Summer Cooling Ideas

one_more_day · Tar Sands Joined: Aug 27, 2006 Posts: 77

This year my family is going for a second summer of voluntary non-airconditioning. Our summer temps are usually mid to upper 90s with high humidity.

Here is what we are doing to keep cool:

1. Fans are a given.

2. Opening the windows in the evening whenever the temperature drops enough to warrant it.

3. A combination of 1 and 2 is that I position fans so that they draw in outside air on the main level and then the hotter air is pushed upstairs where other fans help to expel it through upstairs windows. I run these for several hours almost every night.

4. Cold water: drink it during the day and it keeps you comfortable. In a twist on an old-fashioned concept, I have started sleeping with a cold-water-bottle. I can't keep drinking cold water during the night, it would disturb my sleep. So I just fill a hot water bottle with cool water from the tap (yes, I let it run a few seconds to get the room-temp water out of the pipe). I sleep with it hugged against my chest and I haven't felt overheated in the bedroom since. The beauty of this is that it doesn't use electricity at all (unless you count what is used to pump it). The water is naturally cooled by the ground it comes out of. It's almost like a personal, portable, geothermal system.

5. We have minimized the use of heat producing appliances. Clotheslines are an obvious step, but it doesn't end there. I have applied the seasonal diet concept to cooking. Most of our meals require little to no cooking for the summer. My grill is large enough to contain a wood fire. So once a week I make a fire which is used to bake bread, cook beans, and any other item that requires high temperatures or long cooking times.

So far we have saved in excess of $100 per month. The power company actually gave us a credit for energy management.

Anyone else have some great ideas for summer cooling on the cheap?

Ludi · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:02 pm Post subject: Re: Summer Cooling Ideas

Very little clothing. Smile

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misterno · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:39 pm Post subject: Re: Summer Cooling Ideas

How can you use clothesline in an apartment with no balcony?

Ludi · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:41 pm Post subject: Re: Summer Cooling Ideas

dunewalker · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:51 pm Post subject: Re: Summer Cooling Ideas

frankthetank · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 5:44 pm Post subject: Re: Summer Cooling Ideas

Your brave! I grew up with no AC and lived through the blast furnace of 1988 and i think '95 was bad too. Now i've become a wussy cause i still turn on the ac whenever the dewpoint goes near 70F. With me its the humidity, not so much the heat. I can stand 90F if the air is dry, but through in a 70F dewpoint and it horribly stick. We have one of those days coming up on Friday.

Today was right around 80F with a dewpoint in the mid 50F's and it was PERFECT Smile

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Clothing should be optional.

Fishman · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 6:14 pm Post subject: Re: Summer Cooling Ideas

I had read that in India folks will sleep with a lightly dampened sheet. While working in the Dominican Republic I tried a smaller version, sleeping with a wet bandana drapped across my head and part of body. It worked fairly well.

alokin · Intermediate Crude Joined: Aug 24, 2007 Posts: 872

dinopello · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:12 pm Post subject: Re: Summer Cooling Ideas

Narz · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:58 pm Post subject: Re: Summer Cooling Ideas

taizee · Tar Sands Joined: Jun 22, 2008 Posts: 52

Temperatures in Boise, Idaho have been in the 90's, even 105 two weeks ago, but it does cool considerably here at night as it is high desert and very dry. I am renting a badly insulated house but still find ways to minimise the AC ,

I don't use a dryer and can't understand why anyone would here. Compared to Ireland, where we never had one, I am delighted that a shirt can even be left over a chair and dry quickly. Damp clothes inside the house would not be a problem for long in this climate.

Someone told us to close all the windows and blinds/curtains in the morning, especially on south facing windows, then at night open everything up to try and get a cross breeze. I find that I need the AC for just for a blast in the late afternoon.

If I owned a house here I would retrofit it for passive solar and insulate it properly, or build a proper house for this climate.
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frankthetank · Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:33 am Post subject: Re: Summer Cooling Ideas

During high humdity about the only thing to do is drink cold water, put your feet in a kiddy pool and sit in the shade. Its hard to beat without AC. My problem is sleeping... I get all "sticky" when the humidity is high and i wake up a lot. On top of that i take like 2 or at times 3 showers a day if i'm active (that helps too). I wish i had a shower outside.

taizee-

Just run up to Stanley, ID...they usually are the coldest spot everyday during the summer with lows usually in the low 30's.

Boise? Dewpoints there are very low and look to be in the 30F range during the heating of the day. That looks to be the ultimate climate. I think you guys have mild winters too. Also believe most fruits will grow there (peaches, plums, pears, apples, etc).
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allenwrench · Intermediate Crude Joined: Apr 23, 2008 Posts: 893

Some of us do a great job surviving catastrophes and some of us cannot even survive a stretch of hot weather and die. Good you are training for it now. Much tougher things await you down the road.

Take cold showers and cold sponge baths with cloths. Keep a damp, thin towel on your head and shoulders.

Commanding_Heights · Heavy Crude Joined: Nov 09, 2006 Posts: 208

taizee · Tar Sands Joined: Jun 22, 2008 Posts: 52