10 Tips to Make It through Hot Summer Nights Without an AC
When you hear 'summer' probably the things that come to mind include beach days, cold drinks and crop tops. However, there is another aspect of this beloved season – the hot sleepless nights. When you don`t have an air conditioning system at home or you simply want to cut off your electricity bills, surviving these nights can be a nightmare. Heat and humidity are your worse enemies and you can`t find a comfortable position. What should you do in this situation? Check our suggestions below and maybe you will find a way to deal with the summer heat!
You know that the type of material matters. There is a reason why you wear wool in the cold months and you skip it during summer. In the hot months you are advised to opt for cotton sheets, lightweight in particular (read Egyptian). The material promotes airflow and ventilation in the bedroom and it is nice and breathable to your skin. Skip the silk and satin sheets for some other night!
An interesting way to deal with the hot temperature is to put your sheets in the freezer a couple of minutes before you go to bed. Place them in a plastic bag and if you want to make a little aromatherapy, pour a cup of water with about 5 drops of lavender essential oil in a spray bottle and spray in the bag several times. This is a temporary solution to the problem but as lavender is calming and the sheets provide some coolness, you will probably be asleep by the time the freezer-effect is gone.
Place the fans on the right spots – if you have box fans, point them out of the windows so they push the hot air out. For ultimate cooling results, adjust your ceiling fan settings to run the blades counter-clockwise. By doing this, the hot air will go up – it won`t just twirl around the room. By the way, how do you clean your ceiling fan? If you fail to perform this occasionally, you may add just one more thing that suppresses your good night's sleep in terms of dust. Advice we heard from your local domestic cleaners is to use an old pillowcase to clean the dust – slide it over the fan`s blade and pull it back. It will collect the dirt and dust without making it spread around the whole room.
If you are in a DIY mood, make an air conditioner. Place a bowl or a roasting pan full of ice in front of your fan. This will create a cooling mist as the breeze will pick up the coolness from the ice's surface. Depending on your preference, you can add a few drops of essential oil on the ice – the fan will make the whole room smell like it.
You know how grains are used for hot compresses, right? In the same line of thought, you can make a rice pillow that will stay chilly for about an hour. Fill a sock, tie it off and put it in your freezer a couple of hours before you go to bed. The perfect cold compress on a really hot night!
Another thing to consider is what to wear when you want to keep yourself cool. We recommend you to go for a soft, loose cotton shirt. If you sleep naked, controversially of what you think, you will actually stay sweaty during the night. When you wear loose shirt and shorts you will feel cooler thanks to the fabric.
A fact that you probably know is that hot air rises which means that you should sleep as low as you can. In the hottest nights, you are advised to sleep on a mattress on the floor as it will be the coolest spot. If you run regular carpet cleaning, there is nothing to worry about. If you have two- or more – storey house, try sleeping on the ground floor in the summer time instead of going on an upper storey.
Drink a glass of water before going to bed. This will provide you enough hydration as from all the tossing and turning you may sweat therefore your body will be dehydrated. However, don`t trick more than a glass of water as otherwise, you will have to make a bathroom run in the middle of the night!
A very clever trick to cool down your whole body is to dunk your feet in cold water before your good night sleep. As your feet and ankles have a lot of pulse points, this will help you feel cooler in the night. You can even keep a bucket with cold water near your bed so you can dip your feet through the night if you feel too hot.
Last but not least, unplug your phone, chargers and laptop at night! Even though they are small gadgets, they still give off heat. Reduce the heat in your home and save energy by unplugging them when they are not in use.
Follow these tips and you will have a nice cool summer night even though you don`t have an air conditioner at home!
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