An air conditioner will keep your indoors cool and heavenly, but it surely does mean upper electrical energy costs and an building up in carbon emissions. If your heart skips a beat (like mine does) ahead of opening the per month invoice, or if you simply need to cut back energy usage, the following pointers under will not simplest assist cut back electrical energy intake but may also introduce you to a extra impressed way of life. Read on.
1. Be sensible about ventilation
Cross-ventilation or wind ventilation can keep an area cool by way of permitting loose waft of air through doorways and home windows. Leaving home windows open helps lower indoor temperatures and minimises the need for switching on the air conditioner. Do make sure there's some other opening (preferably at the reverse finish) to let the air cross through.
Tip: Add a little bit of conventional style on your fashionable house by way of putting in jaalis in home windows. This attempted and tested Indian vernacular element is a undying favourite for its ability to dam out the solar but let within the breeze.
2. Draw the shades throughout the day
Photo: Photo by way of Khosla Associates
Pull down the blinds and draw the curtains to keep out the cruel rays of the solar and to stop cool air from escaping through open home windows. In the image, the floor-to-ceiling home windows are coated with nude-coloured blinds. The designers have long past for for sectional blinds as an alternative of full-length ones, which will also be adjusted as per gentle necessities.
Tip: Scout your native market for screens made out of khus khus, which is one of those reed or grass that is smartly woven right into a mat or blind and hung within the doors and home windows. This is an age-old technique to keep your home cool and pleasant inside. The aromatic grass works as a natural cooler when sprinkled with water.
3. Switch on the ceiling fan or an air cooler
Photo: 1800Lighting fixtures
Both ceiling fans and air-coolers are energy-saving alternatives to ACs. Air coolers, also referred to as evaporative coolers, upload moisture to the air, thus lowering indoor temperatures. However, they are extra suitable for drier and arid climates common to the western and northerly portions of India.
Tip: Traditional coolers can be a bit noisy so do check for extra fresh types that are quieter.
four. Set up a water body for passive cooling
Photo: Kumar Moorthy & Associates
As water evaporates and rises, it absorbs heat from the within sight air. So why not set up a small water body for your internal courtyard?
Strategically situated water our bodies create convectional breezes, which in turn make the house cooler. Take a cue from the gap by way of Kumar Moorthy Associates. The designers have created a mini Zen garden with a mosaic-based water structure for passive cooling. If making architectural changes is not imaginable, then you'll purchase a water fountain for this area or the balcony or even go for ornamental earthen pots stuffed with water to create a equivalent impact.
Tip: Any area the place water collects for a protracted period of time calls for common cleansing and upkeep. Stagnant water might draw mosquitoes, so do make sure important maintenance.
five. Green up the indoors and the outside
Plants and trees keep the air around them cool, thus reducing temperatures. You can develop deciduous trees like peepul (Ficus religiosa) or banyan (Ficus benghalensis) alongside the limits of your home, especially if you survive the bottom floor. These come into leaf in spring and shed their leaves in autumn, thus providing ample color in summer season and permitting maximum sunshine in winter.
You too can develop mountain climbing vines, corresponding to curtain creepers (Vernonia elaeagnifolia) in home windows or balconies. In this symbol, the householders have used eco-friendly techniques to chill their house by way of growing a green, living wall alongside the passageway.
6. Go for muted furniture
Photo: Iqrup + Ritz (India)
When the mercury rises, use soothing shades and materials inside the house. White and other lighter shades mirror all wavelengths of sunshine and subsequently soak up the least amount of warmth. Black and darker colors, to the contrary, soak up the most, and thereafter, radiate it.
Everything about this front room by way of Iqrup + Ritz spells cool, be it the pastel hues of the upholstery or the refreshing green plants.
7. Bare the flooring
Photo: a-RT/art.structure.design
Accessories like carpets and rugs can the carry indoor temperature by way of soaking up and conserving heat. On the opposite hand, stones like marble, granite and other natural types have numerous mass and don’t generally tend to heat up very easily, making them a super choice for the tropical Indian climate. So bare the flooring to benefit from all this coolness. The subtly shaded natural stone on this room won’t soak up an excessive amount of heat and will assist keep the indoor temperature on the lower aspect.
Tip: If you in reality have to use a carpet, go for chatais (reed or jute mats), which don’t soak up as a lot heat as thicker carpets do. They also are simple to roll up and store.
eight. Switch to LEDs
Incandescent bulbs and tubes generally tend to radiate numerous heat, which provides to the sweltering feeling throughout the high-heat months – especially when you find yourself seated close to them. Smaller or closed spaces like this find out about house would feel a lot hotter on account of the proximity to incandescent lighting. LEDs, then again, don’t heat up fast or emit an excessive amount of heat. As they use much less electrical energy, they have got lower carbon emissions and don’t upload as a lot to international warming.
9. Don’t omit ‘you’
Photo: Beth Dana Design
Along with maintaining your indoors cool, it's also vital to keep your body temperature down, too. Switch to food and drinks that can keep your body refreshed and funky throughout the unforgiving summers. Think of unpolluted vegetables and fruit and refreshing beverages like nimbu paani (lemonade), lassi (buttermilk) or equivalent wholesome drinks to stick hydrated throughout the day.
By Rashmi Haralalka
Houzz.in
1. Be sensible about ventilation
Cross-ventilation or wind ventilation can keep an area cool by way of permitting loose waft of air through doorways and home windows. Leaving home windows open helps lower indoor temperatures and minimises the need for switching on the air conditioner. Do make sure there's some other opening (preferably at the reverse finish) to let the air cross through.
Tip: Add a little bit of conventional style on your fashionable house by way of putting in jaalis in home windows. This attempted and tested Indian vernacular element is a undying favourite for its ability to dam out the solar but let within the breeze.
2. Draw the shades throughout the day
Photo: Photo by way of Khosla Associates
Pull down the blinds and draw the curtains to keep out the cruel rays of the solar and to stop cool air from escaping through open home windows. In the image, the floor-to-ceiling home windows are coated with nude-coloured blinds. The designers have long past for for sectional blinds as an alternative of full-length ones, which will also be adjusted as per gentle necessities.
Tip: Scout your native market for screens made out of khus khus, which is one of those reed or grass that is smartly woven right into a mat or blind and hung within the doors and home windows. This is an age-old technique to keep your home cool and pleasant inside. The aromatic grass works as a natural cooler when sprinkled with water.
3. Switch on the ceiling fan or an air cooler
Photo: 1800Lighting fixtures
Both ceiling fans and air-coolers are energy-saving alternatives to ACs. Air coolers, also referred to as evaporative coolers, upload moisture to the air, thus lowering indoor temperatures. However, they are extra suitable for drier and arid climates common to the western and northerly portions of India.
Tip: Traditional coolers can be a bit noisy so do check for extra fresh types that are quieter.
four. Set up a water body for passive cooling
Photo: Kumar Moorthy & Associates
As water evaporates and rises, it absorbs heat from the within sight air. So why not set up a small water body for your internal courtyard?
Strategically situated water our bodies create convectional breezes, which in turn make the house cooler. Take a cue from the gap by way of Kumar Moorthy Associates. The designers have created a mini Zen garden with a mosaic-based water structure for passive cooling. If making architectural changes is not imaginable, then you'll purchase a water fountain for this area or the balcony or even go for ornamental earthen pots stuffed with water to create a equivalent impact.
Tip: Any area the place water collects for a protracted period of time calls for common cleansing and upkeep. Stagnant water might draw mosquitoes, so do make sure important maintenance.
five. Green up the indoors and the outside
Plants and trees keep the air around them cool, thus reducing temperatures. You can develop deciduous trees like peepul (Ficus religiosa) or banyan (Ficus benghalensis) alongside the limits of your home, especially if you survive the bottom floor. These come into leaf in spring and shed their leaves in autumn, thus providing ample color in summer season and permitting maximum sunshine in winter.
You too can develop mountain climbing vines, corresponding to curtain creepers (Vernonia elaeagnifolia) in home windows or balconies. In this symbol, the householders have used eco-friendly techniques to chill their house by way of growing a green, living wall alongside the passageway.
6. Go for muted furniture
Photo: Iqrup + Ritz (India)
When the mercury rises, use soothing shades and materials inside the house. White and other lighter shades mirror all wavelengths of sunshine and subsequently soak up the least amount of warmth. Black and darker colors, to the contrary, soak up the most, and thereafter, radiate it.
Everything about this front room by way of Iqrup + Ritz spells cool, be it the pastel hues of the upholstery or the refreshing green plants.
7. Bare the flooring
Photo: a-RT/art.structure.design
Accessories like carpets and rugs can the carry indoor temperature by way of soaking up and conserving heat. On the opposite hand, stones like marble, granite and other natural types have numerous mass and don’t generally tend to heat up very easily, making them a super choice for the tropical Indian climate. So bare the flooring to benefit from all this coolness. The subtly shaded natural stone on this room won’t soak up an excessive amount of heat and will assist keep the indoor temperature on the lower aspect.
Tip: If you in reality have to use a carpet, go for chatais (reed or jute mats), which don’t soak up as a lot heat as thicker carpets do. They also are simple to roll up and store.
eight. Switch to LEDs
Incandescent bulbs and tubes generally tend to radiate numerous heat, which provides to the sweltering feeling throughout the high-heat months – especially when you find yourself seated close to them. Smaller or closed spaces like this find out about house would feel a lot hotter on account of the proximity to incandescent lighting. LEDs, then again, don’t heat up fast or emit an excessive amount of heat. As they use much less electrical energy, they have got lower carbon emissions and don’t upload as a lot to international warming.
9. Don’t omit ‘you’
Photo: Beth Dana Design
Along with maintaining your indoors cool, it's also vital to keep your body temperature down, too. Switch to food and drinks that can keep your body refreshed and funky throughout the unforgiving summers. Think of unpolluted vegetables and fruit and refreshing beverages like nimbu paani (lemonade), lassi (buttermilk) or equivalent wholesome drinks to stick hydrated throughout the day.
By Rashmi Haralalka
Houzz.in
9 ways to say NO to the AC
Reviewed by Kailash
on
May 07, 2018
Rating: