Eight great ways to keep cool and carry on
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This summer’s record-high daytime temperatures in Toronto has us all looking for ways to beat the heat
The running joke in Canada used to be we live in a country “with six months of cold weather and six months of winter,” when the reality is we are now experiencing a greater frequency of heat waves and even prolonged periods of intense high temperatures known as heat domes during our “green season” months.
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In July, Toronto’s daytime temperature including the humidex has exceeded 40°C or 104°F on a few occasions, and actual temperatures have soared over 30°C on most days.
We begin to feel uncomfortable when it’s above 27°C, meaning that as much as you might enjoy the outdoors, if you have AC you’ll want to spend more time inside. And if you don’t, you’re going to be uncomfortable day and night unless you take steps to keep cooler.
Whether you have AC or not, here are eight great ways to keep cooler on the home front:.
One. Block off your day. Keep your drapes and blinds closed when the sun is pouring in. If you don’t your home will turn into a proverbial greenhouse – perhaps good for your tropical plants but not so much for family members.
Two. Open things up. At the end of the day as temperatures drop, that’s the time to open your windows and doors (if you have sliding screens) and use fans to draw in the cooler air from outside.
Three. Green things up. Strategically plant trees, shrubs or as we have on the latticework of our back deck, climbing plants to block the sun and create more outdoor shade.
Four. Go down under. If you have a basement, it makes sense to have not only a living area but a place to sleep when things heat up.
Five. Enjoy some privacy. Consider installing a privacy wall to block the sun either adjacent to a window that gets strong sun exposure or if you have an outside seating area, to block the sun either at the beginning or end of the day.
Six. Get things made for the shade. Larger patio umbrellas or sun sails can provide you with a sun-free sitting area.
Seven. Get a gun. A temperature gun, that is, a.k.a. infrared thermometer, which can tell you precisely how hot different surface as. On a recent 32°C day, the inside of our home read 25°C because the blinds had been shut for several hours. The blinds where there was direct sun exposure read 28°C and when I opened them up, the temperature jumped to 38°C. What that told me is it was far too early to open things up.
Eight. Get smart. One of the most intelligent, innovative heat beating solutions I’ve encountered in some time is the EcoFlow WAVE 3, a battery-powered portable air conditioner that also heats and functions as a fan. The WAVE 3 comes with a downloadable app, enabling you to control both the temperature and fan speed as well as providing a battery level reading.
In addition to cooling a small room, we use in the morning to draw cooler outside air in through our back patio screen door, which in turn brings our great room temperatures down a few degrees in no time. And because we’re only using the unit’s fan, it’s a much more energy efficient solution than turning on the AC.
When on our back deck, we position the WAVE 3 so it blows directly on our seating area. Depending on how hot it is, we select an airflow temperature somewhere between 16 and 21°C.
On a recent sweltering afternoon, the WAVE 3 ran for hours as we hosted friends outdoors — just one of the reasons it’s also become a hit with campers.
While we may not be able to beat the heat altogether, there are worthwhile steps one can take to take the edge off that heat until we get a break in the weather.
Mark Wessel lives in Ridgeway, Ont. and is a passionate advocate for living more sustainably at home and in the greater community. Visit www.markdouglaswessel.com
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