Beacon

When building or renovating a home, we often do so with winter warmth in mind. Certainly, cold, damp houses are miserable places in the long, dark months of winter, but stifling, overheated homes can be just as unpleasant, uncomfortable and even unhealthy.

You needn’t choose between unbearable heat and costly air conditioning during the summer months. There are many simple, effective and low-cost ways to reduce the temperature of your home – without using electricity.

Insulate well

Insulation regulates the transfer of heat into and out of a home. It helps to keep your home warm in winter by reducing the amount of heat that escapes, and it also helps to keep your home cooler in summer. Ceiling insulation is especially effective – it reduces the amount of radiant heat absorbed into your home by roofing iron and tiles and buffers the ceiling cavity, which is often extremely hot, from the rooms below. Wall insulation is important too (you can also use heat-absorbing materials like concrete or bricks for north- and west-facing walls).

Allow for good air-flow

The simplest way to cool a home is to open doors and windows, allowing air to circulate. This is particularly effective if cool air from shaded areas around the home can be drawn inside. Installing window-stays means you can leave windows partially open at night, or when you are out, without compromising security. Even better, if you are replacing or installing windows, consider frames with built-in air vents.

It is especially useful to open high-level windows on hot days – this enables the rising warm air to escape. If renovating or building a new home, be sure to include openable, high-level windows in the design.

Provide adequate shading

Wide eaves keep the sun out of your home in summer but let in the low winter sun. Alternatively, removable awnings or shade sails can be erected in summer and taken down in winter. Pergolas around north- and west-facing doors and windows, planted with deciduous vines, are a great idea, too. The abundant leaves in summer provide welcome shade, but when the leaves fall, winter sunlight will enter. Deciduous plantings can make a big difference, too – a few trees or shrubs, carefully placed, will reduce the air temperature around your home.

Skylights are a wonderful way to introduce natural light and warmth into darker areas of a home, but during summer months they can act as heaters, raising indoor temperatures to unbearable levels. Install blinds or screens on skylights and draw these in the hottest parts of the day.

Other things to consider:

• Use light-coloured paint, iron or tiles on your roof – dark colours absorb more heat
• Light-coloured curtains, when drawn in the heat of the day, help to reflect light away from your home
• Consider tinted glass in north and western windows, or install a tinted or reflective film on the glazing. Double glazing will help to reduce the ingress of warm air
• Use the microwave instead of the oven
• Avoid extensive use of concrete, asphalt or rocks in landscaping as these absorb the sun’s heat and reflect it back toward your home at night