You spent a fortune knocking down all the walls in your home’s shared spaces to create a fabulous great room, so now you, your family and your guests can enjoy the spaciousness of a conjoined kitchen, dining and living room. What’s more, you installed gorgeous windows looking out on your backyard — perhaps even a trendy accordion door — to illuminate your space with as much natural light as possible.
There’s just one problem: Big rooms are hard to keep cool. You could send your central air unit into overdrive all summer long — but few people want to see their energy bills reach such heights. Instead, you should consider the following reasons for why your great room might be so hot and what you can do to keep it cool.
Too Much Sunlight
Natural light never goes out of style, so installing huge windows around your great room is a wonderful way to gain immense value from your home renovation. Plus, the views through your windows bring life and beauty to your interior spaces.
Yet, there is a major downside to massive windows, especially in the summertime. When sunlight shines through your glass windows, it brings unwanted heat. Windows on the east and west sides of your home allow for direct light, which means your interior temperatures will rise fast and stay high all day long.
Fortunately, it is not particularly difficult to cut down on the heating effect of your windows. Here are a few solutions you can try today:
- Install window film. Window film reflects sunlight, keeping the interior of your home slightly dimmer and cooler.
- Install window coverings. Window coverings help trap the light and heat against the window, preventing it from infiltrating your room. Honeycomb blinds work best, but most types of coverings can provide this function. You might install window coverings on some or part of your windows, to allow you to enjoy some natural light and backyard views.
- Install external shades. Awnings and eaves installed outside your windows can block sunlight during the hottest parts of the day.
No Air Movement
The body’s sweat system is quite effective at keeping itself comfortable in hot environments — but it relies on air flow. If the air in your great room is still, you will feel both hot and sticky as the sweat your body produces is unable to evaporate.
This is why fans are so effective at keeping indoor spaces cool and comfortable. You can install large ceiling fans that fit your interior aesthetic and introduce enough air flow to make your natural cooling system work efficiently.
Old-fashioned Light Bulbs
Thomas Edison changed the world with his carbon-filament light bulb — but that doesn’t mean you have to keep using old-fashioned bulbs in your shiny, new great room. In fact, old light bulbs like halogens waste over 90 percent of the energy they use in the creation of heat, not light. Though you might love the warm glow of an Edison or halogen bulb, the truth is that it is raising your energy bill in more ways than one.
LED and CFL light bulbs are dramatically more energy efficient and introduce no heat into your interior spaces. Plus, you can find LEDs that are as comfortingly warm-toned as old-fashioned light bulbs. Light temperature is measured in Kelvin (K), and lower numbers indicate warmer tones. You should replace all your old light bulbs with LEDs of 2700 K or lower to achieve the same effect without the heat.
Hot Appliances
The kitchen is the heart of the home — and it is also one of the main sources of heat. Cooking almost always involves some kind of heat, whether from an oven, stove or grill, and that heat will radiate out into the rest of the space. Other appliances, like your refrigerator and freezer, might compound the heat coming from your kitchen, as their motors will become warm even as they work to keep their interior compartments cool.
While you cannot go without eating for the rest of the summer, there are steps you can take to reduce the impact of hot appliances on the feel of your great room. For one, you can opt not to use your stove and oven during the hottest times of day or during the hottest days of the year. Instead, you might use a grill located outside or rely on a smaller oven placed in the garage or a less central part of your home. You might also choose to prepare foods that do not require much heating, like salads.
You can love your great room — even in the summer heat. By making a few more changes to your interior design and altering your behavior during the hottest parts of the summer, you can keep your great room cool and comfortable year-round.