Living without Air Conditioning - Page 2

[WNB]

open windows and doors to create as much cross-breeze as you can, without losing pets or children.

damp washcloth + freezer (damp t-shirt in fridge would probably be nice too)

ice cubes, they're not just for drinks!

grill, never, ever use the oven.
if you DO use the oven, get all your baking for the foreseeable future done.

cool showers in the afternoon instead of warm/hot showers in the morning

trees to shade your house

light-color roofing

attic fan + insulation

compact fluorescent lightbulbs

[GoddessKristie]

My MIL's house had an attic fan (whole house fan) and it was FANTASTIC. It would be 87 and you could turn that thing on high and it created such a wonderful breeze that you didn't know the difference. I highly recomend one!

[pixiewytch]

Are these whole house fans something semi permanent that you can install in any house or apartment or is this something you need to own your home to do? I ask because we rent and can't do anything that changes the home's structure a lot.

[Alkenny]

Originally Posted by pixiewytch

Are these whole house fans something semi permanent that you can install in any house or apartment or is this something you need to own your home to do? I ask because we rent and can't do anything that changes the home's structure a lot.

Ours is built right into the ceiling in the hallway and vented through the roof.

[daekini]

I just have to say that I really admire you mamas. Our air conditioner wasn't working yesterday because the air filter got clogged after just one month, and I thought I was going to die of a heatstroke. I have my therm set at 76 degrees and I'm comfortable at that temp.

I actually prayed that the AC would work after replacing the filter, and thanked the heavens when it cooled the house back down last night. It makes me shudder to think how long the thing had to run to get the house back down from 90 degrees last night... :

[EnviroBecca]

If you can't get a whole-house fan, try window fans. During the day, point them outward to pull hot air out and keep air moving. At night, point them inward to bring cooler air in. The ones we got from Target have such tight grilles that little fingers can't poke into them.

We also have two types of freestanding fans that we really like:

Lasko brand box fan. For some reason it is much better than any other box fan we've ever tried. Sold in drugstores around here.

Small "turbo" fan from Target. It's only about 9" diameter but puts out quite a breeze! The secret is that it's deeper than a box fan and the blades point more forward instead of sideways. It has an adjustable-angle stand, so you can put it on the floor and blow cooler air up to face level.

[pixiewytch]

Thanks a lot. I was looking for some fan buying tips. Is that first fan you mentioned a box fan too?

[Denvergirlie]

We were getting ready to build one of these. Had already started pricing out the elements
http://www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/~gmilburn/ac/


But then someone gave us a swampcooler from freecycle so we use that instead.


Here are some other interesting alternative methods of cheap summer cooling

http://www.mb-soft.com/solar/saving.html

http://www.i4at.org/lib2/aircool.htm

http://www.sxlist.com/techref/other/spac.htm

http://www.coolmax.com.au/coolmax/solar.htm

[Mamm2]

I have one of those whole house fans..but I don't use it. I have been told that you need to open windows a little and it sucks the air from the outside...however, all the gunk in the air (my mom suffers from allergies, and we have smog, and other gunk in our air) gets to travel thru out the home???

It is broken, but I guess we can get it fixed???????

[momto l&a]

Originally Posted by Mamm2

I have one of those whole house fans..but I don't use it. I have been told that you need to open windows a little and it sucks the air from the outside...however, all the gunk in the air (my mom suffers from allergies, and we have smog, and other gunk in our air) gets to travel thru out the home???

It is broken, but I guess we can get it fixed???????

Then using a whole house fan with your mom would be a bad thing because yes you must have one window open furthest away from the whole house fan.


And somebody else mentioned an attic fan being the same as a whole house fan. Two different things. Attic fan just takes air through the attic so all that heat doesn't build up in. Whole house fans draw air though the house from an open door/window into the attic.

[snoopy5386]

you can probably get an air conditioner for free to add to your current one or to upgrade it. I see them all the time on our local freecycle

[Throkmorton]

We live in a mobile on a basement, in a part of Canada that gets hotter than Texas for most of July and August.

Here are some things i do.

-If you live in a humid area, get a dehumidifier. Not only will the mold spores in your house hate you, it will feel a lot cooler is you can get any sweat to evaporate.
-Open windows at night, close them during the day.
-Stay off the south side of the house, and don't open a single door or window on that side if you can possibly avoid it. (can't even walk on my Southern deck without shoes! imagine how much heat that lets in if I open the door)
-ceiling fans, ceiling fans, ceiling fans. Put them in every room.
-If you can't put a ceiling fan in (say, because your bedroom ceiling is 7'6" and your DH is 6'5", not that i would know) use oscillating fans just to move the air. Also, using window fans to pull in cool night air works very well. Remove them and close the window and drapes during the day.
-If your drapes/blinds are lightweight and you can see light through them, get heavier ones.
If you have a covered porch, hang cotton blankets around it, soak them down with water from the hose. Grab the oscillating fans and sit out there all day drinking water and getting the kids to continually spray them down. Any breeze blowing through the blankets will be blissful. Open windows that open on to the porch
-if you have a basement, point a box fan up towards the upper levels from the basement. Put it on the stairs, and use some items on hand to angle it cleverly.
-Drink water! No coffee, no beer, no tea, no iced tea. just water. Add a little lemon if you get tired of the taste.
-Don't cook inside. A crock pot is very happy on the deck all day. An electric skillet can also be plugged in outside. BBQs are obvious, but make good use of one
-Don't turn the computer/TV on during the day. They pump out a lot of heat
-Hang laundry to dry. I don't have a lot of money on dryer electricity, but i do save a lot on not running A/C. If you're really clever, hang laundry on an indoor rack and put an oscillating fan in front of it. Voila! Swamp cooler, and dry laundry. Or, if you have central HVAC, turn the fan on and hang the laundry over heating vents.
-If all else fails, shop. Go to the mall, the grocery store, whatever. Don't stay in there too long though, the heat seems even more unbearable if you have been sitting in freezing cold A/C all day.

[Jennisee]

I thought of one more. Keep a bottle of lotion in the refrigerator and apply it when you get hot. I started doing this with my Burt's Bees aloe lotion when I had a sunburn and realized it would be nice even when I'm not sunburned.