We’ve all been there - getting home from university being greeted with a hot student house. It is Awful. There are few things worse than coming home to a sweaty, sticky house, but the brutal summer temperatures, especially this June, are unavoidable for most of us. So what can you do to keep your student house without installing Air-Con?
1. Keep your blinds closed
Preventing the heat getting inside should be the first port of call when keeping your student house cool in the scorching summer heat.
It may sound like a simple tip, but the majority of heat which gets into your accommodation is through the windows. Imagine a greenhouse; they’re made completely of glass to let the sunlight in, and they’re usually quite hot inside.
If you want to keep the heat out, we recommend using blinds, curtains, or even bed sheets to cover the windows and stop the sunlight getting in - it could reduce the temperature in your student house by at least 5 degrees!
2. The old fan trick
Sure, a fan doesn’t ‘cool’ the air around you as they keep moving the warm air around, but this nifty little trick should help you cool down. If you don’t have an air-con unit, and I’m fairly sure you won’t if you’re reading this blog, then this cheap DIY air-con could be your next best bet.
Position a fan behind a shallow bowl of ice, frozen water bottle, or ice pack, and you’ll experience the ultimate cooling breeze - at a fraction of the cost of an air-conditioner. As the ice melts, the breeze will pick up the cold air and send a cooling mist your way -- bliss.
3. Freeze your sheets
We’ve all been there - tossing and turning in bed, struggling to get to sleep in the heat.So how could you cool down your bedroom?
Well, we’ve heard through the grapevine that if you put your bedsheets in the freezer for a few minutes before bed, they should cool down for long enough that you can get some sleep.
We recommend folding your bed sheets and putting them into a resealable freezer bag, or plastic bag, and put them in the freezer. Granted, this won’t keep you cool all night, but if you take it out just before you get into bed and settle down for sleep, you should be able to escape the hot bed situation.
4. The hot water bottle trick
Trust us; using a hot bottle will cool you down. Instead of using the hot water bottle to heat you in the cold winter evenings (which we’re desperate for right now), fill it with water and stick it in the freezer.
Doing this will create you a nicely sized ice-pack.
5. Get low the to ground
Do as Lil’ John and The East Side Boyz taught us in 2002; and get low.
I’m sure you’re well aware that hot air rises, so consider getting as low to the ground as possible to beat the heat. That means, if you’re living on the top floor of your student house, you should probably consider moving out of your room and into the kitchen.
6. Hot drinks and spicy food?
If you’ve exhausted all of our recommendations above, and you’re still struggling to cool yourself down, then this should be an ultimatum.
If you’re feeling hot and bothered, hot drinks and spicy food will cool you down. The heat will raise your internal temperature, you’ll start sweating and once the moisture has evaporated, you’ll start to cool off.
Sure, you’ll want to grab an ice lolly or iced tea, but spice and hot drinks will cool you down much faster and will keep you cooler for longer. And, the best thing is that you get to cool down with a delicious curry, or a tasty cup of tea!