6 Tips for Beating the Heat in Southwest Florida

Summer is officially here and in Southwest Florida that can only mean one thing: heat. When the thermometer keeps climbing, try using some of these strategies to stay cool in your apartment home.

1. Stash Your Sheets in the Freezer

If feeling hot and sweaty is keeping you from falling asleep, try taking your top sheet off of your bed and stashing it in the freezer right before bedtime. Just five to ten minutes should do the trick! Then lay under your refreshingly cool sheet, and you should drift off to sleep comfortably.

2. Keep an Aloe Vera Plant in Your Home

When you get a little sunburn, you tend to feel hot even when the indoor temperature is rather low. Keeping an aloe plant on hand can really help, as you can take the aloe gel and smooth it over your skin, cooling the burning sensation for hours at a time.

3. Store Berries and Sliced Fruit in Your Freezer

Keep a bag of frozen raspberries, blueberries, or sliced peaches on hand so that you can add them to your water and make a chilly, refreshing beverage whenever you crave it. You can also use the fruit along with some yogurt and orange juice to make a delicious smoothie that can help cool you off at the end of a hot day.

4. Invest in Insulating Curtains

Insulating curtains may seem like a product for the winter months, but they're actually great for summer, too, since they keep the sun's hot rays from shining in and warming up your space. Not only will insulating curtains keep your apartment cooler, but they'll also help lower your AC bills—just make sure you keep them shut during the hottest part of the day.

5. Keep Your Ceiling Fan Running Counter-clockwise

A ceiling fan does not actually make a room cooler, but it makes you feel cooler since it keeps the air circulating past your skin. Turn it on whenever you're home, and suddenly your 78-degree apartment home won't feel stifling. In the summer, make sure you run the fan counter-clockwise, as this will push air downward rather than drawing it up towards the ceiling.

6. Enjoy Cold Salads and Sandwiches for Dinner

When you turn on the stove or oven, you release heat into your apartment home, canceling out all of the effort you've made to keep it cool. So, on days when the temperature is sweltering, opt for a cold salad or sandwich for dinner. Not only will you avoid heating up the apartment with your oven, but the chilled food will make you feel cooler, too.

At Springs Apartments communities in Southwest Florida, we make it easy to stay cool and comfortable all summer with amenities like resort-style pools and central air conditioning. Contact our leasing team to learn more about Springs at Six Mile Cypress in Fort Myers and Springs at Estero.