Posted on 09/03/2017 2:11:56 PM PDT by publius911
How do you deal with extreme heat? I have zeroed in on a strategy that works very well for me. I am retired, on a limited budget, do not own a swimming pool; limited retirement income.
I am also lucky to own a 41-year old house, with the originally installed ac/heating unit capable of maintaining a 33-degree differential between outside and inside temperature, apparently indefinitely. Limited only, so far, to the amount I am able to afford for pay for the energy.
I do a minimum of work inside the house and keep the thermostat between 78-82, keep the large screen LED TV- heater off, and all lights off, even the C-F and LED ones, and do al heating (soups, frozen, cooked meatballs and coffee) on the microwave.)
I go outside every 30-50 minutes and spend 3-6 minutes sitting in the shade. It is currently 110 outside, and still not the hottest part of the day. The humidity outside is 27%, inside it's 44%.
It is currently 83 inside the house.
When I come in it feels absolutely chilling for 30-50 minutes, whether the A/C is cycling on or off.
Drink plenty of liquids.
Rinse and repeat...
What works for you?
A plastic spray bottle to occasionally mist yourself with water works well, especial during a hot night. Also, try a swamp cooler in a smaller room with a door: http://www.thegoodsurvivalist.com/5-easy-to-make-homemade-air-conditioners-that-will-save-you-200-per-month-on-your-ac-bill-and-keep-you-frosty-cool-all-summer/
Do a search for diy swamp cooler and you’ll find all kinds. You can use ice with them, too.
Thanks for the boat name suggestion...well worth considering. I like it.
You’re right... there were some good ideas here for you. This is actually in my wheelhouse as well... my brother and I regularly run competitions with each other to see who can get the biggest bang for the buck with energy bills, cooling, heating (since we both get winter where we are) and everything else that requires energy of some type. Here’s a few more ideas for you....
- As already mentioned by others, humidity is a big issue. While you want to have a shower (and frequent ones) to stay cool, you don’t want the humidity in the house. You really need to be diligent in keeping the humidity level down. Here’s what I’d do... have a very tight fitting door on the shower room and don’t air condition it at all. Don’t use a fan either... just keep the window ajar enough to ventilate it naturally. There is no need to air condition it because you are not spending any time there and when you are in there, you are kept cool by the shower itself.
- Around our house, we change our diet from winter to summer. In the winter, we use the oven all we want but in the summer, no oven and in fact we try and not use the stove at all….we don’t want the heat in the house. If you are cooking with heat, do it outdoors on a barbecue…most barbecues have external burners and a nice oven in them nowadays.
- A few here have made a point about bringing in the cold air over the night and then closing the windows in the morning to lock it in. This is a fairly easy and sensible thing to do and works fairly well especially if the house is well insulated.
- A few hear have made the point about closing curtains to keep the sun out…. This is actually of only marginal benefit for this reason….. once the sun is through the glass, it’s on the inside of your space and will migrate quickly to other areas to gradually (or quickly) elevate the temperature of the space. Curtains only really work if they can reflect the solar rays back out of the space…..something your neighbours might complain about although there is some great reflective foils that you can cover the glass with. A far better solution is to creatively use awnings for shade and shutters and screens on the outside…. remember that one square yard of glass facing directly into the sun will put the heat of a small baseboard heater into your space. The trick is to simply never let that heat come in. There have been plenty of folks who have found after they installed all that wonderful south facing glass that they couldn’t put enough air conditioning in to keep the place cool. Of all the things that my brother did to keep his place cool, putting shutters on all his windows gave him by far the biggest bang for the buck.
We keep ours set on 76 constant. Our last bill was $545 and we have a medical allowance on it which almost doubles our lifeline allowance. That helps a lot.
I’ve been in Ventura on our boat since Friday. No ac. Been miserable. Have spent the last 2 afternoons in our air conditioned boaters lounge. Couldn’t breathe on the boat.
ENGINEER SOLUTION
The hypothetical IDEAL cooling room is first proposed. The solution is ONLY the ideal case, but from that you retain what you can.
A single, small but livable room would have 2 feet thick insulated walls including, top & bottom. A small window air conditioner is cheap at $250. The conditioner would run, only a few times a day, and the monthly cost, minimal.
A good solution brings you toward that ideal. Locate a single, small room in the house, bottom floor. Install a cheap air conditioner in the window.
If that is good enough, great. Otherwise insulate, inside and outside the walls, as much as possible. Wire 230volt instead of 110v for efficiency.
The rich have a panic room. Would not a cool room be cool too? Imagine 20 years ago, planning for that room.
Wouldn’t that be cool?
When outdoors, wear a bathing suit and a cut-down T-shirt. Take an inch off the collar, then cut off the sleeves, carrying a big oval cut almost to the waist.
When you stand in a breeze, the shirt will wick moisture off you, then flap the cooled shirt against you—so you'll stay cool. I even putter in the morning sun. Yeah, you'll look like hell. No shoes. Drink tons of water or iced green-tea. Orange or black tea leads to kidney stones.
If you sit, sit outdoors in the shade, but keep the breeze flowing.
Ice cubes in a passive, vacuum thermos bottle will stay cold for an entire week. Ideally, for $100 a YEAR, a human can remain cool. That means that homes are poorly built insulators. Sad reality.
The above said, the wind-chill in New Hampshire Friday was 36 degrees.
Why don't you tell everyone where your live?
It makes a difference in how you handle the heat.
I live in coastal Georgia on a sailboat in the ICW (in a marina).
NO a/c, just a few fans, and tarps to keep the deck cook in summer. We’ve only had a few days this summer that were unbearably hot, and, when that happened, we went for a ride.
Drink lots of water. Don’t use the oven. Cook simple meals.
I live in the Tampa Bay area and we keep the A/C at 78 in the summer. We tried an experiment a few years back where we raised the thermostat to 83 every time we left the house. Our electric bill dropped $60 that month. We are in the habit now, and installed a wifi thermostat so we can lower the temperature when we’re headed back home.
In Arizona, we used an evaporative (also called a water or swamp) cooler most of the year when it was hot. Worked perfectly in the dry climate and was much cheaper than refrigeration. Only uses a 50 amp. motor to turn the fan.
But here in Florida, the evaporative cooler is worthless because it is so humid. Even when it's not raining it's wet most of the time. We have refrigeration to cool our house here because there is no choice. I can say emphatically, that I would not live here in Florida were it not for refrigeration. No way.
I read an article in the Wall Street Journal years ago that said that Houston, Texas would have never developed into a major metropolitan area had it not been for the invention of refrigeration. Air conditioning made the insufferable climate tolerable and the city grew accordingly. Same probably can be said for Atlanta, Phoenix, Dallas and other large populated cities in southern climes.
In my youth and into middle age, I was an long distance runner. I could run forever training and racing in the dry climate of the southwest. My sweat would evaporate and keep me cool. Left sheets of salt on my cheeks and along my hairline.
But the first time I tried to go on a training run in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, I made it 4 blocks and had to walk back home. I had never experience such debilitating heat and humidity before. The hotter and sweatier I got, the hotter and sweatier I got. The humidity is a killer. Without a way to cool off by sweating, your body just gets hotter and hotter.
I am 70 year old now and only walk and do some weight training in the mornings. But in the heat of the day, I beg off and just stay inside. It's not worth it. Clothes get soaked, It's like you have to shower twice a day to feel cool and clean.
In the summer, when the days are long, I work outside doing chores and projects in the late afternoon and evening. We raise Angus beef cattle in our retirement. Lots to do living on a farm. Afternoon clouds and/or rain showers cool things off sometimes.
If I was to pick my preferred hot climate, it would be the dry desert southwest, hands down. Easier to keep cool the tit is in the southeast. I love it the desert but I can only dream of returning to live or visit. My end game looks to be right here on the farm in humid Florida.
since we live in a semi arid climate, at 2000 feet, we get very very hot during the day, but once the night comes, it cools right down....
we get up in the morning and it could be 62 in the house...
our temps have been high 90's for several weeks and no rain for 12 weeks probably...
keep your curtains closed on the sunny side....don't use the oven...use your crock pot outside...try not to run the dishwasher during the day....
we have on window AC unit, and we use it a few hrs a day , if that...
Waterbed set on the cool side.
If it gets real hot during the day I draw some water and sit with my feet in it while sipping iced tea.
Occasionally run the dehumidifier in the basement.
R38 in the attic keeps the heat and cold out.
I used to live in New England and now live in Texas. I hated winters in NE and am not crazy about summers in Texas. I despise being cold more than I despise being hot.
It’s a season when I play in water. When I mow the grass or work the garden, I keep myself soaked with the hose. When I jog, I carry a spritzer and keep myself wet. When I go to work I race from air conditioned place to place.
But I love the fall, winter and spring. I love my flowers and fruit trees and veggie gardens. And the people here are a lot more friendly.
A liquid desiccant based cooling system could operate well in a high sun area. For an arid region, recovery and reuse of the water coolant would be a consideration.
http://ailr.com/liquid-desiccant/ld-tutorial/
Use your water backup/supply wisely. I am sure you have ten or fifteen small bottles (2 liter) full of water for an emergency.
Put six or seven or whatever in your fridge (about 45 degrees) or in your freezer (about 20 degrees) overnight.
In the morning take them out and place them in strategic spots around the house.
Or, if you like, place them on your couch and cover with a light sheet, and climb in!
Water - plain old tap water - has one of the highest specific heats on the planet. It takes A LOT of warmth (heat) to even budge their temperatures!
Good luck!
I have several crazy neighbors here in southern California who OPEN their windows so it is 110 degrees inside as outside!
We do not have to pay electric at the apartment building so I have the a/c on 24/7 and do not understand why they do this.
I asked one and she replied she does not like the noise from the a/c and it is too cold.
I have it set at right now 66 degrees and the rooms are 78 degrees according to the thermometers I have. The windows are cheap and I do not think the walls are are insulated. The attic does have some insulation.
>>reuse of the water coolant would be a consideration.
Great comment/solution FRiend - Thanks!
Keep in mind an inside fan only blows around hot air, yes it will make you feel cooler due to skin H2O evaporation. Add in the heat generated by the motor and it makes no sense to leave it on if you are not in the vicinity of the air flow.
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