Top 9+ Simple Ways to Keep Your Home Cool All Summer, According to Experts

Summer is the season that most people look forward to throughout the rest of the year—kids are on school break, work tends to be slower since most vacations happen during this time, and the weather encourages you to spend more time outside. That is, until it's too hot. That's when all the curtains get pulled closed and the fans and air conditioners are run all day long. However, as much as it may feel like a reprieve from the heat at the time, once you get that electricity bill the following month, it's going to hurt. Thankfully, there are some things you can do to cool your home without constantly running the AC—though a few of these ideas will cost more upfront than others.

The window replacement and installation experts over at Window Nation have shared their tips on how to keep your home cooler for the summer in a more sustainable, wallet-friendly way. From small interior suggestions to larger renovation projects, implementing even just one or two of these ideas can result in you using your air conditioner less and enjoying the season more from the comfort of your own home. Keep reading to find nine expert tips on cooling your house in the hottest months.

Be Smart About Your Paint

Paint technology has improved greatly in the last decade, and thermal-reflective exterior paints are specifically formulated to reflect solar heat and reduce interior temperatures. By choosing one of these high-tech paints, as well as a lighter shade to encourage even more reflection, you'll be sure to notice a change in your home's temperature. If painting your entire home isn't an option, you can paint your trim or decks, and patios a lighter color too.

Plan Out Your Landscaping

Thanks to the many trees surrounding this cottage, the area is shady and cooler.

Grand trees look beautiful from a curb appeal perspective, but they can also help keep your home cooler. By planting tall trees on the east and west sides of your home, you can block out harsh sunlight in the summer while allowing winter light in once the leaves fall. If you can't plant tall trees, try a trellis instead. Climbing vines provide shade to your exterior walls, and they don't take up too much space.

Check for Gaps and Cracks

The last thing you want as you're running the AC is cool air somehow escaping—that's why we keep the windows closed when the air is on. However, on an even smaller scale, there may be little gaps and cracks around your home that are easy to miss and can cause your space to heat up.

Windows, doors, and even electrical outlets could have gaps between them and your walls, allowing cool air to leak through. Check these areas to ensure that's not the case, but if it is, it's a relatively easy fix. You can use weather stripping and caulk to seal these open areas around your windows, then put foam gaskets behind outdoor outlet covers and door sweeps to improve energy efficiency and reduce drafts.

Upgrade Your Roofing

If you find that your roof could use a bit of an upgrade, consider adding a cool roof coating that can reflect the sun's rays away from your home. Traditional asphalt shingles can reach temperatures up to 150 degrees Fahrenheit, which does nothing to cool your home. A reflective paint or membrane can lower your roof's temperature by up to 50 degrees, which can in turn lower your interior temperature a few degrees. These coatings are relatively inexpensive and can typically be applied to many roofing materials.

Choose Your Window Treatments Carefully

Blackout curtains don’t just keep the light out, but they help with the warmth too.

A diaphanous curtain is so ethereal, but it isn't doing much to save you from the sun. If you have west- and south-facing windows, you should consider buying blackout curtains to better shield the room from the harsh sun. Blackout and thermal shades will help keep the cool air in. Take it one step further and go with cellular shades—their honeycomb design better insulates than standard blinds or drapes. For a more hands-off approach, buy automated shades that you can program to lower during the hottest time of day, then rise at night when only the moon is out.

Replace Your Windows

This suggestion is a bit more involved than the others on our list, but if you're undergoing a larger renovation, replacing your windows with something more suitable for warm weather is a great option. There are a few options the experts at Window Nation suggest going with, including casement, awning, or multi-pane windows.

Casement windows hinge on the side and open outwards, directing airflow into the house when open and sealing tightly when closed. Awning windows hinge at the top and open outwards as well, and they also offer great ventilation while keeping rain out. Because of their design, awning windows allow warm air to escape from the high points in the room while cooler air flows in below.

Though they don't open the same way the other windows do, double- and triple-pane windows offer maximum energy efficiency thanks to their superior insulation. They work even better at cooling your home if they have tinted or reflective coatings to protect from UV rays.

Add Extra Insulation

Attics and crawl spaces are notorious for leaking cool air and letting hot air in, so make sure those areas of your home are properly insulated. While most people think of insulation as only being helpful for the winter months, wrapping your hot water pipes and lining your garage ceiling with insulation can help lower the temperature in your home by keeping the warmth out.

In the attic specifically, you can line the underside of your roof with a radiant barrier, which is a reflective foil that reflects radiant heat outwards. Not only will this lower the temperature in your attic, but it'll ease the load on your cooling system.

Install a Whole-House Fan

No, this is not a simple attic fan. Whole-house fans sit between the ceiling and the attic floor, and they pull hot air in, exhausting it through your attic vents while drawing in cool air from your open windows. These systems work best when the temperature drops, so early mornings and evenings. Plus, these whole-house fans only use a fraction of the energy that air conditioners use.

Go With a Smart Thermostat

Even if you don't have a smart home, you can still have smart features. A smart thermostat not only allows you to change your home's temperature from anywhere. Depending on the kind you have, it may even be able to learn your habits and sense when you're home or not to adjust the temperature accordingly.