Most homes are designed to retain heat during the winter, which is partially why your home is likely to be very warm during the summer. Well, we say “summer”, but your house gets really hot when the temperature goes slightly above “mild”.
Are there any other reasons this happens and can we stop our homes from overheating? In truth, while your house might be better equipped to deal with colder weather, it shouldn’t get too hot in the summer. You’ve likely got one (or all) of these problems:
Bad Air Circulation
Houses will feel much hotter when there’s not enough air circulation happening throughout. Ideally, you want the air to be flowing through your home so it doesn’t feel all hot and stuffy. Bad air circulation is normally caused by two common things:
- You’re not opening your windows
- You’re closing all your doors
Having the windows closed means no air circulates from the outside and you don’t get the benefit of the odd breeze. Keeping the doors closed also traps air inside rooms and turns them into mini saunas. Improve air circulation and open the windows so heat can escape and your house feels more breathable.
Inefficient Insulation
We tend to associate insulation with cold weather. Everyone knows that insulation throughout your home traps heat and stops you from feeling cold. It’s essential for lowering winter energy bills, though inefficient insulation is only doing half the job.
Good roof insulation will tackle two tasks instead of one:
- It retains heat when it’s cold outside
- It repels heat when it’s hot outside
Your insulation is likely doing the first thing but not the second. As such, it retains heat when it’s hot and turns your attic into a hotbox. You’ll know if this is your issue as the top level of your home is far hotter than the bottom. Upgrade to efficient insulation that repels heat in the summer and your home will stay much cooler.
Too Much Heat Absorbing Upholstery
As we said, most houses are designed for the colder months. You make your home better equipped to be thermally insulative by filling it with heat-absorbing upholstery. This is great in the winter as it keeps you toasty, but having thick curtains and rugs does the opposite in the summer.
Switch to thinner summer curtains that block out the sun without retaining heat. Ditch the rugs and benefit from having colder flooring underfoot when it’s warm outside. Small changes like this make a huge difference and you’ll immediately feel far cooler even during a random heatwave.
You spend most of your life worrying about being too cold at home that you forget about being too hot. As bad as excessive coldness can be, excess heat is just as worrisome. It harms your home in multiple ways as well as makes you feel uncomfortable. Fortunately, you don’t have to sit back and take the heat. Figure out why your house is overly warm and fix the problems to enjoy a cooler abode.
