The sun’s out, the mercury’s rising and summer is at its peak. It’s that time of the year when your fans and air conditioners are pushed to their limits. In fact, the heavy use of these appliances is what’s increasing your electricity bills and cost of living in Pune in these months.

Need to Beat the Heat? These Hacks Will Help You Get Cool for the Summer

But you don’t need to sweat it out. There are plenty of affordable and easy hacks that can make it super easy for you to stay cool and comfortable, even in the heat. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s check them out.

Draw the curtains

Look, we know that summer means sunshine and natural light galore but keeping your windows open is letting in something else too – Heat. A brightly lit room is a lot hotter than a dark one, so the quickest way to combat all the heat streaming in is to draw your curtains or blinds, especially during the peak hours around noon. You’ll be able to control the amount of sunlight in your space without letting it get too hot.

Do your laundry

Hear us out. Doing your laundry can actually help you feel cooler, if you hang your clothes to dry strategically. Having damp or wet fabric near an open window will actually lead to more evaporation and cool down the air before it enters your room. Even if it’s not laundry day, you can easily wet an old sheet or blanket and hang it outside your window for the same effect. Say goodbye to your air conditioner because this method is totally eco-friendly.

Store beauty products in the fridge

Sometimes cooling down in the summer isn’t so much about reducing the temperature outdoors but about bringing down your body heat. And a really easy way to go about that is by chilling some of the beauty or self-care products you use on a daily basis. Items like aloe vera gels, toners, lotions, and sheet masks can easily be kept in the fridge. (It’s good for the products too, since being stored in the fridge can make them last longer.) Now every time you go to apply one of these products, you’ll find yourself cool and refreshed with no extra effort.

Ice everything

Ice is sure to become your favourite thing in the summer and it’s one of the easiest and most inexpensive ways to cool yourself down. There are tonnes of ways you can use it, beyond putting it in your iced tea or other beverages. You could create a DIY air conditioner by filling a hot water bottle with water and freezing it. Or simply rub ice cubes over your pulse points to bring down your body temperature and stay cool.

Get a spray bottle

When it’s really hot in the summer, the place you really want to be is the beach, where you can actually enjoy the heat and the sea without getting uncomfortable. Well, we can’t help you bring the beach into your home, but you can easily replicate the sea spray. All you need is water and a spray bottle. Spraying a mist of water into the room or even onto your face can bring down the temperature significantly and help you feel cool a lot faster. And if you want to get really fancy, you could mix up the water in the bottle with some peppermint tea or any other cooling flavour, for added freshness.

Maximise the breeze

If you check out the best PGs in Pune for boys and girls, you’ll see the one thing they have in common is maximising small spaces. And that’s exactly the trick you need to use in your apartment or PG to cool down during the summer. Even if you don’t have huge rooms and corridors with which to create wind tunnels, you can keep doors and windows open on opposite sides of the room to encourage cross ventilation. And make sure you check your ceiling fan too. If you want to maximise the breeze from your fan, make sure it spins in an anti-clockwise direction, so as to create a downward breeze. If you manage to make your space airy, you’ll feel a lot less suffocated by the heat.

And there you have it. These hacks will help you stay cool in the summer without spending an extra cent. So, no matter the temperature outside, you know you can test one of these methods and keep chilling out.