It will be puffy the next few days. In fact, temperatures are rising so high that the National Heat Plan applies from Thursday. And so every bit of coolness is a bonus. But how do you keep the extreme heat out of your home without running the air conditioning at full blast? We will explain that to you here.
Fortunately, there are all kinds of tricks to keep the heat out of your home. Perhaps the most important thing is: “Start on time. Actually before your house is warm,” NOS weather forecaster Roosmarijn Knol previously told Omroep Brabant. “A house has a buffering effect. When it gets hot outside, it takes a while before your house is really warm. But then it also takes a long time before your house cools down again.”
1. Close windows and doors
So let’s get started! If there is one tip that Knol would like to give, it is: keep windows and doors closed during the day. “That feels strange, because you usually open your windows when you want to cool your house. But it is now warmer outside than inside. When you open your windows and doors, you let the warm air in.”
Fortunately, you don’t need any fresh air at all. “When it cools down in the evening and at night, you can open everything. If it is colder outside than inside, everything can be opened.” Later we will tell you the best way to do that.
2. Sun blinds or curtains
It is important to protect your house from the sun, for example with sun blinds or parasols. Then those tropical sun rays have no chance of releasing heat into the house.
If you do not have these items, it is best to close the curtains. That may not be very pleasant, but it is useful. Be careful: when you open your curtain again, the warm air between the window and the curtain will enter your house.
3. Dry laundry outside
Then Knol also has a less obvious tip: don’t let your washed clothes dry indoors. “If you do that, the humidity will rise. This will make it oppressively warm inside and the perceived temperature will rise,” says Knol.
4. Green garden
The garden can also help keep your house cool: “A green garden can be a few degrees cooler.”
5. Ventilate at night
And now how you can cool your house extra at night. According to Lisanne Havinga, the fan plays an important role in this. She is an assistant professor of Building Performance at the Technical University in Eindhoven.
Once it has cooled down in the evening, she advises opening windows upstairs and downstairs. Place the fan in the top room about one and a half to two meters away from the window.
“It sounds strange, but aim the fan at the open window. This creates a negative pressure in the other rooms. A kind of chimney effect that sucks in the warm air and removes it. You can also set the alarm and do it in the early morning.” But be careful with this. Of course, you don’t want burglars in your house either.