Your House Is Holding Onto Summer Heat: Here’s How to Let It Out
You know that moment when you step outside on a summer evening and realize it's officially cooler outdoors than it is in your house?
That's your cue to start opening things up. Our homes can hold onto summer heat long after the worst of the day has passed, especially when sunlight has been streaming through the windows, or hot air has collected upstairs or in the garage.
Fortunately, once temperatures outside begin to fall, a few strategically opened windows and doors can help all that trapped heat find its way out.
Open Your Windows at the Right Time
Throwing open the windows sounds like an obvious way to cool your home, but timing makes a difference.
During the hottest part of the day, open windows can simply invite more hot air inside. Instead, the U.S. Department of Energy recommends taking advantage of cooler nighttime air for natural ventilation, especially in places where the temperatures drop after sunset.
Once the evening cools down, you can open your windows and let that fresher air circulate. Then in the morning, close them again before outdoor temperatures start to climb.
Get a Cross-Breeze Going
One open window is nice. Two strategically placed open windows can be even better. Opening windows on different sides of the house will allow the cooler air to enter through one window while the warmer air escapes through another.
Cross-ventilation is a simple natural cooling strategy, and fans can give the process a little extra muscle.
You can place a fan where it will help move the cooler air through the house. Or, you can use one to push the warmer indoor air toward an open window.
Give the Upstairs Heat Somewhere to Go
If you’ve ever climbed the stairs on a hot afternoon and walked into a wall of heat, you’ll know that upstairs rooms can be particularly stubborn.
Warm air naturally rises, which means upper-level windows can be great escape routes once it's cooler outside. Natural ventilation can take advantage of this "chimney effect," with cooler air entering through lower windows and warmer air leaving through windows higher in the house.
Opening windows downstairs and upstairs can help create that flow, instead of leaving all that warm air hovering around the bedrooms.
Your Garage May Need Some Air, Too
The garage is easy to overlook, but it can become a pocket of trapped heat, especially when it's attached to the house and isn't well insulated.
Cracking or opening the garage door can provide some ventilation, particularly when the outdoor air is cooler. However, it isn't a magic fix, and leaving a garage door partially open can also invite pests and create a home-security concern.
Better insulation and proper garage ventilation are more effective long-term solutions.
And there's one important safety rule: never run a car in an attached garage, even with the garage door open. Carbon monoxide can still enter your home.
Keep Tomorrow's Heat From Getting Inside
Once you've cooled things down overnight, the next trick is to keep that cooler air around. Close the windows when the outdoor temps begin to climb, and close your blinds, shades, or curtains if they receive direct sunlight.
Windows can create a greenhouse effect inside our homes. That’s why ENERGY STAR tells us to close our shades and drapes to reduce the heat coming in from the summer sun.
That simple routine can become a summer rhythm: open everything up when it's cooler outside, shut it all down when the heat returns.
As the Day Cools Down
Keeping your house comfortable during a heat wave doesn't mean running the air conditioner at full blast around the clock.
Pay attention to the temperature outside. When evening arrives and the air finally cools, open a few strategically placed windows, get a cross-breeze moving, and let your garage release some of the heat it's been collecting all day.
Learning how to cool down your house is as simple as working with the weather, rather than against it. By letting cooler air in at the right time and keeping the daytime heat out, you can make those long summer days a little more comfortable from morning to night.
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