BellaOnline Forums Money Frugal Living Ten Easy Ways to Keep Cool Without AC

Okay, it's 95 today and with my techniques i feel like it's in the 70s inside my studio.

It really helps that the nighttime temps are in the 60s, so i get to draw in all that nice cool air and let it set in here under my great insulation during the day. The fans are working nicely. I feel completely comfortable. Of course, it's only 1pm.

Around 2-3pm is when the coolness seems to run out and then it gets hotter inside. my plan for today is to leave the house around 2pm and not come back until dark (i have class tonite and some errands).

I feel good about avoiding the heat by leaving the house when it's hot!

When I take off I will be shutting down the breakers also, as part of my minimizing watts experiments.

I used to jump in the shower when it got hot and the house didn't have central air. But now we live in a different house and I break down and turn on the air-conditioner far too often!

Hi Lori! Yes, a cold or tepid shower does exactly the trick. It cools the body, blood and brain. It's really not important to cool the house down so much as keep our bodies cool. I think we all miss this distinction sometimes!

Thank you for the reminder! And remember, no hot showers unless you have an outdoor shower. You do not want to create heat in your home. I am even making my morning coffee on the porch!

Blech. It's 97 degrees. This is 15 degrees more than it's supposed to be here in May. And 97 apparently for the remainder of the week.

What is interesting is that it's actually really comfortable inside the studio, with using all my techniques. But as soon as I go outside the heat pushes down on me. 97 is still bearable to an extent - I just can't move around outside much. Gentle moving only! And in the shade!

But inside I am still quite comfortable. I am glad this testing is working!

It's not supposed to be 100 until July...i bet there will be a day this month though. Extended forecast shows the temps will be retreating back to the 80s. I hopes, I hopes!

LOL. This is exactly why desert creatures spend the days under a rock!

It's 91 today, which by local terms is not really hot yet. I am plenty content inside with my door shut, shades shut, one small fan in a a non-southern facing window, a fan mid-way in the room, a fan by my face at the computer, the lights off and drinking cool water. I am wearing loose fitting, light colored cotton clothes - shorts and a tee. Flip flop sandals.

I do not feel hot or uncomfortable in any way. If i did, i'd switch out to my larger fans and add a cold washcloth to my neck.

caveat - it's dry here, of course.

The upshot is i am using 53.5 watts on cooling instead of 1500 watts on the AC. Look at those numbers! It's ridiculous. I am saving 1446.5 watts and this is so easy. This is not even including the AC starting surge of 2500-5000 watts.

And I am totally comfortable. Trust me, I hate being hot and melty. If it was over 100 i'd be cranking the juice immediately, or leaving the house for someone else's AC.

Is anyone ready to try this?

Hi Jilly,
I had to break down and buy a fan today, the heat and hot flashes are driving me crazy! Your method sounds like something I am definitely going to try tomorrow.

I live in a converted garage that is part of a large house so my room temperature is maintained separately from the rest of the house.

Here in Orlando it's humid and the hi-temp runs between 85-95 for the past month or so with a few days falling outside those bounds.

I purchased a small, energy efficient, window AC for my room which I rarely use. I can open a window and a door and get a nice cross breeze. I also bought a window fan - two small fans that fit nicely in the window space and make very little noise.

With the fans and cross breeze I can make it through the day without using the AC. Occasionally in the late afternoon the breeze will die down and I'll have to turn the AC on but that only happens about once a week.

The only time I really use my AC is at night. The nights here can be rather stuffy and there is little or no breeze. Plus, I can't keep the door open at night - spiders come in - so there is no cross breeze. When I turn the AC on it cools the room off within about 15 minutes and then goes off and usually doesn't come back on again for the rest of the night.

I also turn my PC off at night. Normally I would leave it running but a PC is essentially a small heater. If I left it on it would draw power and would also require the AC to occasionally kick in to cool things off. Now during the winter when/if it's actually cool enough to need heat at night then the PC acts as a nice little heater so I'll leave it on.

Wouldn't it be cool (ha, ha, pun not intended) to build a home that was partly underground or in a hill. It would stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. That is one of my fantasies.

Hi dianne! A fan is a very good investment. Is this a big fan for the window, a room fan, or a small one for your desk?

Can you tell me what the number of watts is on the bottom? I have a huge interest in fans right now!