Do you have a room with no windows and don’t know how to cool it? If you’re facing this issue, I would love to help you out. Below I will share my tips on how to cool a room with no windows.
As a student, I used to live in a small apartment on the fifth floor due to budget constraints. The apartment was small and had no windows.
Living in an apartment that had no windows, the summers were torturous for me. With the scorching heat, the apartment would become an oven. The heat made me lazy, and I just wanted to wander out at the slightest excuse.
After struggling for a while, I could not bear it anymore and started looking out for ways to cope with the surging temperatures. Here are my tips! But first, why does a windowless room get so hot?
Why Does A Room With No Windows Get Hot?
A room with no proper ventilation is bound to get warm. When the room gets heated up due to the sun’s heat, or body heat from the person in it, the air gets trapped inside and starts to heat up as well. As there is no ventilation, the hot air remains hot even when the sun goes down. Ventilation can remove hot air.
Related article: How To Keep Upstairs Cool In Summertime
How To Cool a Room With No Windows: 10 Tips
1. Use a Ventless Air Conditioner
A ventless air conditioner is a concept that has been around for a while. It’s similar to a portable fan but better. It’s like an evaporative cooler. It comes with a compartment or a tank that converts the ice or water added to it into the mist. The cool mist settles down, keeping the room cool.
2. DIY Evaporative Cooler With Ice
If you have less money and looking for a makeshift cooler, this DIY hack can work for you. For this, you need a big bowl, ice, and a portable table fan. Fill the bowl with ice or cold water if you don’t have ice and place it in front of the portable fan. The ice will turn to water and then evaporate by absorbing heat from the surroundings, leaving the air colder.
The fan will circulate this air in the entire room, keeping it cooler. This DIY cooler is an old method. Many people used it before air conditioners came to be, but it is practical, cheap and tried, and tested!
3. Through the Wall Air Conditioner
The through the wall AC is a modern method. It’s pretty similar to the classic air conditioner we use. The only difference is that you have to install it into the wall. The wall must lead outside as this air conditioner unit needs to vent out properly. If your room’s one wall faces the outdoors, then this is the best solution. It may cost a little but gives long-term relief. It is very effective and used in most households.
This method, however, needs care and can cost you a bit. You need to be extremely careful with the conditioner. Most come with remote control. The temperature can be increased or decreased according to one’s preference. It is a convenient method and can prove fruitful.
4. A Portable Air Conditioner
Portable air conditioners are the classic method used to cool down a room. You do not need to install these air conditioners permanently. These machines have a hose or a pipe that sucks out the warm air and regulates the airflow. The main problem with these is that these conditioners need a window to vent out. Let me show you how to circumvent this.
You can install them through a hole in the wall or ceiling (you will need to have permission from the building manager). You can also keep it near your door that leads into the room.
Check out my recommendations for the quietest portable air conditioners.
Also, you might want to check out How to Vent a Portable Air Conditioner Without a Window.
5. The Two Fan Trick
The two fan trick is a makeshift hack for temporary relief. For someone living in a place for only a short period, this can be cost-effective. All you need are two fans. You should place the two fans at a certain angle. One fan needs to face the ceiling, and the other one should face the door.
The one facing the ceiling will help to regulate the air. The other one will help to push the air out of the room.
6. Install a Ceiling Fan
Installing a ceiling fan is the easiest and the most common method of all. The ceiling fan will not let the hot air settle, which will effectively cool the room. They are pocket-friendly and do not use a lot of electricity.
7. Turn Off Lights
Light bulbs give out both heat and light. They emit more than 80% of their energy as heat! That is why traditional incandescent lights will heat your already hot room even more.
Turning them off can be a great help. If you have these lights, you should change them to LED or CFLs immediately. They provide bright light but very low heat.
8. Keep The Doors Shut
As ridiculous as this may sound, it’s effective. Keeping the doors closed can prevent unnecessary heated air from entering the room, preventing the temperature from rising further. It will not only prevent hot air from entering inside but also dust and light.
9. Turn On The Bathroom Exhaust
The bathroom exhaust fan can be a perfect hack to cool off a room. Turn the fan on and keep the bathroom door open. The warm air will float away, as the exhaust will suck it out. Though it’s a hack that may sound lame, it works. It may not fully cool down the room, but it will prevent it from getting hotter. It will even provide coolness to a certain level.
10. Plant Bushes Around Your House
Trees and bushes can be helpful as they shield your home from the sun. Trees provide cool air and can act as a barrier from the sun’s rays. If you plant bushes along the wall of that particular room, it will serve as a barrier too because it will stop the sun’s rays from penetrating.
Does putting ice in front of a fan work to cool a room?
Yes, putting a bucket of ice in front of a fan as a DIY air conditioner is effective to cool a room. As the ice melts, the fan will blow cooler air toward you. In my experience, this works best if you are close to the fan.
What is the cheapest way to cool a windowless room?
The cheapest option is using a bowl of ice with a fan. The next best option is evaporative air cooling. This type of system uses water evaporation to cool down the air, making it the cheapest method for initial cost and energy usage.
In Conclusion
I hope the ideas that I shared with you will help you negotiate these hot summers. In my case, I put in a portable fan, kept my doors shut, changed the lights to LED’s, and yes, sometimes got some ice to make a DIY evaporative AC as well (I was a student after all).
Have a great summer ahead, and do let me know your thoughts!
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Thank you for all your advice – seriously. I am old – we’ve had an unprecedented heat wave here in Vancouver Canada and I just made it through and am terrified about another one. I have a small bedroom with an odd shaped small window and only a two pin electrical outlet. After looking at dozens of websites, yours is the ONLY one to have given me useful answers to questions. Can’t really afford the very expensive solutions for my rented apartment.
But, a big thank you for all the time and effort put into this website!