EXCLUSIVE: As the UK faces another heatwave, Senior Social News reporter Zahna Eklund tried out a £1.50 hack designed to keep your house cool - although it has one major drawback15:41, 11 Jul 2026This home hack could help you beat the heat this summer, but there's one downside. Most of us love the warm temperatures that summer brings, but this year the UK has already been battered by multiple heatwaves which have left Brits struggling to sleep and wishing the cooler autumn days would come quicker.‌While making the most of the sun outside is enjoyable for many, none of us like trying to sleep when it's still almost 30°C in the middle of the night, and our bedrooms feel like saunas. There are plenty of hacks out there that aim to cool your bedroom down quickly, and when I heard about one viral trick which could drop the temperature of your whole house in minutes for just £1.50, I had to try it.‌Apparently, all you have to do is cover your windows with kitchen foil. Sounds simple enough, but does it actually work? That's what I'm here to find out, as I put the hack to the test.‌My bedroom is an extension of my house, with a flat roof and one large window that stretches across the back wall. In the summer, it's an absolute heat trap. My bedroom regularly reaches highs of 30°C, and this year it has already peaked at over 33°C - and stayed above 30°C overnight.It's by far the hottest room in the house, and also happens to be where I sleep on those clammy nights and where I work, meaning I'm almost always sweating and miserable, save for the few hours in the evening when I can escape to the garden. So it was the perfect room for me to conduct my aluminium foil experiment.How does the kitchen foil trick work?All you need to do is take the foil out of your kitchen drawer and rip off large strips, taping them to the plastic frame that lines your window until the whole thing is covered.‌In theory, the trick should work because glass windows magnify heat, but the shiny foil reflects it, meaning it should bounce the sunlight off your windows and prevent the heat from entering your house.And I have to say, it does work, though maybe not to the degree you would hope. I actually put the trick to the test one afternoon after work last year, and while I was in the middle of standing on my bed and wondering if the neighbours thought I was insane, I was working up quite a sweat.‌However, by the time half my window was covered and I was standing in the shade of the foil, I could already feel the difference as my body temperature started to balance out.According to the thermometer app on my phone, my bedroom was a balmy 28 degrees before the tin foil went up. After taking a well-deserved dinner break once the job was finished, I tested the temperature again and found it had already dropped to 26 degrees.Getting to sleep that night wasn't as much of a chore as it had been earlier in the week, either. Although I did have my fan on for a little while, I stayed cool once I switched it off instead of instantly wishing I could leave it on all night.‌The next morning was a similar story, as by 10am, my bedroom temperature was a fairly reasonable 23 degrees. Yes, I was definitely still hot and had to put on my fan, but I wasn't sweating buckets, and the fan actually helped cool me down instead of just blowing hot air in my face.Is the foil trick safe?The foil trick is generally safe to use from a health standpoint, as experts at H2ouse said sunlight won't melt the foil, nor will it release any harmful toxins once it starts to get hot.They said: "The heat of the sun cannot melt the aluminium foil - it is tough enough to handle high oven temperatures, so it can certainly handle the power of summer sunlight. And exposure to heat will not radiate harmful toxins into your house when it's exposed to sun and heat, either."Article continues belowHowever, according to Adam Pawson, Head of Digital at Safestyle, kitchen foil should be placed outside your windows and not inside, as the sun bouncing off the foil can make the glass too hot. This isn't necessarily dangerous, but it can cause the seal in your window to break, meaning you may have to replace it.He told Ideal Home: "Blocking your windows with tin foil will help to keep your rooms cooler in the heat as it reflects the heat back outside. However, one mistake people make is placing the foil on the inside of the window. It is really important to be careful to place the tin foil on the outside of your windows rather than the inside to prevent the glass from getting too hot."This might not be practical if you don't want to be climbing ladders to cover your upstairs windows in foil, and when combined with the odd looks you'll get from your neighbours, you might be better off sticking with your desk fan.