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?
I keep the house at 72 degrees in the summer... and my bill runs in the two to three hundred range.
Seven ceiling fans in the house.
Use LED light bulbs and the newer LED TV’s that use less energy.
Use a stove with two ovens - and only use the top convection oven 99% of the time. It heats up faster and uses less energy - convection allows cooking at a lower temperature and doesn't heat the house as much.
Bought a new pool pump - new pump's use less energy. It runs 6 hours a day in the summer 4 hours a day when it cools off. Use a diatomaceous earth pool filter - which is more efficient - cost more upfront but cheaper to operate in the long run.
Painted outside of house using the same technology used by NASA for their space flights.... with a product that won the ‘best spin-off NASA product* award’ for 2002 or 2003).
(*Hy-Tech Thermal Solutions, a NASA Research Partner, produces energy saving insulating paint and an insulating additive for house paints that will reduce your heating and cooling bills.)
Have ductwork inspected every few years and replaced when needed...
On blazing hot summer days, Babe Ruth used to keep a bunch of cabbage leaves soaking in cold water in the locker room ... and put one under his hat before he ran out onto the field ever inning. I have no idea how effective this is. LOL.
LOL!
You can keep that whole peninsula. Especially Calumet and such, although Copper Harbor doesnt get the snow they get above there.
It’s been 108 here in Socal for the last few days. I have nothing but a swamp cooler to cool off the entire house. Needless to say, it only really cools the front rooms. I do most of my work in a back room office so all I have back here is a fan.
It’s basically impossible to stay cool in my house unless you want to sit in front of the swamp cooler and let it blow on you. It’s really humid right now too which doesn’t help a bit because the SC just blows in more humidity into the house.
I HATE this time of year.
My first trip to DC (1986) I wondered how man or beast could stand the humidity. After a dozen times I just accepted it.
And then there's the cold. By mistake, I scheduled 2 weeks in DC during Obungo's 2nd inauguration.
That was fun.
Learned to shovel snow!
: )
BTW, thanks to everyone for the great new ideas.
Oh my.......
I’ve never had a/c, and have lived in some places like Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles that do get hot at times, so have a fair bit of experience. The basic strategy in my view is to stay conscious of whether your house is hotter or cooler than outdoors. If it’s hotter outside than in, open all of the windows and use fans. If it’s colder outside, close all of the windows and blinds. It’s a daily cycle, where as soon as it cools off outside, you open everything up, and then the next day, when it gets hot outside, you close everything. It works pretty well, unless you live somewhere where it never cools down!
Sounds like heaven; even if it's not West Virginia...
Sounds a little like a friend's borrowed snowed in cabin in early winter (Long Barn, CA)
Please don't get me started.
I've been seriously studying solar energy since 1970.
I’m thinking your old a/c unit is probably not very efficient. Short of replacing it with a newer unit, I’d probably have to get me a window a/c unit to use in the room I’d mostly spend my time.
Unfortunately my house was re-roofed and painted just before I bought it but the next pass (in 10-15 years??) The paint/coloring material is called "IR white," regardless of the visible color.
ok. I’ll keep it.
I took one room in he house, my man cave, its 18x24’ and its super insulated, not just the 2x6 fiberglass but multiple layers of polystyrene insulfoam, the wall is near a foot thick.
Same with the ceiling, R38 plus several inches of polystyrene sheeting, and then an accoustic drop ceiling, its 12 foot high.
In my case its not heat but cold, takes very little to heat it in Alaska and even on a 70 degree sunny day its cool, no air conditioner at all.
27% humidity. Pfft.....I can deal with heat, the humidity is the killer. Hear in DFW Texas Try 100 degrees at 80% humidity or higher. Towards Houston and the coast even worse. Having a pool helps here. Come on winter.....
southern california???
I didn’t hear you mention controlling which windows have curtains, shades, shudders closed at particular times of day - varies with which direction they face.
Another efficient option is roof fans, and inside main hallway grill-access to attic space, to draw off some of the heat at the ceiling level. As well as taking every advantage of getting any cross ventilation from any side of the house that is at the time the cooler side.
In my upstairs, in addition to a roof fan venting the attic, I have a bathroom at the top of the stairs with a room-vent-fan. Facing the door of that bathroom is the entrance to a bedroom that faces the coolest side of the house until very late afternoon. One window in that room stays open during those hours. It faces the doorway to the hall, and just across from the bathroom. The bathroom fan pushes out hot air rising in the stairwell and draws in cooler air from that front bedroom. My only change in that on the hotter days is that the front bedroom door is closed as the day gets later, and the bathroom ceiling fan is shut off by bedtime. If I have not been home all day, the temp inside has remained decent while I was gone, and all all will do is give the master bedroom some aircon boost before bedtime; but usually not past bedtime.
I am on an “annualized” utility bills (gas and electric), paying the same amount every month, summer or winter, no matter the actual usage. The monthly rate gets adjusted to a new amount at least once a year as of the month I started on that plan, or six months again on not very frequent occasions. It beats any plan that is subject to big spikes from high gas or high electric use. You can budget for it, which is the main thing for fixed incomes. If you are not on such a plan, you should see if your utility company has such a plan.
This is my area of expertise. Southern born and bred. I currently live in central Alabama. We invented humidity, we hold the patent. I never had AC in school until college. We had AC in some houses we lived in, but not all.
Lot’s of good tips on this thread but the most important is your clothing. My grandparents were in the military too and lived in the tropics for most of their tours. Woven cotton clothing is the trick. It needs to be loose fitting. Seer sucker, Calcutta cloth, lawn, and batiste are great fabrics. When I see people in knit t-shirts and jeans or knit pants I just cringe.
We bought a better double AC unit and keep it at 74 while outside its 110.
I lived without air conditioning nearer the ocean for 18 years. Just a ceiling fan. But here it is far too hot. Grateful every day for air conditioning.
Ahhh, we used to have a whole house attic fan at our old house. It might’ve been a tad on the loud side, but boy, did it do its job! In this house, we have rarely had the need for such a thing. Our lot is full of mature trees that hover over the house. God has provided for us naturally.
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