8 Low-Tech Ways You Can Keep Your Home Cool During This Year's Crazy Summer Heat

We're nowhere at the peak of summer right now and still most of us are sweating like there's no tomorrow. The summer heat is unbearable and promises to get worse.

The worst part though is deciding whether you want to remain cool all summer or want to save on your electricity bill. Luckily for you, with enough prep, there are low-tech and cost-saving ways to stay cool.

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1. Plant a tree

This isn't for everyone obviously, but those with enough garden space are wasting it without a nice leafy tree. Not only does it kinda help cool its immediate environment, but its shade can also serve to block an incredible amount of heat from the sunlight that would otherwise be beating down on your house. Planted in a way to block the sun at the hottest times of the day, a tree can reduce your energy spending up to even thirty percent. As a bonus, you might also have the occasional fruit harvest and, with a hammock or tent, it's a great place to take an afternoon nap.

2. Plant vines/creepers

This is something both home-owners and people in flats can do. Climbers like money plants and orange flame vines are very effective at shading walls from heat, not to mention they add a pop of colour to your exterior. If you live in a flat, it's still a good idea to have a potted variant of these outside your window, and encourage the vines to creep up your grills. They can act as natural blinds against the sun, while still letting in air. Vines have been shown to help reduce temperature fluctuations inside homes by as much as 50 percent, with their envirotranspiration also actively cooling the home.

3. Don't neglect windows

This one actually requires a little bit of planning to do, because you're going to have to make preparations during the building phase of your home. Sorry renters. The idea is that windows aren't just holes in your wall. They used to be very technically designed, but we've forgotten how in the age of electric cooling.

For example, it's well known that hot air rises, so placing high windows in your home that you can open allows the hot air to vent out. There's an even more scientific principle to it too however. Bernoulli's principle states that when a fluid's velocity increases, its pressure decreases. So when the wind is blowing past your home, it's velocity increases as it blows past your peaked roof, creating a low pressure region on the opposite side. So if you have a window on both sides, the hot air is basically sucked out of your home as cooler air rushes in to replace it.

4. Paint your roof

If you have a home of your own, or live on the top floor of your building, one of the easiest things you can do to cool down your home is paint the exterior of the roof. Painting it white for instance helps reflect a lot of the UV rays incoming, which leaves your home that much cooler. Or, if you have some investment money to spare, maybe cover your roof with solar panels instead. They're much more effective than trying to reflect the heat with paint, and you can use them to power parts of your home in an outage, or even store the excess energy in a battery for your home.

5. Paint colour matters

Even the colour of the walls of your home matters when it comes to beating the heat. Maybe your home's exterior looks really classy with that deep brown you choose, but you should be warned that dark, dull colors can absorb 70 to 90 percent of the sun's. And all that heat is just transferring through the walls and into your house. Meanwhile, as we've already said above lighter paint can help reflect heat. A stark white may not be the most attractive option, but it absorbs at least 35 percent less heat than a black wall. So find a balance between a colour you like and one that would help cool your home.

6. Install external shutters or blinds

Window shutters and external blinds can be multipurpose. For one, it keeps away nosy prying eyes. More importantly though, they keep away heat. Internal installments like venetian blinds are effective at keeping direct sunlight out, but they do nothing to stop the heat radiating through your window. An external shutter however (especially one painted white) could help block a lot of the heat right at the source. They're not very common however and therefore somewhat expensive to buy and set up.

7. Think about window awnings

If you can't work with shutters or blinds, maybe consider giving your sun-facing windows a small awning or patra as we call it here. These have the dual purpose of shading the window in the afternoon, and thereby helping with cooling, as well as keeping the rain from splashing into your home on most days.

8. Don't cook hot food indoors

This one is again a little more tricky, more because of logistics. It's obvious though that cooking in your kitchen is a good way to work up a hell of a sweat, no matter what kind of fan and ventilator you have installed. So for people with their own house or bungalow with lawn space, consider buying an outdoor gas grill. It keeps all the heat generated from your meal prep out of your house, and is just begging for an excuse to be turned into an impromptu barbecue party.

For those you in apartments, that's not a possibility. Instead, another option you have is an electric chimney. Granted, these are a little too pricey for many middle class households to consider, but they can work wonders. Instead of the kind that works with replaceable carbon filters, work with the person installing to instead plan a wall outlet for the chimney. That way, when the device sucks up the heat and smoke straight from cook top, they're deposited outside your home, making it that much more bearable to boil and fry whatever you need in the heat of the afternoon.

Of course, if you don't have that kind of cash right now, maybe just order out for the hottest parts of the summer. Or better yet, start buying fresh vegetable and fruit produce that you can cold prep into healthy salads.

Hey, it's not ideal, but at least you're not spending thousands on an AC bill.