Summertime sunshine can get old when your house feels like an oven.  If you are trying to avoid using the air conditioner and save money on energy bills or you live in a city like San Francisco or Seattle where air conditioners are scarce, you can still keep your home cool and comfortable.  Here are our eight best tricks on how to keep your house cool in summer without cranking the air conditioning.

1. Chillin’ by Grillin’- Why turn on the oven and heat up the whole home?  Take your dinner outside and take advantage of the grill.  Also- no cook meals like salads will keep you cool and fresh all summer long.
2. Shade All Day- Sunshine means heat.  Use shades, blinds, and curtains to cover windows and keep the heat out.  Bonus- blocking the sunshine will also keep rugs and upholstery from fading.
3. Cotton to Cotton- Flannel sheets are cozy in winter and satin is certainly luxurious, but plain cotton sheets will keep you cooler in the summertime.  Choose percale weave over sateen for optimal coolness and don’t be fooled by ultra high thread counts.  Higher thread counts often do not mean higher quality and can be much warmer then lower thread count sheets.
4. Cold Shower- Another trick to stay cool at night is to take a cool shower before bed.  It will help lower your body temperature so that you can fall asleep more easily.
5. A Cooler Light- Incandescent light bulbs burn hot.  Shut off the lights whenever possible to keep those miniature heaters from warming up your home.
6. Be a Fan of Fans- File this under: cool yourself, not the house.  While fans do not drop the overall temperature, they make you feel cooler because they blow away the hot air around your skin away and help sweat evaporate.  
7. Go With the (air)Flow- Besides using a fans, you can create airflow inside the home by opening opposite doors and windows to create a wind tunnel.
8. Ice Cold- Another great trick with the fan:  Set a bowl off ice in front of the fan.  The air will flow over the ice cubes and send that icy cool air your way.

For more summer tips like getting grass stains out of carpets, see the COIT blog.