditioning

Summer comes every year, bringing surprises even to places that usually don't suffer from extreme heat. If you think climate-controlled housing is the only salvation during hot weather, you're wrong. We explain why.

Turn Off Electrical Appliances

During summer, it's best to use electrical appliances that release a lot of heat into the surrounding space as infrequently as possible. Preferably only in the evening, when the mercury drops outside your window.

The same applies to the oven, gas stove or cooktop, especially in a small kitchen. Incandescent light bulbs should also be replaced with energy-saving ones before the hot season arrives.

Be cautious with advice to moisten curtains or hang wet towels in front of windows. The same goes for recommendations to place a vase with a weak salt solution next to a fan or fill the bathtub with cold water and open the bathroom door.

Of course, if the air in your apartment is too dry, it affects breathing organs and disrupts sleep. Evaporating water can lower the room temperature by one and a half to two degrees. But over-humidifying the air creates tropical humidity, which is even harder to bear.

Better place several low and wide containers with water near living plants. You can even put a pump-fountain on solar batteries in such an improvised mini-pond.

Oxygen supply is necessary: in hot weather, its concentration drops noticeably. Additionally, airflow from a draft or fan increases heat dissipation from the surface of our skin, creating an illusion of coolness.

You can ventilate your apartment with cross-ventilation by opening windows and doors at night and closing them tightly during the heat wave.

Just as in winter, before the heat arrives, check the seals around window and door frames. If windows were installed following all technical details, hot outside air won't seep through even the smallest gaps. An insulated door works like a thermos, preserving coolness inside.

But it’s also possible to wrap a towel rack or hot water pipes with insulation, if they still warm up even in summer. In the worst case, improvise with several layers of newspaper and tape.

Summer is the time when you should let as little sunlight inside as possible! Light-reflecting structures: shutters and blinds — preferably installed on the street side so they reflect heat outward.

Metallized film, which can be applied to glass from the inside, quickly becomes unusable. Therefore, it is glued to the inner surface. But if heat arrives year after year in your climate and lasts for at least a couple of months, it's more rational to consider light-reflective coating.

Most solar rays enter through the top part of the glass unit, so try to shade at least that area with an awning, a canopy or climbing plants — again, from the outside. This way, windows will heat up less.

To shield your apartment from excessive solar radiation, start with balconies and loggias. Protection should be multi-layered. It's best to combine adjustable-height blinds, roller or Roman curtains with floor-to-ceiling drapes.

In particularly intense heat, try placing bedding in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator in the morning and laying it on the bed before bedtime. Linen and natural silk provide a cooling sensation in summer.

As for carpets from the floor, it's better to remove them for the season. Walking barefoot in hot weather is more pleasant, and recommended damp cleaning once or twice a day becomes easier. Compromise options can be burlap or woven mats and rugs. Have a comfortable summer!