If you, like many others, have just emerged from months of cold, dark and COVID-19 restrictions, you are likely welcoming the summer with open arms. And yet there can come days where the heat is just too intense – even at home.

Being stuck at your desk while temperatures continue to rise to unbearable heights can certainly be a challenge. If you're struggling to cool down your home, here are five things that might be going wrong.

Hot fridge?

The first step in cooling down your home is to identify dispensable sources of heat. A common culprit here is your fridge.

While the importance of cool drinks in the summer can never be overestimated, this appliance mostly gives off the heat to the room and helps to drive up temperatures – not to mention the additional energy costs if you've got a second fridge just for cooling drinks.

Open windows?

Opening the windows to create a draught is certainly the easiest and best-known short-term solution against hot temperatures. It’s most effective to do it early in the morning, however, because later in the day it will mostly be hot air that's coming in.

If you are desperate for some fresh air during the day, just do a quick airing. A fan or an air conditioner will help keep the air moving. But here, the experts advise using efficient, so-called split units – they save a lot of energy compared to compact models. The heat exchanger is mounted on the outside.

Hot pipes?

You may be surprised to hear that another source of heat could be your heating system. That's because there may still be hot water running into the pipes, even if you're not turning up the heat. You're better off deactivating your heating system or switching it to summer mode.

Poor insulation?

Property owners suffering from hot interiors every year should consider new facade insulation, which not only helps to bring down energy costs in the winter but keeps the heat out in summer, especially in the rooms located right underneath the roof.

Too few plants?

A more cost-efficient alternative is to grow plants in certain bare areas like the exterior facade, a flat roof or in the area immediately surrounding the house.

Greening is good for the climate – and it prevents areas from becoming islands of heat, as the plants will lower the surrounding temperature through evaporation. In addition, larger plants provide shade that is most welcome during hot summer days.