When high temperatures arrive, keeping your home cool is a priority for many people. However, not everyone has access to a fan or air conditioner, either for economic reasons, for sustainability reasons or simply because they don’t have them. Fortunately, there are simple and inexpensive ways to keep your home cool without using electrical appliances. One such method that has recently gained popularity is the use of frozen plastic bottles.
This trick involves using frozen plastic bottles filled with water to cool the air entering the house. The idea is simple but effective: hot air from outside passes through the cold bottles and cools before entering the house. All you need are empty plastic bottles, water and a freezer.
Steps to apply this trick
- Fill the bottles: Take a few empty plastic bottles and fill them with water, leaving a little space at the top to allow the water to expand as it freezes.
- Freeze the bottles: Put the bottles in the freezer and leave them until the water is completely frozen. Depending on the size of the bottles, this process can take between 4 and 6 hours.
- Place them in a strategic location: After freezing, place the bottles at the bottom of windows that receive sunlight, or near openings that allow air to pass through. In this way, warm air coming in from outside will be cooled as it passes through the frozen water bottles.
Other complementary methods
In addition to the frozen plastic bottle trick, there are other methods that can help keep your home cool without the need for fans or air conditioning:
- Drawing blinds and curtains: During the hottest hours of the day, drawing blinds and curtains helps to keep heat out of the house.
- Close windows in the middle of the day: Open windows in the early morning and evening to ventilate the interior and close them in the middle of the day to prevent heat build-up.
- Use light textiles: Replace thick fabrics with lighter, more breathable fabrics such as linen, and choose light colours that trap less heat.
