BellaOnline Forums Money Frugal Living Keep Cool in Humid Places

I live in the desert. It's a dry heat! That's nice, because no matter how hot it gets, I can use evaporative cooling to feel better. A swamp cooler uses a lot less watts than any AC unit, and fans do a good job if you position them correctly. See my Keep Cool without AC thread for excruciating details on my experiments. Yes, they work!

If you live west of the Mississippi in the US or in humid countries, a swamp cooler won't help you. Fans will only move the hot air around.

So I am looking for ideas for humid places.

So far I am thinking in small rooms, a dehumidifyer mixed with fans might be the trick. Anyone try this?

This youtube video shows how to make the World's Cheapest Air Conditioner. I think that might be worth trying. There are other links on you tube to using better quality coolers if you have one of those you'd like to convert.

What's nice is that if you are on Food Stamps you can pick up the ice for free.

How do you keep cool on a budget in humid places?

I only use the air conditioning when I absolutely have to. Otherwise I keep windows and doors shut, blinds down and drapes drawn, with fans going. Thank goodness for ceiling fans. I only open the windows when it has cooled down at night, but in really hot weather even nights can be oppressive. That is when the air conditioner comes in handy, and just enough to be comfortable and not cold.

Ha! I found a You Tube link for an even cheaper air conditioner. It involves ice, small tupperwares and a fan. Because it uses ice, it's an air conditioner and not a swamp cooler. So if you have a space that you really need to cool and there is only a fan, here you go:

Make a free air conditioner

You Tube really is useful!

Debbie, that sounds like a solid plan! Windows, doors, blinds, fans, check. Yes, ceiling fans are sweet. I can't have one in here b/c the roof is too low, but I've gotten creative with fan placement around the room.

I am almost looking forward to the real hot weather here (ie - when it doesn't cool down at night), just to experiment with how long it takes to use a window AC unit to get things comfortable.

How do you work it? My little AC unit is an Energy Star type with an 'energy saving' mode, and apparently on low, it draws only 220 watts. I think that's so low it must be a mistake, but it says it right on the side of the unit.

I think it's time for me to suck it up and get a watt meter. I shouldn't be guessing like this.

Debbie, how long do you need to run your ac to cool things off? Do you leave it on low all the time, use it in brief spurts? Mostly have it on at night, or a certain time of day?

When I had my house I had two window units....a 12,000 BTU for the kitchen window which cooled the kitchen, livingroom, and partway down the hall. In the master bedroom was a 5,000 BTU that could cool that room and partway down the hall if the bedroom door was left open.

I could close the bedrooms off and keep the air conditioner in the master bedroom shut off when the bedroom end of the house was not being used. Alternately, at night the kitchen air conditioner could be put down to a very low setting or shut off when going to bed, and the master bedroom door would be shut to conserve the comfortable air in that one room for sleeping.

Now I am in an in-law apartment with an open floor plan downstairs.....one large room with kitchen, dining area, and livingroom. A spare bedroom to the side that gets closed off. Upstairs is the master bedroom. Both floors have their own thermostat for central air.

I only use the air conditioning on the floor I really need it. It is turned down to low at night and increased a little bit during the day to work with the fans. Of course when I go up to bed at night the kitchen thermostat is raised to a higher temperature so that it will be much warmer downstairs. I have to keep the kitchen switch on because it is the master switch for both floors. But at least if I crank it to a higher temperature then the downstairs air never kicks on during the night, and only the upstairs will go on as needed.

When it is oppressive outside, which can be in the time frame anywhere from now until September, sometimes there is no choice but to have the air conditioning on for days at a time, even if just on low to combat the heat and humidity. There are also three dogs here that I need to be mindful of when I leave the house as well, so I can't just shut off the air completely on very hot days.

Of course on nicer days the air is shut off and windows opened. If nights cool down enough then I can open windows at that time. The good part about this place is that the downstairs sits on a concrete slab, with tile and wood flooring, so the place does maintain a cooler temperature generally as long as windows and doors are shut and sunlight is shut out. It does help to keep air conditioner use on a lower setting and it will still be comfortable.

I found this really awesome idea for humid places - just create a small area to cool for sleep! This would work in dry areas to, but i am specifically researching how to help people in humid places have a cheaper summer electric bill:

Make a Sleep Genie - Sunfrost link

The idea is you make a smaller area around your bedding and just cool that. Fantastic! Since cool air sinks, you really only need temporary walls around the bed, and not a lid. So it's not like making a coffin.

I am thinking hanging drapes around the bed would do fine - like those tapestry beds from medieval days. Even hanging light sheets and putting the AC unit inside would retain a cooler environment for the sleepers. I basically did this when i lived in my RV. It was the only way to keep the bedroom cool enough for sleeping as I was living in an uninsulated metal can.

For a kid's bunk bed, you could tuck in the bunks easily, esp the bottom bunk. The bottom bunk will of course be cooler anyway.

For day use, a 'cool cubicle' could be set up at a work station. No need to cool a huge area if you aren't moving around for hours at a time.

Debbie, i think your cooling plan is very thoughtful.

Some ideas: when you leave the dogs, can you confine them to a smaller area to cool? It sounds like that would be the upstairs area in your inlaw apartment?

Or if you had an extra window unit from somewhere, you could just cool the spare room or utility space or something. They could be crated if they were too rambunctious for one room, and they'd be encouraged to mainly just nap then.

I love that the place is on a slab and you have cooler tile/wood floors. Another reason to dislike carpet!

It's a perfect situation that you are mindful of cooler days, using breezes, and keeping interiors from heat build up. Fantastic job!