Hotter days are here to stay even without the haze. It has been reported that Peninsular Malaysia’s average temperature has increased 0.24°C every decade since 1969 and over 100 days of extreme heat could be faced by urban areas by 2050.
Using mainly air-conditioning to overcome the hot and dry environment in homes has become a health and financial problem to many households.
There are other methods to maintain a cool and healthy home which are much cheaper than air-conditioning. Electricity consumption is a big component of every household expenditure and is on the up and up frequently.
In the afternoons, draw your curtains over windows to keep most of the external hot air from gusting in. Close the windows on really hot days. Close your external doors and patio glass doors to keep hot air out.
Use fans as a first resort to keep cool. If you must use air-conditioning, use a fan to circulate the cool air as this provides a “wind-chill” factor and the air-conditioning can be turned up to save energy.
Install wind-turbine on roofs to circulate air and reduce temperature in the roof. The rooms under the roofs will be much cooler.
If it can be avoided, do not install floor to ceiling height glass doors or windows where there is no extensive external shading over them. Sunlight may shine in and heats up the room. Otherwise install UV protective film or fix heavy curtains.
Mosquito netting is a cost and lifesaving investment. It lets in fresh cool air at night and on rainy days without the need for air-conditioning when you sleep. Mosquitoes are also kept away ensuring reduced risks of dengue.
Part of your porch should not be concreted over, plant grass. Paved areas become hot sink and emit heat at night. Plant a tree if possible and practical or have some potted plants.
Do not cut the tree planted by the developer of local authorities outside your house because you think it is easier to park your other car. That tree has more intrinsic value to you, your family, your finances and the environment in the long term than your car. It provides cooling oxygen to humans, shade to cool your home and car and a habitat for insects, birds and small mammals to thrive.
Hot weather brings drier days and likely water cuts. Collect the laundry run-off in buckets from your washing machine and use it to flush toilets.
Water from cleaning meat and vegetables can be collected too to water your garden and plants.
Some of the above suggestions do not involve financial expenditure but are purely everyday living activities. Start doing them daily and they will become habits benefitting you and the environment.
Others involve capital outlay but can be recoup through savings from energy consumption in the long run.
Keep cool and healthy in the heat can be cheap and simple.
Koo Wee Hon (kooweehon@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.
