The Shade Store

Pro tips from artists, interior designers, and smart appliance installers For those without central air-conditioning, the energy cost of an air-conditioning unit is often the most expensive utility bill of the summer. This year, in the midst of a pandemic, those costs could be even more painful, as social-distancing policies keep us in our homes for longer, and nationwide unemployment makes every last dollar that much harder to part with.
To learn more about ways to keep cool without cranking the AC at full throttle, we asked 12 experts, from interior designers to smart appliance installers to artists in hot places for the alternative techniques they use to keep their spaces ? and themselves ? cool.
Now, before we get into the products that get them through the warmer months, we also received a number of suggestions about the products not to use. Specifically, we heard from many experts that using large appliances (or simply leaving them on idle) can substantially increase the room temperature of an apartment. That goes for everything from televisions and desktop computers to more essential appliances like laundry units and ovens, both of which interior designer Neffi Walker says she only uses at night in the summer to keep her room temperature down. (Speaking of cooking, our experts also said on particularly hot nights, focus on cooling and hydrating foods.) We also learned that taking note of where the air flows through your apartment, and making su...