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Think your fireplace can only be used to heat your home during the winter? Think again, because you can use your fireplace and chimney system to cool your home during the hot summer months as well. Believe it or not (we'd believe it), using your chimney to cool your home is a great way to green up your lifestyle and you'll save a ton on money on your electric bill since you won't need to have your air conditioning on 24/7.

We all know that hot air rises, and the reason it rises is because hot air is less dense than cool air. So do the math on that with considering the fact that your chimney pushes air out from the top. Now, you can always invest in an attic fan, but that costs a pretty penny and doesn't ventilate your home like you'd want it to. So, how do you cool your home by using your fireplace?

Cooling Your Home Through the Fireplace

You know those square window fans that you can get at almost any big name store like Target or Walmart? Well, that's all you're going to need for this.

  • Purchase a window fan
  • Open the damper to your fireplace.
  • Position the fan so it's facing inward at the opening of the fireplace.
  • Close off the remaining portions of the fireplace (cardboard works fine).

It's really that simple. Those are the only steps you need to follow when you're using your fireplace to cool down your home during those hot summer months. Although the temperature may drop at night, that doesn't mean our homes do the same thing, especially if your home has poor ventilation.

You'll really be surprised with how much this technique can cool your home down. Just make sure that you don't have an upstairs fireplace that shares the same chimney, otherwise you'll fill the room with soot and that's a whole other project to tackle.