6 Tips to Ventilate Your Home in the Summer

If you live in a region that experiences hot summers, you’re probably familiar with the mental struggle between staying cool and keeping costs down. You want to be cool and comfortable, but running your AC isn’t cheap (especially with the current utility costs!).

However, did you know you can significantly cool down your home without relying on AC? Ventilation can go a long way when it comes to reducing indoor temperatures, but to get the most out of ventilation, you need to go about it in the right way.

Below, we’ll go over 6 tips to ventilate your home in the summer.

• Ventilate at the right time.

If you're ventilating your home when it’s extremely hot outside, you won’t be doing yourself any favors. For the best results, ventilate your home in the morning and evening when outdoor temperatures decrease.

• Take advantage of cross ventilation.

Cross ventilation is a great way to cool down rooms (and your house as a whole) by creating a draft. All you need to do is open a few windows or doors on opposite sides of a room to allow air to passively flow in from one side and out the other.

Not only will this clear out trapped heat and humidity, but it’ll also provide a cooling breeze.

• Utilize spot ventilation.

Spot ventilation is localized ventilation. For example, in your bedroom at night you may use a window fan. Or, when you’re cooking turn on range hoods or run an exhaust fan to prevent heat and humidity from building up in your kitchen.

• Easily ventilate your home with a whole house fan.

Passive ventilation can be effective at cooling your home, but sometimes there’s no summer breeze and you need something a little more powerful. Whole house fans actively ventilate the home by pulling in fresh outdoor air through the attic vents and exhausting trapped indoor air through open doors or windows.

Whole house fans efficiently exhaust air throughout the home and pull out any heat that’s been absorbed by the structure of your home.

• Keep your attic cool with an attic fan.

It’s hard to keep the attic cool during the summer. When your attic heats up, it will heat up the floor of the attic, and the ceiling of your home, with heat eventually leaking into your home and making it more difficult to stay cool.

By installing an attic fan, you can ensure your attic never gets overheated and the rest of your home stays cooler because of it.

• Use blinds and curtains.

Blinds and curtains should be drawn whenever the sun is shining, especially if you’re not actively ventilating the home. The less sunlight gets into your home, the cooler it will stay.

Looking for a whole house fan or attic fan? Whole House Fan (WholeHouseFan.com) has been supplying homeowners and contractors across the United States and Canada with whole house fans since 2001.