Summer heat is in full swing. As the sweat trickles down your back, you may consider finding a new air conditioning unit, a personal assistant to fan you all day or a move to a subarctic location. But don’t let the sweltering heat get you down.
Misting towers and cooling towels can help you cool off, but if you’re looking for other simple solutions and want to have a little fun, try one of these three tricks.
1. DIY Air Conditioner
All you need is a fan, ice and salt for this cooling trick. Fill a shallow bowl with ice and place it in front of a portable fan. Shake salt onto the ice, and turn the fan on. As the ice melts, the cold air will hit the fan and be pushed around the room. Sit back and relax as a cool breeze comes your way.
2. Frozen Pillow
Nothing is worse than tossing and turning all night due to a hot bedroom. Get a better, cooler night’s sleep with this trick. Take your pillow and wrap it in a plastic bag. Place it in your freezer a few hours before you go to bed. Once you’re ready to sleep, take out the pillow, remove and discard the bag, slip it back into the pillowcase and get ready to drift into a blissfully chill dream.
3. Shaded A/C Unit
Sometimes, the best way to keep cool is to go straight to the source. Your outdoor air conditioning unit is working hard to churn out cool air all day long—and that can be hard when it’s so hot outside. By shading the space above the unit, the air around it will get colder, and make it easier for the unit to cool the air faster. Shading can also increase the unit’s efficiency. If natural shading isn’t a possibility, try placing a sunshade, tent or canopy above the unit. Just make sure there’s plenty of space (about 5 feet) between the top of the air conditioner and the covering so that there’s room for proper air circulation.
