It may not feel like it yet since there are still snowflakes falling in lots of places, but the dog days of summer are right around the corner. With that come the days of sweating until you’re going to melt into the floor. Now is the time to start looking at how to keep cool, before prices soar along with the temperature. Anyone who already has central air can just F off right now, just know our anger with you is purely out of jealousy.
There are lots of different options of how to keep your home cool, depending on your needs. Here we’ll break down those options and what are the best brands for your buck to purchase.
Dehumidifiers
One of the less popular options to stay cool is the dehumidifier. Dehumidifiers don’t do anything to keep your home cooler, but do remove excess moisture from the air. While they don’t cool the air, not having to sit in a muggy jungle like home, will allow your body’s sweat to evaporate and in turn cool you. It probably doesn’t remove the need for fans or an AC, but if you live in a humid climate, it can make a huge difference.
With over 17k reviews, I highly recommend looking at the Waykar dehumidifier
This bad boy can handle up to a 6,000 sq foot home, so plenty of coverage to dry out your air. It also gives you options of how to empty the collected water, either by dumping out the bucket that fills occasionally or setting up the drainage hose to drain on its own.
If you are in an apartment living situation, the Waykar is overkill and too much money to spend, so you should consider something like this NineSky dehumidifier
With 800 square feet of coverage, this should handle most apartment living situations. This model does no have a drainage hose option, but it does come with 7 LED light colors to add to the vibe of your place while keeping the humidity down.
Fans
Next up on our list we have the classic fan. I probably don’t need to explain why a fan can help, but in short it gets the air moving, helping to keep you cool. There are a million different options for fans, but a few key types you should consider
Box Fans – A box fan is perfect to put in your window to get air moving in or out of your home. My favorite trick is to put a box fan blowing out of your home in the highest window in your house. Since heat rises, this means that hottest air will be blowing out of your home. Rounding out this method, open a window that is lower, which will allow cooler air to get sucked into your house. Amazon has a great deal on a 3 speed fan that will work for this.
Standing Fans – Another option is a freestanding fan. These are nice options as they can be tucket in the corner and easily moved around to blow on you wherever you are sitting. There are a couple of options within standing fans, pedestal and tower fans. Realistically there is minimal difference between these two types as far as cooling ability, so pick the one that fits your style and budge.
Pedestal fans are the tried and true classic. You probably remember sitting in school before they had AC and the teacher placing a pedestal fan in the front of the class. You’d sit waiting to enjoy the 2 seconds where the fan passed by you to cool you off. Amazon has a nice generic for this one too, helping keep you cool without breaking the bank
Tower fans are the next generation. At the end of the day, its basically the same difference, but these definitely look nicer, taking up less space and just a sleeker feel in general. Lasko, who is well known for their space heaters, has a good option if you do want the tower approach without breaking the bank
If you are feeling fancy Dreo has a very fool bladeless tower, that also serves as an air purifier. The pricetag hurts a little, but it is a beautiful looking fan and adding in the ability to clean your air is a welcomed bonus
Air Conditioners
If you really want to get down to business, grabbing an air conditioner is the real way to go. These are pricier and jack up your energy bill, but are the one thing that will actually cool down your home. My suggestion to keep the electric bills down is to get multiple smaller ACs so you can just cool the room you’re in, instead of one big one to try to keep your whole home cool. Whatever you pick, just pay close attention to the BTU’s, as this is what indicates how much space the AC can actually cool.
I got myself this 5,000 BTU Frigidaire for my bedroom last year and love it.
Truthfully it is just enough to keep my room cool, not ice cold, but it works great for my extra small windows.
If you want something a little bigger so you can be ice cold there is also a 10,000 BTU option. It is around double the price, but it can cover more space and really drop the temperature if you need it
If you are someone with extra tiny windows or oddly shaped ones where the window AC wouldn’t fit, you’re going to want to look for portable air conditioners. These sit on your floor, with a tube you run to your window for the exhaust. A bit uglier, but still better than sweating your life away all summer. Midea makes a 7,000 BTU model that includes a 5 foot hose and window bracket for the exhaust
Whatever cooling option you go with, do your research. The main thing to think about is what kind of space you’re trying to cool and your budget. There are a million different options for all needs, so pick whatever is best for you. Now I’m off to clear the snow off my car, while I dream about the days where I’ll be complaining about how hot it is.