Intense thirst, headache, vertigo and dizziness, irritability, tiredness, hypotension, fever, sweating and even hyperventilation. High temperatures are not something to be taken lightly. and now we have a heat wave at the gates. That’s why the number one goal (besides staying away from major heat-related hazards) is keeping homes cool.
But what does it mean to keep houses cool? I am not going to lie to you, there are many things to take into account, but to go to the most basic: our challenge will be to maintain the temperature at around 18.3ºC, which, according to numerous studiesIt is the ideal temperature for sleeping. In most of the country it won’t be possible and as summer gets under way, rooms will get hotter. the red line of 24 degrees is the great domestic priority in our fight with the heatWhether we have air conditioning or not.
Use the thermal amplitude in our favor
Above all, in these spring months, the daily thermal amplitude (that is, the difference between the temperature of the night and that of the day) can be up to 20 degrees. That is a key element that must be used in our favor.
This translates into two fundamental ideas for capture fresh and renewed air inside the house: let the night air enter the rooms and ventilate first thing in the morning. In the first case, the main challenge (in addition to the fact that temperatures close to zero can still be reached in some areas of the country) is that the entry of mosquitoes must be controlled. In the second, keep the windows open long enough to ventilate, but no more.
Lower blinds and blinds (thermal)
Raisha Nastiti
The clear consequence of the above practice is that, one way or another, we have to prevent heat from entering the house the rest of the day. For this, in Spain we have a revolutionary technology: blinds. Both blinds and thermal blinds are very interesting tools to maintain thermal comfort. In winter, preventing the entry of cold from outside and, in summer, minimizing the thermal incidence of solar rays.
A factor that is not usually taken into account during the summer is the window insulation. This is something we talk about, especially in winter, but in increasingly harsh summers, it can be decisive. To this we must add that if the house is very exposed to the sun, it is not a bad option to install awnings (or replace the curtains with more insulating models of light colors).
Use electrical appliances wisely
Louis Hansel
Ultimately the key is adapt our daily practices to the heat. In this sense, it is advisable to change our diet to minimize the use of the oven (especially during the day). But not only that. Extractors are a good example. They not only serve to remove steam, smoke and bad odors from the kitchen, they can also help us remove heat from the kitchen. That is why it is very important to use them when we cook: in the end, the kitchen is one of the “hot spots” of the home and the less heat we introduce, the better.
On the other hand, it is advisable not to use too many lights (despite having the blinds down) and check all the equipment to make sure that the ‘stand-by’ does not end up producing some residual heat. In addition, it is crucial to play with the air currents in our favor.
Some additional recommendations
Not everything has to do with the house. There is also some guidelines that will help us stay thermally comfortable. Things like wearing the right clothes (too much clothing can make it difficult to sweat and you have to remember that sweat, like the tongue in dogs, is our main biological refrigeration system), not drinking alcohol (which can affect the body’s ability to regulate temperature) or being well hydrated (water can be a great ally depending on how we use it).
Image | Delaney Van
