Design & DIY

4 ways to cool down a cottage with no AC

It’s too hot to work! But you can keep the cottage comfortable without costly air conditioning or major renovations. Here are a few hot tips for cool cottagers.

Use fans (properly)

If your cottage has ceiling fans, make sure the fan blades rotate counter-clockwise when looking up at the fan. This blows air down towards the floor, creating a breeze and making you feel cooler. When your fan is in heating-­season mode (i.e, turning clockwise), make sure it’s off before you flip the switch; changing directions while the fan is turning can damage the motor. Some new fans have built-in protection to slow down and stop before changing directions, but don’t count on it.

Air, even warm air, moving across your skin helps wick moisture and push radiating heat away from your body. Place portable fans down low to push the cooler air up and distribute it around the room. If you only have one window fan, it’s most effective exhausting air out on the warmer side of the cottage. A second fan can pull air inward on the cooler side.

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Stop generating heat

It’s also important to reduce the heat you create. Ovens and stovetops can generate as much heat as a space heater. Cooking outside, at a barbecue or a firepit, and switching lightbulbs to LEDs helps keep the cottage cool. Incandescent bulbs radiate many times more heat than LED bulbs of the same lumens or brightness. Even if you have LEDs, turn lights off during the day.

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Decrease humidity

Limit hot showers, and use the bathroom exhaust fan to cut humidity inside. When your body is damp from showering, sweating, or swimming, you perceive a cooling effect on your skin as the moisture evaporates. The lower the humidity, the greater the cooling effect. For example, with a thermometer reading of 30°C and a relative humidity of 80 per cent, the air will still feel around 27°C, even if your skin is sweaty or your T-shirt is damp. But when the relative humidity is only 50 per cent, even with the same thermometer reading, the air will feel around 22°C.

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Increase shade

Shading windows with awnings, blinds, and trees—especially on the south and west walls—will help prevent direct sunlight from overheating the cottage. If possible, close the windows and blinds before the cottage heats up in the morning and open them at night.

If you can’t cool the cottage, you can still cool yourself. Placing a cool, wet cloth on the back of your neck or an ice cube on your wrist works. Blood vessels are close to the surface in these spots, so cooling them brings your body temperature down.

This article was originally published in the August 2023 issue of Cottage Life.

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