How To Keep Your Student Home Cool During the Heatwave

The most effective way to keep your room cooler is to stop the heat before it enters. Close curtains, blinds or shutters early in the day, ideally before the sun reaches your windows. This may make your room feel a little darker, but it can prevent the temperature from climbing for hours.

Outside sunshades work best, but most student rooms do not come with them. Closing curtains or blinds is still much better than leaving the sun to shine directly onto the floor, walls and furniture. If your room gets direct sunlight in the afternoon, this can make a surprisingly big difference.

Try to keep doors and windows closed during the hottest part of the day as well. It can feel strange to close everything when you want fresh air, but opening a window while the air outside is hotter than the air inside usually brings more heat into your room.

The best time to cool your home is early in the morning or later in the evening, once the temperature outside has dropped. Open windows and internal doors to create an airflow through your room or shared house.

If it is safe to do so, leave windows open for a while overnight. A window on one side of the home and another open window or door elsewhere can create a cross-breeze that helps warm air escape.

In a shared house, it can help to agree on a simple routine with your housemates. Keep the house shaded and closed during the day, then open everything up when the evening air becomes cooler.

A fan does not lower the temperature in the room, but it helps your body cool down by moving air across your skin. Place it near an open window in the evening to help bring cooler air inside, or aim it towards your bed or desk when you are trying to sleep or study.

If you are sharing a room or living in a small space, avoid running a fan constantly in an empty room. It uses electricity and creates a little heat itself, so switch it off when nobody is there.

Sleeping during a heatwave can be the hardest part. Try to keep your bedding light and use a thin sheet instead of a thick duvet. Although a cold shower might feel great at first, the cold water will narrow your blood vessels and keep more heat inside. Therefore, opt for a lukewarm shower.

Keep a bottle or glass of water next to your bed, especially if the night stays warm. It can also help to move your study materials, laundry piles and other clutter away from your sleeping area. A calmer, clearer room will not lower the temperature, but it may make a hot night feel a little less overwhelming.

If your room remains very warm, consider spending the late afternoon or early evening somewhere cooler. A shaded park, library, café or friend’s home can give you a break before you return to sleep.

Your kitchen can add a lot of heat to your home. Avoid using the oven or stove whenever possible. Choose cold meals, simple sandwiches, salads or food that can be prepared quickly.

If you need to cook, try to do it early in the morning or later in the evening. Keep kitchen doors closed while cooking so the heat does not spread through the whole house, and make sure to ventilate as much as possible.

This is also a good moment to make sure you are drinking enough water. Keep a bottle in your room, take one with you when you leave the house and refill it regularly. Coffee, energy drinks and alcohol may be tempting during student life, but they are not a replacement for water on a very hot day.

Heat affects everyone differently. Check in with housemates, friends and neighbours, especially if someone has a health condition, takes medication or is struggling with the heat.

A quick message can be enough: ask whether they have water, whether their room is becoming too hot or whether they need help with something practical. Looking out for each other is one of the easiest ways to get through a heatwave.

Feeling tired, thirsty or a little uncomfortable is common in hot weather. But if you or someone around you feels dizzy, confused, unusually weak, faint or unwell, take it seriously. Move to a cooler place, drink water and ask for help when needed.

A heatwave will pass, but your wellbeing comes first. Keep your room shaded, air it out when the outside temperature drops and give yourself permission to slow down. Groningen will still be there when it is cooler — preferably with a breeze.