INSCMagazine: Get Social!

Summer is the best time of the year to enjoy your man cave. Baseball season is in full swing, and the weather is nice enough to barbeque and down a few cold beverages. You can invite your friends over to enjoy the game, or you can relax after a long day of work in your safe haven.

With this nice weather comes the challenge of keeping your man cave cool. Let’s be honest — you’re going to be spending most of your free time in this room. You want to relax comfortably instead of sweating on the couch. After all, you’re watching the game, not playing in it.

Don’t let the heat ruin your good time in the man cave. Here are some ways to keep your man cave cool this summer.

Add a Window Awning

The most energy- and cost-efficient way to cool down your man cave is to cover your windows. This will block the solar heat from getting in and heating up the room.

One way to do this is to add an awning over the window outside the house. An awning can reduce solar heat by up to 65% on windows facing south and 77% on windows facing west. Awnings are usually seen on the outside of bars, so it’ll be a nice finishing touch on the outside of your man cave. You can even get one custom made with your favorite team’s logo on it.

Window Blinds

Install Window Blinds

You should also have window blinds for your man cave. Highly reflective blinds can drastically cool your man cave by 45%. You can also get insulated panels that’ll be sealed against the window frame to stop heat from getting in. They’re inexpensive and have R-values between 3.8 and 7.

Use a Ceiling Fan

A ceiling fan is a great addition to your man cave. It’ll make your man cave feel like a sports bar, and just like an awning, you can get one that is related to your favorite sports team.

Keep in mind that a ceiling fan won’t necessarily cool the room. The air movement created by the fan will cool the individual sitting under it. This means you should put the fan over your couch or chair for it to cool you down. Ceiling fans also reduce cooling costs by 8%.

Turn on Your Bathroom Fan

Your man cave has a bathroom, right? Of course it does! You wouldn’t want to walk across the house in the middle of the game and miss a big moment.

Use your bathroom fan to keep your man cave cool. The fan will suck the hot air out and cool down the room.

Maintain Your A/C Unit

If you’re going to use an A/C unit, you should make sure it’s working properly.

Check the air filters before you turn the unit on for the summer. A clogged filter reduces airflow and causes the machine to work harder than it has to. This will stress your A/C unit out and raise your energy usage. You should clean your air filters every month to get rid of dust build-up and make sure your unit is running at maximum efficiency. If you’ve never changed your air filter, check out this helpful tutorial from DelAir.

If you don’t check your A/C unit, then you’ll risk using more energy, not keeping your man cave cool enough and spending more money.

Put Some Plants Outside Your Windows

What do you do when you’re sitting outside on a hot summer day? You try to get in the shade. You should do the same thing for your man cave.

A landscape designed to shade your home will do wonders for your house’s temperature. Shade can reduce your air conditioning bill by 15-50%. The easiest way to do this is to have plants outside your man cave’s window to block solar energy. The shade will naturally cool down your man cave.

Grilling food

Drink Cold Beverages & Grill Out

Want to know how to keep your man cave cool while entertaining guests? Grill outside and drink cold beverages.

Cooking can increase the temperature in your house. This will certainly affect your man cave if you have a small kitchen or microwave to cook certain foods. Fire up the grill and take your cooking outside to avoid any extra heat.

Now you have a cool man cave and a delicious burger. Want to cool off even more with something that’ll go great with your burger? Kick back and enjoy a cold beverage to stay cool on a hot summer day!

Relax and Enjoy the Game

Your man cave is now cool and comfortable. Get out of the heat, relax after a day at work and enjoy the big game in your man cave.