QF Focus Magazine
How my grandmother used to cool her home down...... without air conditioning.
I remember that in mid August I didn’t want to play in my grandmother’s garden as I did during other times of the year, but would rather be inside reading, drawing, or playing some table games with friends. Mind you it isn’t that I was not an active child, just that the heat was too much to tolerate to play football, hide and seek or climb trees. I still have in in my mind’s eye her home, cool enough so as not to perspire with the minimum effort or movement. Now looking back, I am amazed how wise she was to bring down the exterior temperature by as much as 12ºC within the home just by being methodical and by putting into practise a few tips. Even now, not everyone has air conditioning or have to monitor its use due to the high cost of the KW, especially here in Spain where the electricity prices have rocketed up. If this is your case, do not despair, here is my grandmother’s guide on how to cool your home in a fun, affordable, and healthy way. It must be kept in mind that air conditioning can be up to 70% of the energy consumption of a house in the warmer months. I am sure you could take advantage of some of my grandma’s ideas in this article. 1. Rearrange the house: the less furniture, the cooler the house. During the hottest part of summer, move the sofa away from windows and change the furniture layout, including removing the maximum amount of furniture and carpets, leaving open spaces. This means that the air circulates better and the feeling of freshness is maximised. In bedrooms, you should avoid placing the bed near a window or wall that gets the sun all day (South facing walls), because it overheats excessively and during the night it will be less pleasant to sleep. 2. Water, my friend...
Place micro water sprinklers or water containers scattered
throughout the house. That alone can bring down the temperature about three degrees in each room. The reason is that the water vapour absorbs heat from the surrounding air, making the thermometer drop those valuable degrees. 3. Doors locked up tight. To cool the house you should open the
windows early in the morning
and evening. The rest of the day are better closed and blinds drawn to be in semidarkness. Your eyes will get accustom very soon. Regarding the doors, they must be closed during the day, especially those rooms which are unused or onto very hot areas. This will avoid fresh air to vanish when it is redistributed through the warmer areas. 4. Place interior plants throughout the house. It is the same if you have a villa, terrace or small flat. The plants always help cool the atmosphere, especially the greener and large leaves plants as they absorb the sun’s rays and provide moisture. Furthermore, when it is watered it will invariably lower the temperature, as the water evaporates. 5. Everything white please! White or light colours combat the heat and cool the house. And not just because emotionally one feels cooler in a clear place, but because white reflects heat more that darker colours. Sheets, blankets, covers for chairs and sofas, curtains ... If possible, white and light and soft colours must cover the floor during the summer.
continued over page
Page 11
&
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28