We are in the midst of a fired up summer at Cochin, Kerala, During this time not only is the mercury rising but so is your electricity bills.
The most basic thing you can do to as a Keralite, is to keep your house cooler without air conditioning is to keep as much sunlight out as possible and let cooler air in at night. During the day, keep windows, drapes, blinds, or shades closed, especially on the southern and western sides of your home. If you have a porch, you can put up large plastic or bamboo shades to cut down on sunlight.Here are some tips to keep your infrastructure cooler during summer:
- Give your air-conditioner a rest for some hours during the day. And while you do this, open all the windows in your home. Let the occasional breeze grace your home, instead of keeping your home completely closed all day.
- Ensure that you have light-coloured curtains, drapes, blinds at home. Light-coloured fabrics reflect away the harsh sunlight and heat unlike dark-coloured ones which absorb heat.
Ventilation and apt drapes adds the bliss |
-Moving air is cooler air. At night, place fans in windows to bring more cool air in. Ceiling fans can also make a big difference. In terms of cooling, even a one-mile-per-hour breeze will make you feel three to four degrees cooler Ceiling fans have two settings, one to pull air up (for winter use), and the other to push air down. Make sure your ceiling fan is blowing down.
- Keep potted plants in your house. Not only will they disperse oxygen in the atmosphere during the day, giving you clean air but they also make a pretty sight with their greenery, making Kerala greener.
Greener, ecofriendly living enviornment |
- Replace your ordinary lights and bulbs with fluorescent ones. They cost more than the average lights and bulbs. However, they provide a lighting effect that is much cooler and consumes less electricity, and provides a pleasant workable environment, feel free to try out LED lightings which is cochin’s new trend in interior lighting.
-Keeping your electronics on a power strip provides a quick way to "power-down" before leaving for the day.
- As Keralites,we do cook daily, Ideally, one should avoid cooking during the hottest part of the day, i.e. afternoons. But if you have to, use a fan to direct the heat out of the house via windows.
- It's a good idea to paint the ceiling or the roof of your house white in colour, as the colour helps in keeping the home cooler.
Classy white cieling adds the right ambience. |
Designing your home and office to be more energy friendly as well as Eco-friendly by making use of simple ideas like mentioned,can make a big difference in both the living environment as well as energy bills.
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