Why We All Hung Out in the Basement — And What It Taught Me About Cooling Homes Smarter
Growing up in upstate New York, summer days could get hot—especially inside. We didn’t have central air, and we weren’t about to leave the window units running all day with electricity bills climbing fast. So we did what a lot of families did: we headed to the basement.
It wasn’t fancy down there—just a couch, a card table, and a box fan or two. But it was reliably cool. Even on the hottest July afternoons, the basement stayed comfortable while the rest of the house felt like an oven. We’d read books, play board games, watch movies. In the summer, the basement was the place to be.
Years later, when I began working in energy efficiency and thinking seriously about the future of home cooling, I kept coming back to that memory. Why did the basement stay so much cooler? And why weren’t we using that cool air to make the rest of the house more comfortable?
The answer lies in the earth itself. Below about four feet, ground temperature stays remarkably stable—around 50 to 55°F year-round in much of the United States. Most basements sit eight feet deep or more, meaning their walls and floors are in direct contact with that naturally cooler earth. That constant temperature acts as a natural heat sink, drawing warmth out of the space and keeping it comfortable even when it’s scorching above ground.
That’s the principle behind Cool Down—a system I developed to make homes more efficient by using what they already have. The Cool Down system transfers heat from your upstairs living space down into your basement, while circulating the basement’s cooler air back up. It uses a compact heat exchanger, a few smart dampers, and temperature sensors—not a big compressor, refrigerant, or an outdoor condenser. It’s quiet, easy to install, and energy-light.
It works as a standalone cooling system for homes without central AC, and as a powerful add-on to dramatically reduce the energy load and runtime of existing AC or heat pump systems. In homes where we’ve installed Cool Down, we’ve seen room temperatures drop by up to 10°F and AC use reduced by as much as 67% per season.
The truth is, we’re going to need more efficient, affordable, and climate-friendly ways to keep homes cool—especially as extreme heat and high electricity rates become the new normal. Cool Down is one way we can do that by making smarter use of the resources we already have—starting with the coolest room in the house.
If you want to learn more or see if Cool Down might be a fit for your home, click here to get a free quote.
