SOARING temperatures will see many people turn on fans and air conditioning units this weekend in a bid to keep.
But lots of the appliances people use in warmer weather could actually be costing you a small fortune.
You don’t need to use a fan or air con with this clever hack
However, there is a clever hack you that can help to cool down your home without you having to turn on a single device.
You can use tin foil to shield your home from the baking heat.
All you need to do is cover your windows with the shiny material, especially those that are hit with direct sunlight.
You can do this by wetting the shiny side of the foil and sticking it to your windows.
The US government recommended the trick – it said that window reflectors such as aluminum foil-covered cardboard work by reflecting the heat back outside.
So with this method you would cut out pieces of cardboard that will fit to the size of your window and then covering them with a reflective tin foil layer- which you could stick on with sellotape.
And one woman from Seattle championed the hack – saying it really does work.
The NHS also recommends keeping rooms cool by using shades or reflective material outside the windows.
Some people say that using foil in this way is dangerous – but the experts we asked said there is no danger of the foil melting or causing you any problems.
Using foil could help you save money if you are relying on fans and air con to keep temperatures down.
Energy bills soared by 54% in April meaning running these devices will cost you more than it did last year.
SE worked out how much it costs to leave a fan on at night.
You can use this equation to calculate the cost of a fan: cost = power (kilowatt) × time (hour) × cost of 1 kWh (pence).
So if your fan costs 23.5p to have on for 12 hours, and you have it on for a full week, that adds up to £1.64.
If you had it on every day for that length of time over a month, that would be £7.28.
Air conditioning units are likely to cost even more.
By comparison, buying a pack of tin foil to put on your windows could be a great way to save.
How much will the hack cost?
We looked at shopping price comparison checker Trolley.co.uk to find out where you can buy a cheap roll of tin foil.
Sainsbury’s sell 20 metres of wrapping foil which is 29cm wide for 65p.
A pack of Springforce Wrapping Foil costs 65p from Tesco. This is for a 20 metre piece- which is 28cm wide.
And Asda‘s Smart Price wrapping foil costs 68p for a 20 metre by 29cm roll.
These prices are what is shown available online and may not reflect in store prices.
You should always shop around to see if you can find a better price elsewhere.
Obviously how much foil you need will depend on the size of your home.
But one 20 metre roll should be enough to cover the windows hit with direct sunlight of an average-sized house.
Other tips to keep cool
If you do decide to use a fan make sure you think about where it is positioned.
You could try putting a fan open in front of an open window.
That might seem counter-intuitive, but it works by pulling cooler air in from outside, and pushing the warmer air out.
You can place a tray of ice in front of your fan on the floor for that extra chill.
The air will be cooled by the ice to create an air-con feeling in any room.
You can read more on SE about how to keep cool without any air conditioning.
And here is more on how Britain’s scorching heatwave will last for more than a week.