When you come home after a long and hot day, you don’t want your house to feel like some kind of sauna. With the high energy prices, an air conditioner alone is not such a great option. Fortunately, Roosmarijn Knol from Weerplaza has a number of good tips to keep your house cool, which you don’t immediately think of.
—
“You really have to start on time. In fact, even before your house is warm,” says Roosmarijn Knol. “A house has a buffering effect. If it gets very hot outside, it takes a while before your house is really warm. It just takes a long time for your house to cool down afterwards. .”
–
“In the evening you can open everything.”
The most important tip Roosmarijn has: keep your windows and doors closed. “It feels a little crazy because you usually do that to cool down your house. But it is warmer outside than inside. When you open your windows and doors, you let the warm air in.”
Fortunately, you don’t need fresh air at all. “When it has cooled down in the evening, you can open everything. It’s actually a bit of playing with temperature. When it is colder outside than inside, everything can be opened.”
–
“Sun protection or a parasol works better.”
The next tip is not so pleasant, but it is useful. “Draw your curtains during the day. You then ensure that the sun’s rays do not enter your room. They heat up the air in your house.”
However, such a closed curtain is not optimal. Not only do you feel like a recluse, but the air warms between your curtain and window gets warmer anyway. “If you open your curtain, all that warm air will still enter your room.” What is more helpful is sun protection or a parasol, according to Roosmarijn. You really keep the sun’s rays out.
–
“Don’t hang your laundry inside.”
What you should not do on hot days like these is drying your laundry indoors. “If you hang your laundry indoors, the humidity in your house rises. This makes it oppressively warm inside and the perceived temperature increases.”
“What people often say: when it is thirty degrees in Spain, it feels much nicer than when it is thirty degrees here in the Netherlands. This is due to the humidity. It is much hotter here in the Netherlands.” With your laundry in the house, you get a bit of the same effect.
–
“A green garden can be a few degrees colder.”
Roosmarijn not only has tips for indoors, the garden can also help keep your house cool. “Plants need energy to evaporate water. The moment you have a lot of plants, there is also more demand for energy for that evaporation. If you don’t have any plants, all that energy goes toward heating the air. A green garden can be a few degrees cooler.”
—
