Sun, fresh air, long days and warm nights. That’s what comes to mind when we think of summer, right? Of course! That’s not the whole story, though. Hair-altering humidity, damp, thick air and sleeping as still as possible are very real aspects of summer, too. When it comes to apartments, not all of them offer reprieve from the summer heat. Any of us come to a specific conclusion during the first summer in our new place: “Wow, my apartment is too hot in the summer!” As someone who moved into a high rise apartment with no air conditioning in the middle of July one year, I completely understand! Let’s talk about a few ways to beat the heat and make our apartments more livable in the hot months.
Why Do Apartments Get So Hot?
To understand why an apartment is too hot, one must first understand how apartments get so hot. Here are a few ways the heat gets in.
Sunlight Through Windows
The most obvious cause of an apartment getting hot is the amount of sunlight your apartment is exposed to.
Tinted glass and “low-E” windows can help a great deal, but these types of glass are found mainly in newer buildings (post-2000, let’s say) or high rises built with a large glass curtainwall. Not all buildings from this time period feature this type of glass either.
Even in buildings that feature specialized glass windows, the amount of heat in an apartment often correlates to the amount of sunlight it gets.
Heat From The Hallway
Apartment buildings make money in a very simple way. Rents are collected, bills and expenses are paid, and what’s left over is profit.
Most high rise apartment buildings charge tenants for their individual energy usage. This includes electric bills, which are driven especially high in the summer months when air conditioners run full-blast all day long.
Ever notice how the hallways in apartment buildings are especially hot during the summer? This is because it’s a “no man’s lans” in the building – no tenant is individually responsible for conditioning that space.
In turn, many property owners don’t air condition the hallways in the building at all. This heat is susceptible to getting in your apartment. In fact, it’s a constant variable in preventing your apartment from getting cool.
Heat Transfer Through Walls
Ah, the “silent cause” of why an apartment is too hot – heat transfer through the walls.
Heat transfer is pretty much what is sounds like – heat from the outside comes inside. In the winter, the opposite is true – the heat in your apartment gets out through the walls. That’s for another article!
Why does heat get through the walls? Well, direct sunlight is the most common culprit – the more direct sunlight an exterior wall gets, the more heat will get through in the end. The insulating properties of the materials play a huge role in how much gets through.
How can I check if my walls allow heat inside? Check the temperature of your exterior-facing walls by touching it. If the wall is warm to the touch, heat is coming through. You may notice a wetness or droplets of water, if you have concrete walls or ceiling.
If your hand is a few inches from the wall and you can already feel the heat, there’s quite a bit of transfer happening.
Lack Of Airflow
A lack of airflow in your apartment isn’t a cause of heat getting in, but it does influence how the air in an apartment feels.
When there’s no flow of air, the air inside never gets recycled. It sits stagnant and heavy because moisture in the air stays in place. When we add heat to the equation, an apartment stats feeling like a slow cooker on a warm day. An apartment with a lack of airflow is especially uncomfortable in the summer months.
In simpler terms, a breeze is quite a relief on a hot summer day.
When Your Apartment Is Too Hot In The Summer, Try These 5 Tips
We’ve covered a bit of the science behind hot apartments, but enough about that – what can I do if my apartment is too hot?? Let’s get down to business. Here are the five techniques we’re talking about.
- Pull The Shades, Blinds Or Curtains
- Stop Hallway Heat At The Door
- Fire Up The Dehumidifier
- Create A Cross Breeze (Fans Help!)
- Lastly, Use An Air Conditioner (But Not The Typical Ones!)
Below is a bit of detail on each of these tips, plus some product recommendations where applicable.
1. Pull The Shades, Blinds Or Curtains
When your apartment is getting a little too toasty, it’s probably time to pull the shades, blinds and/or curtains.
Obviously, right? Why even include this on the list? A few reasons.
When we imagine any of the above items in use, we imagine a near-dark room. Who wants that on a sunny day? Thankfully, there’s a whole spectrum in between unfiltered sunlight and “the darkness”.
In my experience, pulling the blinds just enough to block the sun from directly shining in is enough to get relief from heat. That way you still maintain a view while blocking the sun out.
It’s also important to know when the most light comes through during the day.
One side of our apartment gets direct sun in the earlier half of the day, while the other side gets sun later. Whichever side isn’t in the sun is noticeably cooler.
If your apartment is too hot when you come home from work, try pulling the blinds or curtains in high-sunlit rooms before leaving home in the morning. This will avoid several hours of sunlight coming in throughout the day, which will make a big difference!
Read Next: Advantages & Disadvantages of Living In A High Rise: What To Expect
2. Prevent Hallway Heat From Getting In
As we discussed earlier, hallways in apartment buildings are seldom air conditioned. When you consider stairwells and the fact that heat rises, the hallways on upper floors are usually hot and humid. No good!
To combat this, we recommend entering or exiting your apartment really fast. Half-kidding.
In seriousness, there’s no much you can do about the hallway heat. The next best thing is to prevent as much of that hallway heat from getting in as possible. According to the 2nd law of thermodynamics, hot air flows towards cold air. This means the hallway heat “wants” to come into your cold apartment!
My experience has shown me that most air transfer from the hallway comes underneath the door. The best way to prevent this is by installing a draft stopper on the bottom of your door. Here are a few to check out.
Read Next: High-Rise Vs Low-Rise Apartment: Which Is Better? Here’s Our Take
3. Fire Up The Dehumidifier
If your apartment is particularly humid, it’s probably due to one of these reasons:
- The weather is really humid.
- Condensation permeates through the walls.
Humidity is tough to get rid of. A breeze can help, as we’ll discuss next, but air from the outside will only bring more humidity in if the weather is already muggy.
Instead, I recommend checking out dehumidifiers. They essentially suck the moisture out of the air, which drastically lowers the humidity level.
I first saw one when I was a kid – we lived in an old house with an extremely damp basement. My Dad bought a dehumidifier – fake wood-paneling and all – which made the basement a lot more comfortable to spend time in. You’d be surprised how much water is collected after a couple days!
Here are some modern dehumidifiers that don’t feature fake wood paneling.
Read Next: A Home Gym For A Studio Apartment? Equipment That Can Fit In A Closet
4. Create A Cross Breeze
What is a cross breeze? A “cross breeze” is simply air that moves through a space. While they can occur naturally, a cross breeze in an apartment is something we create ourselves.
Ideally, a cross breeze is created by opening up two windows in your apartment at opposite (or near opposite) ends of your place.
Is it as simple as that? Yes, if the wind is blowing consistently in one direction. This doesn’t happen often though, especially on a really hot day.
Here’s how to create a cross breeze in an apartment. First, open up the two windows in your apartment that are as opposite of each other as possible.
Next, plug in a fan near one of the windows. Instead of basking in the fan’s wind, point it out the window.
This essentially pushes air out of your window. Hot air inside is now outside, which cools your apartment slightly. This will encourage more hot air to come in through the “non-fan” window, which feels like a breeze, albeit a warm one.
This cross-breeze technique effectively sucks air in one window and pushes it out another, which to you, will feel like a pleasant breeze – certainly more tolerable than muggy, stagnant air.
Read Next: Living In A High Rise During Coronavirus: What’s Changed For Us
5. Try A Modern Air Conditioner
An air conditioner is the most obvious device for cooling off when your apartment is too hot. Everyone knows that. In apartments, there are a few disadvantages that come with air conditioners.
If you’ve got central air conditioning in your apartment, this tip probably isn’t for you. Heck, this whole article may not apply! Assuming you don’t, the other traditional option is an in-wall or in-window air conditioner.
These types of a/c units often let outside air into your apartment, since there aren’t tight seals around the unit. While the in-sleeve air conditioner produces cold air, it also lets in hot air. That’s like hydrating and sweating at the same time – it just doesn’t work great.
Despite this, classic air conditioners certainly can work, but they’re noisy and use a lot of electricity. Using electricity is one thing, but using electricity inefficiently is another – every bit of heat that still gets in effectively takes away from how cool the room feels.
There are many alternatives to traditional air conditioners in modern times. Assuming you’re trying some of the other tips above, I recommend checking out a portable air conditioner with a variety of fan and temperature settings. Here are a few models to consider:
Read Next: Are High Rise Apartments Soundproof? Mitigating Common Noises
My Apartment Is Too Hot In The Summer: In Closing
If you’re reading this while sitting in a hot, stuffy apartment, I empathize with you completely. With a little bit of planning, effort and investment, your apartment will become a lot more livable within a couple of days! Thanks for reading and stay cool.
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