Keep it cool. Keep it light.

Upstairs apartments can be very hot in the summer and renters often have limited ways to keep their upstairs apartments cool. One simple trick is to put sheets of reflective insulation inside windows on the side of the apartment where the sun is shining. This idea was shared by my upstairs tenants, Marc Paradis and Maria-Lynn Johnson (pictured here).

I am very lucky to have thoughtful, inspiring people around me who really think about energy use and the environment. I am enjoying the challenge of living off-the-grid and almost fossil fuel free (my four car trips excepted) but what makes the project especially worthwhile is the conversations I'm having with like-minded people.

The top floor of my house is a rental suite and my tenants are a wonderful couple, Maria-Lynn Johnson and Marc Paradis. Maria-Lynn and Marc have been involved in several co-housing projects (shared houses where single people and couples live together in a deliberate community) and feel that shared housing is one important way to address social isolation, share resources and reduce our environmental impacts. For Marc, single detached housing, with very few people occupying big spaces, is a major contributor to climate change.

Marc is also a builder and has been working on energy-efficient building for about 20 years. When the temperatures rose this summer, Marc and his wife Maria-Lynn put reflective insulation in their windows, in addition to closing the curtains, to reduce the heat. The result is impressive. This simple technique resulted in a temperature reduction of several degrees. One day, when it was well over 30 degrees C outside at 3 pm, it was a relatively cool 26 degrees C inside. (I will provide you with more temperature details later).

This is an effective and inexpensive technique for people living in upstairs suites or any other place requiring cooling in the summer. The reflective insulation - like two sheets of aluminum foil with bubble wrap between them - is readily available for $4 a foot or less at local hardware stores. Marc points out on his website that there are more expensive options for passive cooling like In'Flector (a reflective, see-through-radiant barrier insulator) or external rolling sun-shades outside the window. However renters often don't have the option or the money to install these things.

Of course, covering windows with insulation reduces the light in the apartment. Often only one side of the house requires reflective insulation at a time so other windows might provide light. If you need to turn on lights, it is worth noting that LED lights are not only more efficient, they give off much less heat than incandescent lights. Another reason to change your light bulbs.

Remembering that hot air rises (convection), having operable transom windows other operable windows that allow air to escape in the upper part of the room is helpful. Marc and Maria Lynn also turn on the bathroom fan when it's very hot, sucking the hot air out of the room. Managing air flow by keeping windows closed on the sunny side of the house and open when it's cool also helps.

Marc suggested that another way to capitalize on convection and air flow is to open both the screened basement windows and interior doors leading to the stairway of my house. The airflow will push the cool air from the basement up the stairs, cooling the apartments above.

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As for me, living off the grid is becoming easier and I'm pretty comfortable with the energy I have. If I'm careful and turn off electronics and lights when I don't need them, I generally have enough power through my solar system to meet my needs. As you might have read in my last blog, cooking on cloudy days is a challenge and entertaining with unpredictable sunshine is difficult but I'm getting used to it. This week was fairly sunny so I held three dinner parties while I could. I just work with what the elements give me.

One big luxury that arrived by mail just over a week ago was a LuminAID LED lantern. This product was developed by two graduate students in architecture at Columbia University, Anna Stork and Andrea Sreshta, who were trying to address the need for light of people affected by the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. They developed a solar lantern that can hold its charge for months and casts a good light. The lantern, which is like a light in a translucent plastic bag, is compact when shipped and is blown up like a balloon for use. It was featured on the ABC TV's show Shark Tank and has won several clean energy awards.

With this light I am able to read in my living room or sit comfortably with friends at the dining room table in the evening. I bought two lanterns at a cost of almost $40 each, including shipping. However, in keeping with my new practice of carrying one item with me when I need it (for example, my ipad which serves as my radio), I found that I only needed one lantern. Some friends loved the lantern and bought the other one from me.

I also have a nifty light solution in the bathroom. My friend Anna Mint, who has had her own adventures building a tiny house, loaned me a string of solar-charged IKEA garden lights. They come in lengths of 24 or 12 lights. With decorative bulbs added, this provides a nice, soft light for the bathroom. There is a detachable solar panel which I charge every few days in the garden and it works really well. I don't need a lot of light in the bathroom at night so this is just perfect for my needs. As with all my lights and electronics, I turn the light off when I'm not in the room as a solar charge is a precious thing and I don't want to waste it.  I have just ordered another set of these light strings for the porch to provide a bit of atmospheric light.

The lights in the bedroom and office are wired directly into my solar system. With 3-watt, 12-volt, soft white bulbs, they provide a very nice and bright light. I made a lampshade out of light orange tissue paper and wire for the office light. My bedroom light also shines into the porch, giving me enough light to read in my cosy porch in the evenings.

Finally, the little light in the kitchen that I wired into the 15-watt solar panel (that I bought two years ago in India) and car battery has stopped working. I don't think the 15-watt panel is providing enough charge. I plan to experiment with this as this is closer to the kinds of panels that are available in developing countries.