How to cool a house without air conditioning?

Simple tips for cooling a room without air conditioning

Why without air conditioning ? There are several reasons : not everyone has this option at home, its purchase and use can be very expensive, but also and above all for ecological reasons! As artificial air conditioning is very energy-intensive, it can be interesting in hot weather to look at alternative tricks which, combined, can lower the temperature of your home just as effectively and in a much more eco-responsible way. Here are some of them:

1. Reduce the use of your appliances

The oven, hob, computer, washing machine, dryer etc. are all devices that generate heat during use and even on standby. In summer, remember to prioritize cold meals to avoid raising the temperature of your kitchen, start your machines at night when you can ventilate the room with fresh air outside, dry your laundry naturally if possible and remember to turn off your unused appliances completely (TV, PC, game console, etc.). Also hunt for old bulbs and replace them with LED models that heat up less.

2. Prioritize lightweight fabrics

Whether it's for your sheets, curtains or sofa covers, switch them to summer mode with breathable materials such as linen or cotton to let the air circulate. Also prefer light colours that reduce the absorption of the sun's rays; This advice also applies to your paints and wall coverings.

3. Focus on houseplants

In addition to beautifying your home, they allow you to lower the temperature of your interior during periods of high heat. How ? Thanks to their evapotranspiration process; When they sweat, they let the water they have stored evaporate to cool down... and cool you down at the same time! One more reason to decorate your room with an aloe vera, a ficus or a Boston fern which are particularly effective for the desired effect.

4. Create drafts

To cool a room, opening the windows is obviously a key reflex. Preferably at night, if not late at night and/or early in the morning when the outside temperatures are lower, taking care to hang a wet sheet in front of it and opening the windows on each side of your house so that the air circulates instead of stagnating.

5. Use Fans Effectively

The fan is a simple and economical solution, but do you know how to use it well? For maximum effectiveness, consider placing it in front of an open window or door from which fresh air is coming from. Thus, the fan sucks in and expels the warm air inside the room to make way for more temperate air. You can also put a bowl of ice in front of your fan or a cloth that is moistened regularly to cool the air it blows. If you have a ceiling fan, spin it counterclockwise to push the air down and create a cooling breeze.

6. Humidify the room

With a mist fan or with a humidifier that evaporates fine water droplets, allowing the room air to be pleasantly cooled.

7. Close your shutters smartly

Again, it seems logical to close your shutters during the hottest hours of the day, but what do you do when you are not at home and you cannot leave them closed from morning to night? Or that you just don't feel like having fun flying your shutters 15 times a day ? We have the solution : automated sun protection.

What about energy renovation?

While this solution is less simple at first glance – here it is not enough to spread out a sheet or press " Walk " – it will nevertheless bring you a lot of comfort in the long term. Indeed, thanks to better thermal insulation of your home, it will temper automatically. This involves changing your old glazing, installing external sun protection but also more substantial work on your walls, floors, roof or even connecting to a district cooling network (if existing nearby). And if the budget can sometimes be substantial, you should know that there is the MaPrimeRénov' state aid to lighten it.

Keep your home cool without air conditioning with automated sun shading
 

Instead of implementing solutions to cool your room, how about keeping it cool all the time, even in the middle of a heat wave?

With motorised and connected sun shading, nothing could be simpler. Not only do they stop or limit the radiator effect of your windows, which absorb the sun's rays by default, but they can also do so without your intervention. Simply automate them so that they always adjust to the right position at the right time, even when you're not at home. This way, you can be sure that you will find a home that is always temperate, without worrying about it.

We are also talking about a gain of 4 to 7°C* in your indoor temperature during heat peaks! You can reduce the use of artificial air conditioning by up to 70%** and at the same time, your carbon footprint.

*TBC study for the French Building Federation: Analysis of the energy input of the roller shutter. Normative and regulatory study. TBC INNOVATIONS is a research and consulting firm, with 25 years of experience in the building and construction markets. The results vary according to the size of the house, its geolocation, the year of construction, the equipment of the windows (roller shutter, adjustable sunshade, blind).

** Compared to manual solutions. Somfy simulations carried out with the support of Carbone 4. Depending on the size of the house, geolocation, year of construction, window equipment (roller shutter, EVB), 2021.