Want to save on your electricity bills during the summer with little investment? Check out these indoor cooling plants!
Summertime has become synonymous with cooling fans and air conditioners. But both of these can not only rack up your electricity bill but can put a real toll on the environment. What if we tell you there is an inexpensive way to fix both issues? You wouldn’t believe it, but it all comes down to houseplants. Adapt this environmentally friendly way to keep the hot, stuffy interiors of your home cooler during summer with these indoor cooling plants for the summer!
How Do Plants Cool Down Their Surrounding?
According to NASA’s Earth Science Study, plants can affect the Earth’s atmospheric temperature through photosynthesis and transpiration. Forest canopies produce and release a large amount of water vapor into the atmosphere through transpiration, comparable to human sweating. When the air around humans or plants heats up, they release excess water vapor into the atmosphere, which allows them to cool down.
Houseplants work similarly. They absorb carbon dioxide, release fresh oxygen into the home, and keep it cool through transpiration.
Indoor Cooling Plants For Summer
1) Rubber Plant
Botanical Name: Ficus elastica
You will generally feel hotter if the humidity levels in your home are too high. Bring down the humidity with the rubber plant, which has a cooling effect in its environment. Besides that, it is also very effective in replenishing the moisture in its surroundings, keeping your indoors cool and comfortable!
2) Weeping Fig
Botanical Name: Ficus benjamina ‘Exotica’
It is hardly a surprise for the weeping fig to be on this list; this plant is an excellent choice to keep your indoors moist and cool. Bunch a group of weeping figs in your living room and watch them create their little atmospheric ecosystem, bringing down humidity and even soaking up some harsh sunlight during summers!
3) Chinese Evergreen
Botanical Name: Aglaonema ‘Light Pink Star’
Well-known for purifying toxins in indoor air, this plant also has a high transpiration rate that helps add moisture to the area around it, thus keeping the surroundings cool. The low-maintenance Chinese Evergreen also gets brownie points thanks to its ornamental, decorative foliage with variegations!
4) Areca Palm
Botanical Name: Dypsis lutescens
Thanks to the feathery fronds of the Areca palm, which translate to a larger leaf surface area, this plant takes in carbon dioxide through the small leaf cells (stoma) and produces a lot more oxygen. This directly translates to more astounding home interiors, as the more pure the air, the cooler it is!
5) Boston Fern
Botanical Name: Nephrolepis exaltata
The Boston fern stands out from the rest of indoor plants for several reasons. First, it performs photosynthesis during the day. Secondly, it keeps your home cool during intensely heated summers. But that’s not all! This aesthetically beautiful plant also purifies your indoor air of toxic pollutants!
6) Mother-in-law’s Tongue
Botanical Name: Dracaena trifasciata
The quintessential indoor plant for the bedroom, the snake plant, has a high water retention capacity. This allows it to release cool moisture into the air while also producing a good amount of oxygen, perfect for keeping you cool on hot summer nights.
7) Devil’s Ivy or Golden Pothos
Botanical Name: Epipremnum aureum
Hailing from French Polynesia, this evergreen vine with beautiful, large heart-shaped leaves is the perfect cooling plant for the indoors during summer. The bigger the leaves are, the more moisture the plant releases into the air, keeping the temperature down. Scientists even laud this plant for helping remove indoor air pollutants like formaldehyde and benzene.
8) Aloe Vera
Botanical Name: Aloe vera
This beautiful, common succulent in households provides medicinal benefits and helps keep the indoor oxygen and heat levels in check. Be sure to include this versatile plant in your home interiors whenever you are redecorating if you don’t have it already!
9) Peace lily
Botanical Name: Spathiphyllum
As aforementioned, the larger a plant’s leaf surface, the more oxygen and moisture it can add to its surroundings. The lush leaves of the larger peace lily varietals are especially preferred for this reason and can transform summer into spring in your home!
