I'm living without AC again, and am relearning all the tricks. (I grew up in a house in Boston which was white stucco, and where my parents had an air conditioner in their bedroom, but there wasn't anything in the rest of the house until I was into my teens, and pointed out that it was rather unfair for them to be comfortable, and me to not be, when I actually spent far more time in my room.
I'm managing this summer (which has had a couple of days where the heat index was within a few degrees of 100, and a bunch where we've been in the 90s (though not for more than a few days at a time, for a change), and a couple of nights where we didn't get below 75. It's the last one I find really painful.
I also spent last summer in a house with few opening windows, problems with the screens, and a non-functioning AC (there was much annoyance with the landlord, but not so much fixing.) where the house got to and stayed in the mid-90s inside for a week at a time, twice.
My plan this summer has been to spend the hot part of the days somewhere with AC (school, mostly), and to work with cross ventilation, setting my bedroom fan to extract hot air during the day, and venting the place thouroughly when I can get a cooler breeze in the evening.
There's also the trick that if you can get *any* air flow, a very lightweight cloth (I use a very light cotton sari-weight shawl) damp but not dripping. Place it over your bare skin (I prefer arms and shoulders) and get yourself in whatever breeze you can. You will actually feel substantially cooler. It's been enough for me to get to sleep and stay there, the few bad nights we've had.
I do worry about my cat, but she's got a few very shady cool places she's been lurking, including the floor above the basement. (I don't want to let her go down there, as it's unfinished, and there are places she might get hurt or trapped, but the floor is the coolest part of the building, and out of any immediate sunlight.)
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Date: 2007-08-03 10:57 pm (UTC)I'm managing this summer (which has had a couple of days where the heat index was within a few degrees of 100, and a bunch where we've been in the 90s (though not for more than a few days at a time, for a change), and a couple of nights where we didn't get below 75. It's the last one I find really painful.
I also spent last summer in a house with few opening windows, problems with the screens, and a non-functioning AC (there was much annoyance with the landlord, but not so much fixing.) where the house got to and stayed in the mid-90s inside for a week at a time, twice.
My plan this summer has been to spend the hot part of the days somewhere with AC (school, mostly), and to work with cross ventilation, setting my bedroom fan to extract hot air during the day, and venting the place thouroughly when I can get a cooler breeze in the evening.
There's also the trick that if you can get *any* air flow, a very lightweight cloth (I use a very light cotton sari-weight shawl) damp but not dripping. Place it over your bare skin (I prefer arms and shoulders) and get yourself in whatever breeze you can. You will actually feel substantially cooler. It's been enough for me to get to sleep and stay there, the few bad nights we've had.
I do worry about my cat, but she's got a few very shady cool places she's been lurking, including the floor above the basement. (I don't want to let her go down there, as it's unfinished, and there are places she might get hurt or trapped, but the floor is the coolest part of the building, and out of any immediate sunlight.)