Hey Everyone, with the early onset of warmer days, it appears that we may be in for those rare Wellington Summers where it is actually warm! As the weather warms up, the quality of our houses gets exposed. Poorly built / insulated houses have that tin shed effect, where they are too hot in summer and too cold in winter. When houses are too hot, it can put a lot of stress on people, animals, items in your property and on the actual house itself.
Here are 5 quick tips that can help you stay cooler this Summer!
- 1: Insulation – Yes insulation is wonderful at keeping the heat in, but it is also great at keeping the heat out! The first place you need to look is up in your ceiling. Is there sufficient insulation to block out all that trapped heat in your ceiling from getting into your house?
- 2: Dampness – If your property is damp, the humidity will make any hot day feel twice as hot. The most common place where moisture gets into your property is from under the house. Installing a moisture barrier over the soil will ensure your house stays drier. The other most common place is laundry, make sure you dry your clothes with plenty of ventilation.
- 3: Lightbulbs – It still surprises me how many people haven’t switched to LED yet. Not only do older bulbs eat up a lot more energy, but they also radiate a lot of heat, and you cannot insulate right up against it, leaving a perfect portal for the heat in your ceiling to shoot down through the downlights. Get your lights upgraded and your roof insulated ASAP!
- 4: Shade – If you are out all day, close your curtains and blinds. Like how insulation works, your curtains and blinds act as a layer to keep the heat out. Plus, it stops the sun from heating things up in the house and damaging items. Win! Win!
- 5: Wind Tunnel – Thankfully we are never short of air pressure outside in Wellington and the fastest way to cool a house right down is to create a wind tunnel. If you have come home to a hot house, get out the door stops and open a door on opposite ends of the house and let the cooler breeze shoot past. Probably the one time we love the wind.
If all else fails, there is that snowflake mode on the heatpump that you probably haven’t used in a very long time. If you have any questions about this or about Real Estate in general, get in touch – love to hear from you!
Have a great week everyone!