As temperatures rise during the summer, keep your family cool with these heat-beating tips.
Chill Out of the House
Escape the heat with a local summer outing. Head to the local pool or swimming lake, go to an air conditioned library, mall or movie theatre, check out indoor play spaces for the kids. Dine out at a restaurant to avoid the hot stove, even if its fast food.
Cool Air In, Hot Air Out
Homes built in warmer climates were designed to stay cool indoors during when its hot outside. Stucco in particular is energy efficient because of its air-barrier qualities. To take advantage of this construction benefit, open your windows at night and in the morning to let in fresh, cool air. Then, before temperatures rise, close windows, blinds, shutters and drapes to keep cool air in and hot sun rays out. Learn more by reading Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings by Alex Wilson, Jennifer Thorne, and John Morrill.
Get Outside
When the air inside is stifling, move your dining table, or even your family room or bedroom, outside. Dine al fresco under an umbrella or under the stars, invest in a deep seating patio set for lounging and socializing outdoors, and take make it a fun outing for the whole family by having a camp out in the backyard with sleeping bags. You can get everything you need, from outdoor furniture to camping gear, at Costco.com.
Luxuriate in Linen
Just as linen is a great breathable fabric for summer clothing, it makes a wonderful and cool sleep surface. Italian bedding designer Magniflex took linen luxury one step further than bed sheets and created the Linen Experience mattress and Linen ComfortPlus pillows. The beauty of the line is that you can remove and launder the coverings, so you can sleep on them with or without bed sheets. Check out the new collection at Magniflex.com.
A Really Big Fan
If you don’t have central air conditioning, you don’t have to resort to a noisy and annoying desk fan or an eyesore window AC unit to move the air. The bladeless Dyson Air Multiplier is one of the coolest (in all senses of the word) new inventions that uses technology similar to that in turbochargers and jet engines to induce and entrain air. The result is quiet, even airflow, and a conversation piece. Find a dealer at Dyson.com.
K. Pearson Brown is a a contributor to L.A. Family, L.A. Parent, Expecting, OutTraveler, Brentwood Media Group (Westside Today, Beverly Hills 90210, Associated Content, E-zine Articles, Suite 101, Match.com’s Harmony magazine, Frontiers, IN Los Angeles and more, and she can also be heard as a commentator on the top-rated NPR radio station KPCC-FM in Los Angeles. Brown is also a nationally syndicated columnist, blogger and novelist. Her columns have appeared in more than 40 outlets including SheWired.com, TheNextFamily and many others.You can follow her on her blog at www.outwithmommy.com and contact her at westsidearticles@aol.com.
