How to keep cool indoors on a budget – from plants to homemade air-con

With the warm weather finally upon is after a dismally wet spring, many Brits have been complaining our homes are now too hot – it seems we can’t win.

And as energy prices remain at a premium, many of us can’t simply can’t afford to rely on air-conditioning systems and electric fans to keep us cool 24 hours a day.

Thankfully, however, one company has provided advice on how to keep your home cool in a heatwave, with a series of cost effective ways of avoiding becoming drenched in sweat.

It comes after scores of homeowners took to social media this week to slam the sweltering conditions. “I have been around and lived all over the place but istfg no heat will ever be as bad as UK heatwave heat I am sweating in places i didn’t even know had,” cursed one X (formerly Twitter) user.

A second person bemoaned: “Why does 16 degrees at night in the UK feel like hell, I’m literally laying in bed with TWO fans on me and I’m still sweating.” Whilst a third hit out: “I was in 26-30 degree heat in Croatia and managed, yet in the UK I’m sweating buckets in *checks notes* 21 degree heat?”

To combat the problem, Cotswold Energy CEO John Bonnar says introducing more plants into your home and using cling film on windows are amongst the simple tricks we can all take advantage of without breaking the bank.

“Thanks to climate change, we’re experiencing longer, more extreme heat waves that affect our everyday lives, but it hasn’t always been that way,” John explains. “Millions of homes around the UK, especially older properties, were built when a heatwave was a rare event.”

He continued: “During the 2022 heatwave, some areas hit a staggering 40 degrees, causing homes to overheat and highlighting that our homes are poorly equipped for future temperature rises. Such high temperatures, which are increasingly becoming the norm, leave many people struggling every year, especially vulnerable people, pets and children.

“As our summers get hotter and household bills continue to rise, many people will be looking for ways to cool their homes down without significantly increasing their energy bills or adding to their carbon footprint.”

Paint your roof white:

A lower-cost and low-tech solution to keeping your home cool could be to paint your roof white and add a special reflective coating on top. This will reduce the heat absorbed through your roof by acting as a heat shield. It usually costs around £200 for the paint plus the reflective coating but typically lowers the temperature inside your home by up to five degrees.

Block the heat 

Adding some high-quality thermal curtains is an affordable way to block out the heat. These can cost anywhere from £15 to £100, depending on size and colour, and are an effective way to block the heat from entering your home, therefore saving you money on cooling your home. It could reduce your bills by up to £30 a year.

Think about the colour and type of curtains too. Light-coloured blinds and curtains made of a heavier fabric are the best at blocking the heat. You can switch these for darker ones during winter to keep the heat in. For those with an especially tight budget, covering your windows in bubble wrap or pieces of cardboard wrapped in foil are also effective ways of keeping the heat out.

Add some greenery 

For the cost of a few plants, you can not only make your home look and smell nicer, but you can also reduce your home’s indoor temperatures by as much as 12 degrees. Plants cool down their surroundings through a process called transpiration. This is the equivalent of a human sweating. It involves plants releasing excess water from their leaves as the temperature rises, which drifts into the air and cools it down. For best results, try a few different plants such as a Boston fern, aloe vera plant, or a snake plant.

Add window film or cling film

Window film essentially traps a small layer of air, which can prevent hot air from outside from coming in – reducing indoor temperatures. As plenty of DIY kits are available, it’s a fairly affordable way to improve your home’s energy efficiency while keeping it cool. Most window films also block out UV rays, which can help to protect your home furnishings from fading during the summer months. It’s completely transparent too, so if applied correctly, you can’t even tell it’s there.

If you don’t want to pay for window film, you could use cling film to reduce energy loss and block any heat coming in. However, it’s unlikely to last very long and you may not get a smooth finish, so it might be worth paying for a window film kit if you can. According to the Energy Savings Trust, draught-proofing your doors and windows could save you around £45 per year on your energy bills.

Make your fan more efficient with ice

Another cheaper alternative to an AC unit is a fan. During heatwaves, many people will leave a fan running to help cool the room down and make it easier to sleep while running it through the day. If you’re running it all day and all night, a smaller desktop fan may cost just under 70p per week, while a bigger fan will cost more at around £1.15 per week, according to Uswitch. However, as energy bills are much higher than they were last year, these costs could significantly increase this summer.

To make your fan more efficient, you could place a bowl of ice in front of it to reduce the temperature of your home by a few degrees. This whips up the water mist and blasts it around the room. Although again, this will only last as long as the ice and melted water stays cold. If you decide to use this method, always make sure you don’t leave the ice unattended to avoid any accidents.

Use a cold water bottle 

Hot water bottles aren’t just for keeping warm and managing pain, they can also help keep you cool. Take an old hot water bottle, fill it with cold water and then put it in the freezer. Once frozen, you can use this to keep you cool wherever you are in the house. To help you drift off, you could place it at the foot of your bed or underneath your pillow for a cooler night’s sleep.

Be careful not to use it as a hot water bottle again though as freezing it may make it deteriorate quicker, meaning hot water will come out if you were to use it during winter and potentially scald you. You could even stick your sheets and pillowcases in the freezer during the day, and then put them back on your bedding at night to help cool you down while you sleep.