The Light Hack That Can Fix The Temperature On Your Second Floor

Keeping your house cool in the summer months without the help of air conditioning can pose a real challenge. Heat rises, so this is likely to be more common on the second floor of your home, although this issue can be exacerbated by a lack of insulation, with heat penetrating from the roof to the second floor.  We all know what it's like enjoying the comfortable environment of a ground-floor living space, then climbing the stairs and feeling the temperature gradually increase as we get higher and higher. But this doesn't have to be the case. 

Of course, there are expensive solutions which include installing air conditioning units, a zoned HVAC system, or fully insulating your attic. However, there is a straightforward hack that can make a substantial difference to the overall temperature of your second floor, and it doesn't require any DIY knowledge or expenditure — and it is as simple as turning off the lights.

When it's hot outside, try to avoid turning on your lights upstairs during the day and make a conscious effort to keep them off at night until it is totally necessary to have them on. Even though you may not think this would make much of a difference, it really does help to keep your home cool — you know what they say, every little bit helps. 

Naturally, sometimes this is unavoidable, especially if it's dark outside and you need to see what you're doing upstairs. But it's good to keep this at the forefront of your mind, so you don't leave them on by mistake. Changing your lightbulbs to a more modern version can also help. Traditional lightbulbs give off 90% of their energy as heat, whereas LED or curly CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) lightbulbs are far more energy efficient and use 75% less energy. This means they won't just help with the overall temperature of your home, but they'll go a long way in saving money on your energy bills, too.

Another option would be to consider using battery-powered lights on the second floor to avoid heating up the space too much. Battery-powered lights have a very low electrical voltage and therefore do not heat up. Different types of battery-powered lighting you could think about implementing in your home are string lights, tea lights, and portable lamps, all of which can be controlled remotely and moved around when necessary.