What are the simple traditional methods of keeping rooms cool in summers?

Question

such ways can be environmental friendly and easy to be used in daily life.

Answer 1

Paint your roof and outside walls white.

Answer 2

rip out a wall preferably one that has the wind hitting it.

Answer 3

It's springtime but Southern California is experiencing a heat wave, so I'm all over this one!

I keep the blinds drawn where the morning sun shines in.  Later in the day, I open the windows there and close the doors on the opposite side (no blinds in the bathrooms, I enjoy the view!) so the harsh afternoon sun doesn't shine through.

When we moved in 11 years ago, we planted 2 trees in the front yard.  One is deciduous, and allows the sun to warm the front bedrooms in the winter.  The other is evergreen. In the summer, both are fully leaved, and that part of the house stays cool.

I also turn on the ceiling fan in the bedroom to keep the cool air circulating.  Once in a while we do have to turn on a fan.  But this seems to work well, and we don't have to resort to air conditioning.

Answer 4

unfortunately most of the traditional methods of keeping rooms cooler in summers were in the construction...

ensure you have plant coverage preventing the strongest sunshine from hitting the house directly.. ensure the windows create cross drafts in the path of prevailing winds... ensure you have room above and below the frame of the house for currants to cool

once the house is built there is a LOT less you can do... most of which have been listed drapes reflective paint insulation etc...

the one other suggestion i would make is to plant trees in such a way that the limbs help shield the house from direct sunshine.. but that is a slow solution!

Answer 5

Open windows, awnings and fans. It also helps if you can blow air through the cooler crawlspace under the home.

Answer 6

There is a lot of good advice already, like drawing blinds and so on, although if you want to be truly environmentally friendly using electric fans isn't exactly 100%.  However, an attic or whole house fan used to exhaust hot air and draw cooler air into the house is more environmentally friendly than leaving air conditioners or window fans running all day.  I had a neighbor who used one by leaving his house A/C off all day while he was at work, then when he got home he'd open the windows in the cooler evening air, turn on the whole house/attic fan, and in a matter of minutes the temperature would drop dramatically.  I just had such a fan installed in the 5,100 square foot building I work in and will use it in the same way this summer.  

Leaving windows open in the heat of the day isn't such a good idea though.  The breeze brings in hotter air.  You want to open your windows at night and bring in the cooler night air, then close the windows as it begins to warm up and try to retain the cool air from the night before inside for as long as  possible during the day.  Once the inside and outside temperatures are equalized, the breeze from open windows is OK.  Again, though, the building where I work stays an easy 20 degrees cooler than the outside temperature in summer if I just leave the windows and doors shut during the heat of the day.

Answer 7

keep the windows open a bit at all times, don't use the oven as much, make sure the vents on windows are always open

Answer 8

I live in Georgia, and the summer days are hot, but the nights are usually cool, and it stays cool until about noon.  In the mornings, I open up the house and turn on the exhaust fan to pull the cool morning air into the house.  Then when it starts to get hot outside, I close the windows and the blinds and turn off the exhaust fan.  The house stays pretty cool most of the rest of the day.  Then, when the sun goes down and it cools off outside again, I open the house back up and run the exhaust fan again for a while.

Answer 9

Before A/C was invented people would wet blankets/sheets and hang them over open windows and doorways. As the wind blows through the water evaporates and cools the air.

Answer 10

-heavy drapes/blinds

-lights off

-keeping the sun out

Answer 11

keep windows open. leave electronics off. because most TVs and lights and stuff give off radiation and heat. if you leave the windows open fresh air comes in and pulls out hot air