We’ve never lived in a place where you didn’t need a heater in the winter and air conditioning in the summer… until our recent move to the Seattle area. Here, homes don’t have centralized air conditioning because they say you don’t need it.
While that may be true, we’ve noticed the interior of our home can be a bit too hot these days, hotter than even the outside! Enough to make you sweat, in fact. As such, we’ve been learning to strategically open windows and doors to get a good breeze so a handful of the suggestions below will be about maximizing that strategy…
1. Determine prevailing wind direction (and use it)
The first step is to figure out which windows and doors to open to get that breeze flowing good. Probably the best way to do it is to experiment one weekend to see what works for you but, in general, winds blow from west to east (with plenty of localized exceptions to that rule) so you could just start with opening any east and west facing windows and see what happens.
Beyond that, try standing outside and see how the wind blows around your house. There are many factors that might affect this, from other homes to trees, slopes, time of year, time of day, and more. Once you get a good idea of how the wind blows then get to opening some windows!
2. Not all windows or doors produce the same results
Though you can open just about any window or door and let some air in, there’s a big difference between just “letting some air in” and actually getting a good breeze going.
For example, when we first started realizing we needed to open some windows to cool things down we started with a small window in the kitchen and a larger one in the living room. While this helped a bit there happened to be a wall between the two windows which didn’t allow for much of a flow.
Eventually, we learned to open one particular door in the dining room as well as a window in the living room and that got a good breeze going that worked to really cool most of the house (it’s a single story home). The same goes for our bedroom where we could open a window there and one in the bathroom to get a good, unobstructed breeze going.
You’re going to want to experiment and see what combination works best for you. Also, doors allow much more airflow than windows but bugs and insects can be a problem. Consider installing a screen door on those doors you’ve identified as most suitable.
3. Use the time of day to your advantage
It should go without saying that as the day progresses it gets hotter and eventually cools down at night. Use this to your advantage and choose to get a cool breeze going early in the morning and late at night if you can. Then close the windows/doors when the sun starts to come up.
You might be surprised at how much even a one or two degree drop in temps can help throughout the day and, I’d imagine, to keep your air conditioning from running as much. I’d suggest leaving windows open at night when it’s coolest but that’s got to be up to you due to security concerns. Speaking of which, it’s generally NOT a good idea to leave windows/doors open during the day in rooms that you’re not actually using for home security reasons as well.
4. Force the issue
Sometimes the wind just isn’t blowing like you’d prefer but you know the outside air is cooler and you want to take advantage of it. What to do? Force the issue… with fans.
Probably the best way to do so is with an attic fan but that’s not something everyone has and can be a bit expensive to install. You could, instead, use a simple box fan or two with one pulling cold air in through the window that should be bringing air in and use the other box fan to push hot air out through the window that should be sending air out of your home. We do this a lot. Box fans are relatively inexpensive and can move a decent amount of air.
5. Avoid adding unnecessary heat
There are many activities that we do during the day that can add heat to the house, from cooking food to showering, washing laundry and dishes, watching television, surfing the Net on the computer, even lighting adds heat.
Think about what it is you’re doing. Here’s a few suggestions:
- Do you really need to turn on that light or can you see well enough? Maybe open the blinds for a bit and use sunlight?
- When you shower, use that exhaust fan! Open a window. Keep the bathroom door closed until it’s cooled off.
- Forget the dishwasher’s heated dry; dishes can be air dried fine enough given time. In fact, run the dishwasher before going to bed and let them air dry overnight.
- Try cooking foods in uncoventional ways, from using a crockpot in the summer (to reduce heat produced by the oven) to “wonderbox” cooking, do more backyard BBQ’s, or whatever. Just try to minimize heat from cooking in normal ways.
- Minimize use of electronics, especially computers, during the hottest part of the day. Or, choose to use devices like tablets which generate less heat than computers, for example.
6. Use ceiling fans
I would also encourage you to use your ceiling fans as much as possible. They’re super efficient and can help move air around the house and even provide some cooling effect. Just be sure the air flow is downward and you’re good to go.
7. Use shades
Use blinds, curtains, and shades to block sunlight as it radiates heat into your home through windows. I would also suggest awnings but they’re a bit out of style. 😉 A longer term strategy would be to plant shade trees and bushes around the house.
8. Close it up if not being used
Close up areas of the home that you don’t regularly use. I know many people that have homes much bigger than they need and rarely seem to use entire floors. If this describes you then consider NOT cooling those areas, at least, not as you would floors/rooms that you frequent.
I’m sure there are more suggestions and I’d be grateful to hear any that you have. Thank you and I hope this helps.
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