How do you keep an older house cool without air conditioning?

Question

Does closing the window during the day and opening them at night work?

Answer 1

Yes, if you do it right and the night temperature is considerable lower than daytime tempeature.

We do not have A/C

Evening:
Open the windows when the outside air tenperature is cooler than the inside air temperature so you get a good cross draft.

Open curtains, drapes to allow good air flow.

Close the windows before the outside air temperature rises above the inside air temperature.

Close curtains, drapes on east, south and west facing windows, sliding doors, etc. This will help prevent thermal heat gain from the sun. Highest is from the west. Next highest is from the south. Lowest is from the east. This can vary if one or more sides have trees or is shadowed by another building or light is reflected from another building.

Repeat as often as necessary. If you get an unusually cool night and the forcast say there is another heat wave on it's way, cool your house as much as possible. Do this even if you have to put on sweaters.

Remember, you can alway put more layers on, but you can only take off so much.

We usually close all drapes and curtains. You still get heat gain from shady windows when there is a high temperature difference.

We have been doing this scince 1974. Most people ask us if we have A/C. We did have a water system two summers in the mid 80's when the day temperatures were above 35 and night temperatures were about 28 with 80+ humidity for about 6 weeks - very unusual for this location. It did not cool, just reduced the humidity.

Hope this helps

Good Luck.

Answer 2

You bet it does! We've keept from turning our air on til just this past week! We close them by 8:30 am and then after the sun goes down, we put a fan in the window to pull the cooler night air through the house. We still use a fan sometimes, but that's way cheaper than the AC!

Answer 3

For my cheap and ghetto way to cool down the house, is I have my window open and I stick a big box fan in the window. It pulls the air from the outside , into the house. So this only works when it is cooler outside. I have big vaulted ceilings and this is the only way to get the whole place cool in the afternoons and at night. It makes it bearable to sleep in.

Answer 4

Ceiling fans, and an attic fan are the easiest and cheapest way to go. If you live in a dry area you might try a swamp cooler. Window AC units will work but I have now seen interior wall hung units and portable units. All depends on your budget.

Answer 5

in case you are able to pull the nice and comfortable air up in the process the ceiling, into the attic and out, that would desire to help. finished homestead followers have the louvered establishing on the utmost ceiling or extra often on the right of the stairway. Then there's a fan in the attic. The louvers open, the fan sucks the nice and comfortable air from the homestead, into the attic and outdoors. Down stairs, in the backside component to the homestead you open some window to entice cooler air. no longer less than you will possibly desire to have supplemental attic ventilation somewhat in such an older homestead. extra moderen homestead are moving to a various device altogether.

Answer 6

using fans will help, also spraying down the surrounding areas (outside) with water helps. Keep the windows open as long as you can, while there is cool air, then turn the fans on.

Answer 7

window units and fans.

my house was built 1906, and we had to put window units in , because there was no central air, which is better than central air i think.

Answer 8

OPen windows and run fans, if you leave them closed it could get really hot and you can get sick, maybe even suffocate. Imagine these parents that leave their children in a hot car, and they suffocate. That's how it is if you leave windows closed.

Answer 9

no that does not work. An attic fan will help a lot with the bills you will have with window units and interior fans.