Drinking plenty of water helps prevent dehydration when it’s hot out. But how to make the apartment cooler? photo: IMAGO / Cavan Images
Watson responds
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the first week of July was the hottest on record anywhere in the world. The heat wave is already starting again in Europe: in Spain, parts of Italy such as Sicily and Greece, the thermometer should rise to 48 degrees over the weekend.
Also in this country, it should reach 35 degrees of heat. Thanks to the heat, many apartments could have turned into a sauna – unless you take some simple measures.
Watson has some tips for anyone who can’t afford air conditioning. In this way, you keep your home and yourself nice and cool despite high outside temperatures.
Turn off the heat during the day
In the apartment, the ambient temperature around 22 degrees is ideal. To maintain this even with large temperature differences in the outside air, adequate ventilation is recommended, or better: Window open right on time!
When it’s hot, ventilate the room in the morning and keep the windows closed during the day. picture: imago images
You should preferably ventilate at night or in the morning when outside temperatures are lower – and then, ideally, the entire apartment with draft if possible. Feel free to open your closets too, as heat builds up in them during the day. Windows must remain closed during the day.
However, it is important to adapt to the conditions: If it gets too stuffy in a room, of course you should let in fresh air and alternatively use the next tip…
Hang wet towels on windows
If you hang a damp sheet or the like inside the open window, evaporative cooling occurs during drying. You can also wet the curtains if you have them. This effect was already used in ancient Egypt, it is one of the oldest natural “air conditioning systems”.
Darken the windows during the day
A lot of heat is generated by incident sunlight. If you have blinds or shades on your windows, you will need to lower them during the day. Of course, blinds installed in front of the windows are the best, as they reflect heat outside and prevent the glass from heating up.
Blocking out the sun during the day is an effective way to fight the heat at home. Image: imago / Panthermedia
If you only want to darken individual windows, then you should go for the south or west windows. If you keep all windows closed and darkened during the day, you can already cool your apartment by a few degrees.
Banish Carpets for the Basement
Have you noticed that apartments in hot regions often have stone, terracotta or tile floors? Tightly glued rugs such as in this country are rarely found there. There’s a reason for this: Smooth, free surfaces better remove heat from the air. Rolling and storing rugs in the summer is the best way to keep your home cool.
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Turn off technical devices
Anyone who has ever been in a computer server room knows how much heat technical devices can generate through the exhaust air. Being able to avoid using larger devices like TVs or computers will help keep your home cool, especially during the day.
Convert fan to DIY air conditioner
Although fans do not cool, experience shows that they make the heat much more bearable. Why? The air that is moved as a result cools the body causing evaporative cooling through the drying of perspiration. From temperatures of 35 degrees and above, however, the fan has the disadvantage of aggravating the negative effects of heat with dehydration that occurs at the same time.
Only partially effective, the fan at the front. Cooling works best with ice cubes in the middle. Image: pexels / anna shvets
With a few tricks, however, a fan can be converted into a DIY air conditioner with a real cooling effect. Just put some (glass) water bottles in the fridge overnight and place them in front of the fan during the day. The bottles cool the air from the fan. Instead of water bottles, you can also use a container of ice water or ice cubes.
Ventilate through hallway/courtyard
In many homes, especially in old buildings, the hallway or shady courtyard is pleasant and cool. Take the opportunity and open your apartment door from time to time during the day or leave the window to the inner courtyard open – preferably when there is a draft, the effect is even greater.
The skies over Europe are currently very busy. It’s summer, holidays are starting in many countries and therefore many planes are in the air. A record was broken last week: On July 6th, there were more planes in the sky than ever before, according to the information service Flightradar24. The Swedish tracking service recorded 134,386 flights, which also documented a high number of flights in the days before and after.