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Housing

How to keep your home cool without air conditioning?

I understand what's at stake

More and more French households are installing air conditioners. This is not without consequences: it leads to an increase in electricity consumption during the summer—at a time when several nuclear power plants are undergoing maintenance—and exacerbates the “heat island” effect in cities.

Air conditioning may be necessary for people who are particularly sensitive to heat, and in homes that are too exposed to noise to be properly ventilated at night. And even in these cases, using natural cooling methods first will make the use of air conditioning more energy-efficient.

Taking action

For many homes, it’s possible to keep the interior cool by following simple steps—provided they’re done correctly:

  • Open the windows wide during the coolest hours of the day, and ventilate as much as possible until early morning
  • Close the windows early in the morning, before the outside temperature rises again
  • Close the shutters and blinds to keep the sun from beating down on the windows
  • Minimize heat generation indoors during the day: avoid using the oven, dishwasher, or dryer…

Find out about other ways to reduce your carbon footprint

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