I have a basement where I swear it’s 10°C colder than upstairs.
Not surprised, my basement is 58-64F (~14-18C) year round, no matter how hot or cold it is outside.
I mean, given heat rises, the basement probably is 10 degrees cooler
Plus at least part of the walls will be exposed to the ground, not the air, and since past the first layer the ground stays consistently relatively cool, that helps a lot.
Buy an AC unit. A mini split is fine.
Sleep in the basement
Unfortunately I got used to it. I say unfortunately because lukewarm weather (even something like 22°C) feels extremely cold to me as a result.
tuen on the fans, close shutters during the day, drink water
I grew up without AC in Florida.
Sit in the shade with a fan, be still. If in the shade and a breeze, and not moving around, a pretty high temperature is comfortable.
Go to places with cold AC or to cold springs to get cold, it will last awhile after you leave.
If it gets cool at night, open your window at night to let in the cold air, close it in the morning to keep that air in for the morning. But once it heats up inside, you are better off with ventilation - open windows on both sides of the house and run fans, to move air throughout the house.
If it’s dry where you are (it doesn’t work here) get wet and let evaporation cool you. Even here you can get wet and stand naked in front of a fan you will get cold.
STAY HYDRATED.
If you’re in a humid environment and you have a way, dry the air. It makes any other cooling thing you do more effective.
Buy a portable AC unit and install it in your bedroom or living room window.
It does it’s job but it’s suuper ineffective - you have to have a window open to suck in (hot outside) air that the portable AC cools itself with and throws out.
That open window even with that “sock” cover it comes with, lets back so much of the outside air and if you are like me renting a badly insulated flat, you are comfortable only when the AC is running, it won’t really cool down (and keep cool) the living space.
I do wonder why they don’t make a dual hose portable systems so that at least the unit is not pulling the air directly from the window, mixing already cool inside air with the hotter outside one.Look on Facebook marketplace - you could get 2-3 used for the price of one new.
If you have cool nights, setup fans up at night to bring the house down to a lower temperature. Close everything up in the morning when the outside temp starts rising above your inside temp. If your place is insulated reasonably and there’s no excessive sun from windows, it will stay cool for the day.
Protip: Setup the fans in all rooms on one side of a chokepoint in your house/apartment (stairwell/hallway) to exhaust, to encourage airflow. Open up all the windows on the other side for intake. It’ll also help reduce pockets of hot air left over from the day before.
Cool shower! Put water in your tub with a fan nearby.
I’ve never gotten this to work very well. Though I didn’t do it with a fan. Any tips?
Get in tub; get out; lie in front of the fan. It won’t cool your house, but it will keep you from dying of heat stroke.
Ah, I thought you were using the shower as a way to cool down the air for your house. This makes way more sense.
I’m sorry, but are you serious?
Any tips other than the fan…
You could try an ice dildo. I hear that a 6 incher tends to last about an hour…
Live in a dry climate. The evaporating water will cool the house. Doesn’t work if the air is already wet
I practice this same thermal battery idea as well with an extra tip of having a couple of fans on timers (sun up to sun down) that sit on the floor and blow the cold air up. It makes a significant difference, especially if you can sit a fan where the cold air from the AC falls to the ground.
Pro tip: Point the fan so that it blows outside and DO NOT put it directly on the window or right next to it. Instead, move it ~50cm away from the window to take advantage of Bernoulli’s principle (push the air out more efficiently by pulling the air surrounding the fan).
You can cool down the room even if the door is closed. You are lowering the pressure inside your room so the outside air is forced to rush in. If you place the fan like I explained, and point it at the lower part of your window and you put your hand next to the upper part of the window, you will feel the cold air coming in.
Keep windows open at night and into the morning
Fan pointed straight at you, on max blast through the night
It’s significantly worse if your house is humid, and dehumidifiers increase the heat, but they’re still worth it
It’s significantly worse if your house is humid, and dehumidifiers increase the heat, but they’re still worth it
Fun fact: the reason air conditioners are called “conditioners” instead of “coolers” is that they were originally designed for dehumidification.
Dehumidifiers should make it feel cooler since sweat evaporating is how we cool ourselves. Too much humidity means our sweat won’t evaporate and we can’t cool off.
The difference between how 80 F feels at 65% humidity vs 45% humidity is ridiculous. Lower humidity also makes cooling yourself by misting or damp cloths a lot more effective, because it will evaporate quicker.
Drink lots of water, I guess? An air cooler might also come in handy - they’re way cheaper than an AC. And yes, don’t hold your yellow pee, because the burn will be intolerable.
If you have a freezer and a fan, freeze a bunch of water bottles and then put them right behind your fan blades for a cheap AC-like chilly breeze. If you have enough bottles, you can cycle through them and refreeze as they thaw out.
Thanks, I’d forgotten about this one. Our AC will be out for a few days. I’ve already started loading water bottles into the freezer.
I’m no thermodynamics expert, but wouldn’t this make your house warmer overall, unless the freezer is outside or in a garage/shed?
It will make the air behind your fridge warmer in exchange for making the air around your body cooler. There’s usually not great airflow behind the fridge so it won’t affect the rest of your house much.
If you’ve got an open kitchen or something you can still freeze the bottles at night and use them during the day.
It will
You’re right which is why our freezer is out in the garage rather than in the house.
Wish I knew this a few months ago
Another thing you can do is buy an ice vest - a vest with waterproof pockets for ice packs. They usually come with a load of extra ice packs so you can freeze and cycle through them. They’re great if you have to go outdoors for something.
AC is expensive but the freezer is already on so I’ve been rather creative with its use haha.
Doggo also enjoys a rubber bone thing that I fill with water and freeze so he can chew and stay cool. Also love freezing ice cubes full of berries and stuff too.
If no ac then stay in the basement while I reasonably can. Drive with windows open. If my work has no ac then the business closes. The material we work with has to be temperature controlled.
So basically briish “people”?
Get a dehumidifier.
Ensure ceiling fan rotation is switched on summer mode.
Bag of ice in the freezer to chew on and always have in a drink. Ice trays are no good.
Waterhole.
Office job.
Keeping lights off/low can be psychologically “cooler” for some.
Bed with wet hair or damp towel will help sleep faster.
Wash regularly to scrub “ick” layer and keep fresh skin on top.
Pub.
Ice pack vests. Can DIY. Fucking amazing.
Sit around in your undies and pretend you love it and eventually you do.
