Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
One has the impression that summers in Germany are getting warmer and warmer.
And the statistics also speak for themselves.
So was the year 2020, the previously second warmest year since records began in 1881. In some states occupied in 2020 according to the Federal Environment Office even took first place.
And the years 2018 and 2019 are also among the warmest summers in measurement history. In July 2019, the German temperature record was even reached with a fabulous 41.2 degrees.
The number of hot days with a temperature of over 30 degrees is also increasing.
These increasingly extreme outside temperatures naturally also heat up apartments and houses and create almost unbearable internal temperatures that make us no longer feel comfortable at home.
Fortunately, there are a few things we can do about it.
In this article, we’ll show you what to do about the heat. You will learn how to keep your apartment cool in summer without making a lot of noise.
Because a cool and at the same time quiet apartment is the ideal retreat in summer.
Ventilate early in the morning and late in the evening
If it’s already warmer outside in summer than in your apartment, then you’d better keep the windows closed. Otherwise, of course, even more warm air will enter your apartment and the internal temperatures will rise.
For this reason, you should only ventilate very early in the morning and late at night in summer. Namely when the air is pleasantly cool.
If you keep the windows closed during the day, this also has the advantage that there is much less noise from outside and the apartment becomes quieter.
Keep shutters and blinds closed
If you have shutters on the windows, consider yourself lucky. Because if you keep the shutters closed during the day when it is very hot, they will keep the heat and direct sunlight out to a certain extent.
As a result, the rooms heat up less and the room remains a little cooler.
And with this tip, too, you have the advantage that it is much quieter in the apartment.
The disadvantage of closed shutters, however, is that hardly any daylight penetrates the apartment from outside. However, this is a welcome side effect in summer.
If you don’t have shutters in front of the windows, blinds and blinds can also help to keep direct sunlight out
Darken the room
To keep the sun out and thereby reduce the heat inside, you can also simply darken your room. That works well even without shutters.
When we didn’t have any curtains, we always hung all the windows with heavy ceilings that were exposed to direct sunlight. That has already brought a lot.
Use special curtains
In order to prevent the apartment from heating up so extremely in summer, special thermal curtains, such as this one here on Amazon *, can also be helpful.
It is practical that such a thermal curtain can be used both in summer and in winter.
Because according to the manufacturer, the curtain helps to keep cool in summer, while it keeps warm in winter.
This means that the curtain can be used all year round and does not have to be hung up and taken down again and again, depending on the season.
Install sun protection film on the windows
A special sun protection film on the windows can also help to ensure that it does not get so warm in the apartment in summer.
On the one hand, a large part of the UV radiation is blocked by such a film, and on the other hand, the brightness in the room is reduced to a certain extent. This allows the rooms to stay cooler in summer.
Another positive effect is that the mirror film keeps the neighbors away from curious glances from the outside and thus ensures more privacy.
You can find a very popular mirror film in different sizes here on Amazon * .
Banish carpets from the rooms
In winter, carpets keep your feet warm and cozy. But in hot summer you should rather ban carpets from the apartment.
Because in fact some carpets are real heat stores. Shaggy carpets in particular are able to store warm air over a certain period of time.
In summer, it is therefore an excellent idea to roll up your carpets and stow them in the attic or, if necessary, under the bed. As soon as the heat is over, you can of course unroll your carpets again.
Set up the fan
A fan is not able to cool the room temperature, but it can still have a very refreshing effect in summer.
This is due to the fact that it blows away the warm air layer directly above the skin and thus provides a little cooling.
However, some fans are quite loud when in operation and can be annoying, which is why it can be useful to look around for a quiet fan .
Fan and wet towel (build air conditioning yourself)
Better than a fan is a fan in combination with a wet towel. With these tools you can easily make your own “air conditioning”.
To do this, you’ll need a fan, a chair, a large towel, and a bucket of water.
First moisten the towel and hang it diagonally over the back of the chair and seat. The bottom of the towel should hang in the water in the bucket.
Now align the fan so that the airflow hits the damp towel directly.
The evaporation of the water in the towel now creates evaporative cold, which is perceived as pleasant coolness.
In the following video you can see again the construction of this self-made “air conditioning”:
Of course, you can’t expect miracles from this little lifehack. But for some people, this setup actually works relatively well.
We also helped each other out with this trick last summer and were actually able to cool off a bit.
There is one thing you should know though. The wet towel naturally increases the humidity in the room. And that can unfortunately lead to mold in the apartment.
Therefore, you should use this trick carefully and remember to ventilate regularly.
Air cooler with water and ice
If you don’t want to fiddle around with a fan and a wet towel all the time, you can simply buy an air cooler that works on a similar principle (evaporation).
A good example of such an air cooler is the Klarstein Skyscraper Ice, which you can find here on Amazon * .
This impressive ventilation tower works with a water tank and two ice packs, which turns the airflow into a refreshing, cool pinch.
With its 4 functions (air cooler, fan, air humidifier and air purifier), the Klarstein Skyscraper is definitely an interesting product for the hot summer.
Hang up damp cloths
If you hang up damp cloths, towels or sheets in the room or directly in front of the windows in your apartment, then evaporative cooling occurs during drying, which can be pleasantly cooling for a short time.
Of course, this only works as long as the wipes are damp, which is why you have to moisten them regularly, for example with a spray bottle full of water.
But beware. With this method, too, the humidity in the room increases and there is again the risk of mold.
Set up a quiet air conditioner
If it is really extremely hot in the apartment, as for example in our attic apartment, then most of the tricks mentioned here no longer help to the desired extent.
So at some point we decided to buy a real air conditioner.
With this we achieve really excellent results and can cool the apartment down really pleasantly in a relatively short time.
However, air conditioners also have some disadvantages.
On the one hand, an exhaust hose has to be led to the outside and, on the other hand, these devices are quite loud.
If the air conditioning is running all day, the noise becomes very unpleasant in the long run.
If you want to run the air conditioner in the bedroom at night, then you should definitely make sure to buy a quiet device.
Some devices, such as the De’Longhi PAC AN112 Silent air conditioner, which you can find here on Amazon * , try to work as quietly as possible.
By the way, in the following article we present some quiet air conditioners .
Nevertheless, a certain level of noise cannot be avoided with such devices.
Therefore, one should ask oneself whether one would rather endure the heat or the noise of the air conditioning.
We definitely opted for the latter, as the heat under the roof in our summer was really unbearable.
Switch off electrical appliances
Many electrical appliances generate heat that can be avoided in summer. The oven and tumble dryer naturally generate a lot of heat in the home.
On particularly hot days, you should therefore leave these devices switched off.
The laundry dries quickly on high heat even without a dryer. And instead of oven-baked pizza, you might want to try a refreshing salad over high heat.
However, some devices get quite warm even in stand-by mode and can thus contribute to the heat in the apartment. So if at all possible you should switch off such devices completely.
Lighting also generates heat, which is why you should do without the opulent festive lighting when it is very hot.
Tips for a cool apartment in very hot weather at a glance:
- Ventilate early in the morning and late in the evening
- Keep shutters and blinds closed
- Darken the room
- Use special curtains
- Apply sun protection film to the windows
- Ban carpets from the apartment
- Set up the fan
- Use the fan with a wet towel
- Start up the air cooler with water and ice
- Hang up damp cloths
- Set up the air conditioner
- Switch off electrical appliances
Ideal room temperatures
In view of the numerous tips and tricks for keeping the apartment cool in summer, you can of course ask yourself what the ideal room temperature is.
Well, the ideal room temperature can certainly not be determined down to the exact degree for every person.
It is important to always take into account the individual comfort temperature, which can vary from person to person.
You can find rough guide values for the correct room temperature in the following table:
| bedroom | 16-19 degrees |
| living room | 20-23 degrees |
| nursery | 21-23 degrees |
| Workspace | 20-22 degrees |
| kitchen | 18-20 degrees |
| bath | 22 – 24 degrees |
Disclosure: Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates.
