Shade Your Home and Stay Cool in Summer
Yesterday’s blog was full of quick, easy tips for keeping cool in the summer heat. Today I’m going to talk about how you can shade your home, to stop the heat getting in there in the first place.
In the days before air conditioning, many houses in warmer climates were built with lovely deep verandahs or porches. There was a very good reason for that – keeping the heat out of the house in the first place, saved you trying to cool it down later.
If you live in the northern hemisphere, the important areas to shade are the southern and western sides of your home, according to Energy Star.
If your house wasn’t designed to keep out the heat, then you won’t have verandahs or overhangs or bris soleil which keep out the sun in summer but are designed to let it in during winter.
No problem – there are loads of ways to add sun protection to your home.
1. Shade your home with an exterior blind or awning. These are common throughout Europe and Australia. You can have them up or down depending on whether you want to allow the sun in or not.
2. Shade your home with shutters. Shutters are massively overlooked technology. They provide ventilation, security, storm protection and shade to your home in one simple device. They add character to a home’s appearance too.
3. Shade your home with a tree. This is not an instant solution (although you can buy ‘adult’ trees to speed things up). Trees are great, and deciduous trees are even better because they shade your home during the summer, but let the sun in during winter when they lose their leaves. Trees are good for the planet too. A tree is as sophisticated as any electronic device around; it lets the sun through in winter and grows leaves in summer to block it. Just be careful not to plant a tree with invasive root systems too close to your house. I love the sounds of trees outside my windows wafting in the breeze!
4. Shade your home with vines or creepers. American architect Frank Lloyd Wright once said “a doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines”. Vines are surprisingly effective at keeping a house cool (and hiding architectural mistakes). They grow far more quickly than trees, too. Ivy, russian-vine and virgina creeper grow quickly and have an immediate effect by shading walls from the sun. Also consider dual-purpose vines – morning glories also provide beautiful flowers, or grape vines which also provide grapes. The daily temperature fluctuation can be reduced by up to 50%!
5. Shade your home with film on sunny windows. Film will keep your home cooler, and reduce glare as well as UV rays which damage floors and furniture. Film may also reduce the amount of light coming in. In general, you would not want to apply film to south-facing windows if you want to get warmth from the sun during winter. Get advice on the different types of film available, and have it professionally installed.
All of these methods involve some up-front cost, but will save money on running costs – less hot air going into your house, saves you money trying to cool it down again.
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Keep your home cool without technology
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How to keep yourself cool
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Protecting the south and western parts of the house is very wise sto keep fresh and save also a lot of money on electricity!
Thanks for this great tips!
I don’t think I’ve ever in my entire life seen anyone close their external shutters. From what I can tell, they are used strictly as decoration. It would be cooler in their houses if they did.
Tim Van Milligan
Really? That’s amazing! They’re used constantly in many parts of Africa, and you’re right Tim, they make a massive difference to the internal temperature of the house. Homes stay cool and dim and quiet all day, then we open them up in the early morning and evenings. They’re also great protection in storms and wind. Thanks for your comment!
I would add that external shutters are 10 times better than internal ones. Once the sun hits the glass, the heat is already inside. Planting a tree is both eco-friendly and will provide the shade you are looking for.
clare, having shade around a home does so much to decrease energy costs.
Scott Sylvan Bell
Now go implement!
Great tips on keeping your house cool and saving the money and energy in cooling costs!
Grew up spending a lot of time in the deep southern U.S., there’s something to be said for front porches, verandas, and gazebos in adding charnm to a comfortable piece of property, and, well… thanks for saying it.
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