It’s been an uncharacteristically hot summer at home – and it’s not over yet, with another heatwave hitting the UK this week.
The fourth heatwave of the summer could see temperatures of up to 34C, with yellow heat health alerts issued by the UK Health Security Agency for most of England, except the north-east and north-west region.
Met Office meteorologist Greg Dewhurst told The Independent: “The heatwave is looking likely to last the rest of the week. Beyond that, it should be a bit cooler.”
Ahead of the heatwave, we’ve compiled the top tips for keeping cool. When you’re out and about, basking in the sunshine, loose fabrics and even an electrolyte drink may be enough to keep you cool and hydrated, but when you’re cooped up inside, with the sun beating through your windows, you may just need to call in the big guns.
But there are lots of different cooling techniques out there, and plenty of urban myths, such as drinking hot drinks to cool down. On top of that, there are lots of cooling products and tons of jargon. You might not know air coolers from air conditioners or the difference between tower fans and pedestal fans. That’s why we spoke to the experts about the best ways to stay comfortable at your desk and sleep breezily through the night.
What qualifies as a heatwave?
In the UK, an official heatwave occurs when a given area reaches a temperature threshold for three consecutive days, with thresholds varying from 25C to 28C, depending on where you’re located across the country, explains Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Tony Wisson. In London, for instance, the threshold is 28C, in Aberdeen it’s 25C.
How to stay cool at home
According to Met Office advice, when temperatures soar, we should try to keep out of the sun between 11am to 3pm, when the UV rays are strongest. To stay cool indoors, “close curtains on rooms that face the sun to keep indoor spaces cooler”.
Alex Atkinson, air conditioning technician at Super Brothers, recommends “minimising the use of ovens, stoves, or dryers during the hottest periods, alongside keeping hydrated and having cool showers throughout the day” to help take the edge off.
If you’ve drawn the curtains, pulled the blinds down, and taken all the cool showers you can stomach, and you’re still not feeling comfortable, it may be time to bring in a little extra help.
Luckily, there are plenty of additional devices and tools that we can purchase to help keep our homes cool, and we’ve reviewed some of the best on the market.
Fans
A fan goes a long way to make a room feel less stuffy – but where you position it can make a big difference. Shawn Navarednam, an environmental care design engineer at Dyson, says that “for circulation and cooling purposes, fans should point towards you or the inside of the room. Additionally, cooler air is denser and accumulates at the bottom of the room, so keeping your fan near the ground to sweep the cold air up will help.”
The Vortex air cleanse (£164.99, Vortexair.co.uk) took the top spot in our review of the best fans. It “combines a sleek design with powerful performance at great value. It cools and heats quickly, is energy efficient, thanks to a smart thermostat, and will slot seamlessly into pretty much any home,” praised our tester.
If you’re looking for a quiet fan, we’d recommend Duux’s whisper flex smart fan (£169.99, Amazon.co.uk). It has 30 speed settings and multiple modes, including natural wind mode, which our tester found to be “noticeably different from the usual blasting air you find in most fans” and a much more relaxing experience.
Portable fan
If you’re looking to cool down on the commute or even at the pub, you need one of the best portable fans. The next generation of these devices are quiet, surprisingly powerful and multipurpose, from handheld to wearable fans (a world away from the flimsy fans you impulsively buy on holiday).
Portable fans can almost rival a tower fan, and one comes surprisingly close to functioning like an air conditioner or an air cooler. Senior tech critic Alex Lee has tested a whole host of different options and found the best portable fans for every need.
The Commem turbo fan (£7, Amazon.co.uk) took the top spot in his review. “It’s the most powerful handheld fan I’ve tested to date, delivering such intense airflow that I’ve actually had to switch it off just to take a breather,” Alex said. “The top speed genuinely feels like sitting in front of a small desk fan – it’s that strong.”
Air cooler
A midpoint between a portable ACs and a fan, the best air coolers. Where fans push air around the room, air coolers use chilled water and ice to introduce cooler air to a room. They’re not quite as effective as portable ACs, but they’re much cheaper.
Senior tech critic Alex Lee put the Igenix 10l smart digital air cooler IGFD7010WIFI (was £129.00, now £109, Currys.co.uk) among others to the test and described it as a “work of art”. It did a “good – if slightly basic – job of cooling down hot rooms”. While it’s reduced to £109, it’s the perfect addition to your home ahead of the potential heatwave.
Bedding
Getting a full night’s sleep in a heatwave may sound like an impossible dream, but there are some ways of keeping cool in bed.
Lisa Artis, deputy CEO of Simba’s charity partner, The Sleep Charity, says you should try “spreading out as much as you can, like a starfish, as it can help to circulate air around your body better and encourage heat to escape, as you sleep.” It might also seem counterintuitive, but rather than having a cold shower before bed, Lisa suggests taking a warm shower right before bed. “The warm water makes our body heat up, and then, when we get out of the shower, a rapid drop in temperature cools our body down.”
Similarly, it’s worthwhile to reconsider your bedding during the summer months. Our resident sleep expert and IndyBest assistant editor, Sarah Jones, found Simba’s summer hybrid duvet (from £129, Simbasleep.com) to be the best summer duvet. Even during a muggy, no-breeze night, where sleep usually feels impossible, “I didn’t wake up drenched in sweat or tossing around trying to find a cool spot,” she wrote.
We’d also recommend trying Panda’s bamboo mattress topper (£86, Pandalondon.com), which took the top spot in our review of the best cooling mattress toppers. IndyBest tester Lois Borny noted that the “gel-fused memory foam is engineered to be cooler than regular memory foam, containing gel capsules that draw heat from the body, while extra space allows heat to escape”.
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