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Living in South Africa, we all know about the heat in summer. South Africa has scorching areas where temperatures between 35 and 45 degrees are expected during the day. However, the temperature drops after dark, and it is fresh out but hot indoors. Let us look at a few affordable ways to cool your home in summer.
When we sleep at night, it feels like we are in a heated room. So how do we reduce the temperature in the house to be more comfortable without using an air conditioner? Running an aircon is expensive, considering the cost of energy today. The idea of insulating our homes with thermal insulation is to reduce the need for heating and cooling.
35% Of All Heat Entering The Home is Via The Windows
We need windows in the home, right? So let us look at a few ways to reduce the sun’s rays from heating our house.
Firstly, we need to consider ways to block the heat. Secondly, we need to execute this plan. We live in South Africa, so open windows all day is not an option for many homeowners.
Blockout Curtains
Without a doubt, Blockout Curtains are a great start, and they don’t cost an arm and a leg. However, it is essential to find heavy blockout curtains that will make your room almost dark at night and during the day. The guys at Volpes Curtains have an excellent range of curtains that will achieve this goal. On a scale of 1 to 10, block-out curtains are a solid 7 affordable ways to cool your home in summer.
The blockout curtains will reduce heat flow into the room and create an insulation barrier between the window and the curtains, forcing the bulk of the heat to be lost via the window. However, if you live in an area where windows can be left open, it would be advantageous to leave them slightly open. As heat will always follow the easiest escape route, if the windows are slightly open, the heat trapped between the window and the curtains will easily flow into the open space.
Solar Film is an Affordable way to Cool Your Home.
Solar Film
There are many solar film options; however, it is essential to use a reputable company when installing solar film. The solar film will block the sun’s rays by as much as 90%. Most importantly, the solar film is not overly expensive. The guys at Solucent Solar Films have a vast range of solar film products to help in summer and winter. Without a doubt, block-out curtains and solar film are some of the more accessible and affordable ways to cool your home in summer at a low cost.
35% Of All Heat Entering The Home is Via The Ceiling
Importantly, we must remember that the sun will heat the roof space all day. In summer, the roof space heats up with the sun’s rays. In some homes, we have measured temperatures as high as 60 degrees on the ceiling. Now, one must consider that this is almost like underfloor heating in summer. Let us look at a few ways to block the radiated heat from the ceiling or find a way to stop the effects of this heat.
Roof ventilation is one of the most effective ways to cool your roof space
Roof Ventilation
Proper roof ventilation is one of the most affordable ways to prevent hot air from being trapped in the roof space. The Roof ventilators are fitted on the roof just below the pitch. As the heat builds up in the roof space, the pressure gets the ventilators extracting the heat.
Houses fitted with WhirlyBird roof ventilators have a far more relaxed roof space. For this reason, the heat buildup is reduced, and the roof space stays cool. Also, moisture and condensation are reduced substantially in the house in summer.
Notably, ceiling mould has also been reduced significantly. We do install WhirlyBird roof ventilators, and the cost of these units is under R2000. For more information, check out our roof ventilators price list.
135mm Knauf Ecose Insulation double layer installed
Roof Insulation
The best option for blocking the heat flow into the home, as much as 90%, is installing products like Aerolite Insulation, Knauf Ecose Insulation, or Isotherm. However, roof insulation is a bit more expensive. Apart from this, additional benefits are enormous. They are recovering the insulation cost on energy saving in two to three years alone.
Ceiling insulation is the most significant single product that will improve indoor temperature by 4 – 8 degrees. Besides, Roofing insulation is the best of the affordable ways to cool your home in summer. Roof insulation may cost as much as R10000 for an average house by recovering the insulation cost in two to three years on energy saving in the home. Check roof insulation prices.
Ceiling Fans
Installing a ceiling fan is one of the affordable ways to cool your home in the summer. Most ceiling fans have lighting fitted out of the box. Ceiling fans are simple to do. Just remove the old bedroom light. Install the new ceiling fan. Importantly, ensure the wiring is secure, and the fan is tight.
All ceiling fans have between 3 and 7 settings. Additionally, summer and winter settings are available on the fans. Summer settings blow the wind-down, whereas winter settings suck the air upwards and then down. The benefit of these fans is that they move the air in the room, allowing a more comfortable environment. The cost of ceiling fans can vary from R800 to R8000. Check out these guys, Solent Ceiling Fans, for pricing on ceiling fans.
Switch Off Lights
Switch off as many lights as possible. In particular, if you have the old 40-watt lights, replace them with the new cool 4-watt LEDs. The added benefit is that these lights are far more energy-efficient and they are more relaxed. However, there is no need if you are lucky enough to have Solar Energy. Solar energy creates free electricity from the sun.
Switch Off The TV in the Bedroom
One of the most affordable ways to cool your home in summer is by switching off the TV. Did you know the TV is almost like having a heater in the bedroom? Many retire to the bedroom early and watch their favourite programmes before bed. The TV creates heat in the room, but the radiant heat from the screen causes the biggest problem.
Free Ways To Cool Your Home
Free is always good, so let’s look at a few free ways to cool your home. Firstly, having trees in the garden will create shade if the trees are planted in the correct areas, reducing heat gain in the house. For this reason, we need to grow our trees in the proper areas if we want to harness the shade.
