How to Handle a Heatwave: Top Tips for Cooling Down This Summer

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It’s fair to say that the UK isn’t famous for being the warmest place on earth. In fact, most of the time, it’s cold, grey, and – usually – raining. But that doesn’t mean that the sun doesn’t sometimes decide to put his hat on, and as summer rolls around, that gets all the more likely. Even if it’s just for a week, a UK heatwave can still be a miserable experience. That is, of course, unless you give yourself a head-start with our top tips for handling a heatwave.

Sunglasses at the ready? Let’s dive right in.

Tip #1: Live the hermit lifestyle and close those curtains

Now, if you’re a big fan of the wonderful bright sunshine summer brings, this one might not be for you. On the other hand, if you’re a fan of getting cool no matter what – it’s a very effective strategy. Simply put, when the sun is beating down on your windows, and the air itself is hot, anything you can put between you and it will be helpful. In this case, curtains. By drawing your curtains during a heatwave, (and, yes, we mean in the daytime), you can effectively block some of the heat which would otherwise find its way into your room and get you hot and bothered.

Tip #2: Re-think the direction you’re pointing your fan

This one may seem a little counter-intuitive, but stick with us: you may want to actually point your fan out of the window, rather than in. This only works in a very specific scenario: when you have another window close enough to bring cooler air in – and when it’s cooler outside than inside (such as evenings and mornings in the summer). The science behind it is positive pressure: you point the fan outside, it pushes air out of the room, but to replace this air, it has to pull it in from elsewhere. If this ‘elsewhere’ is a nearby open window, you’ll essentially be pushing warm air out and pulling cool air in. The result? A lower room temperature. That’s science!

Tip #3: Take a cold shower (or bath if you’re feeling brave)

Talking of science, let’s switch gears toward the human body for this one. Believe it or not, your body is a finely tuned machine which is designed to keep you at the perfect temperature at all times. But when heatwaves come along, this system kind of breaks down a little. One good way to restore balance – if you can hack it – is to take either a cold shower or bath, even if it’s very brief. Not only will this lower your core temperature (at least for a while), but, if you can put off drying yourself too thoroughly, the excess cold water will evaporate in the heat and aid your body’s natural perspiration mechanism. 

Tip #4: Open your windows at night, close them during the day

It stands to reason that, whenever the temperature outside is cooler than it is inside, you should open a window if you’re feeling warm. But if you’ve ever been in a warm room on a hot day, your instinct is probably to open the window anyway – even if the indoor temperature is technically lower. It’s this logic which underpins this particular tip: during a heatwave, open your windows up at night time to allow the cool air in, then close them in the morning and keep them closed all day. Doing this will prevent the warm daytime air from outside replacing the cooler indoor air too quickly, and you should find your room more comfortable for more of the day. It may feel wrong at first, but you’ll be thankful when you manage to keep your cool on those scorching summer days!

We hope these tips give you some respite from the heatwave this year, and if not? Don’t worry – it’ll be winter again before you know it! Of course, if you really want to be a cool customer, why not explore the website today? Or just call our team of bathroom experts anytime.