Do fans work in hot weather? 5 ways to keep your home cool this summer
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UK summers are famously unpredictable and while warm weather can be welcome, heatwaves bring discomfort, sleepless nights and serious health risks - especially for older or vulnerable people. As the climate crisis worsens, such extreme weather is becoming more common.
The UK isn’t built for high temperatures, so it’s tempting to rely on energy-hungry appliances like air-conditioners. However, these contribute to the very problem they’re meant to solve, climate change!
Whether you’re trying to cut energy bills, reduce your carbon footprint, or just survive the UK’s increasingly warm summers, this guide has you covered. It’s packed with practical, low-cost and plant-friendly ways to stay comfortable without sacrificing the environment or your wallet.
1. Use your fan wisely
Fans are still one of the greenest ways to cool yourself down. A standard fan costs a little under to run which is 20x less than portable air conditioners!
Use a timer plug so your fan only runs when it’s needed, for example, to get to sleep or in early evening before bed.
Place a water bottle or ice pack in front of your fan to act as a mini evaporative cooler.
Swap to energy-efficient DC fans if you’re buying new, as they use up to .
Tilt your fan outward at night to flush warm air from inside your home. Remember that fans cool people, not rooms, so turn them off when you leave.
Power your home fan with Ecotricity’s 100% renewable energy, made from the wind and sun. Our blades catch the wind, so yours can cool you down!
2. Let nature do the work (it’s free!)
When it’s cooler outside, which is usually early morning and late evenings, open windows on opposite sides of your home to create a natural breeze.
If you live in a flat prop open internal doors to help air flow.
3. Cook smarter, not hotter
That dreaded moment is back. It’s 7pm, still 30 degrees and dinner need to be made. So, what can you cook that won’t leave you sweating over the stove?
No-cook meals - Appliances give off a lot of heat, especially ovens and hobs. Therefore, swap oven bakes for meals you don’t have to cook like salads, wraps and smoothies.
Meal prep - Meal prepping in the early morning when it’s cooler is also a great way to stay cool and organised. This also lowers your energy consumption, since meal prepping once for six meals uses far less energy than cooking six separate times.
Skip the oven - Instead of using the full oven, use microwaves or air fryers as it’ll keep your kitchen from turning into a sauna. have some great air fryer recipes, like these .
Freeze your snacks - Watermelon and frozen grapes make excellent snacks and also help cool you down.
4. Keep the sun out, before it gets in
When sunlight streams through your windows, it heats up your home like a greenhouse. Blocking it early in the day keeps things cooler by mid-afternoon!
or blinds shut when the sun is strongest (usually between 11am and 4pm).
Use light-coloured blackout curtains or reflective blinds as they bounce heat back outside.
Keeping the sun out reduces the need for fans or aircon systems later on, saving electricity and cutting emissions.
5. Insulation isn’t just for winter
Think insulation only keeps you warm? Think again. It’s just as effective for keeping the hot air out and cool air in during summer.
Here’s watch you can do:
Loft insulation � Add or top up your loft insulation, as a cooler loft means cooler rooms below.
Draught-proofing � Use draught excluders to block hot air sneaking in through gaps.
Windows � If you’re able to, look at installing double or even triple glazing to reduce both summer heat coming in and winter heat leaving.
is still running in 2025. If you qualify, you could get help with insulation, saving you around £300-500 per year on your energy bills.
Overall, a well-insulated home uses significantly less energy for heating and cooling which is great for your budget and the climate.
If we don’t act now all our summers in the future are going to get hotter and hotter. At Ecotricity, we are trying to replace fossil fuels, which are a huge contributor to rising temperatures, with green renewable energy.
What makes Ecotricity different from other energy companies is that we take the money we make from our customers� bills and use it to build new forms of green energy.
»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp call it Bills into Mills and it means that by paying your bill every month you’re helping fight climate change. Every new windmill or sun park we build reduces Britain’s reliance on fossil fuels to generate electricity.
Ready to start turning your bills into mills?
and we’ll use your bill money to build new sources of renewable energy and build a greener Britain.
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