5 Tips For Beating The Heat Without A/C

Finally!!! Summer weather. Oh wait... I'd forgotten how our house holds the heat.

Here are some things I've tried, in lieu of real air conditioning, that actually do help a bit:

1) Closing the blinds/curtains to keep the sun out (reeeeally?? you mean shade is cooler??). Why I haven't tried this sooner is beyond me. I think that I was too worried about blocking the movement of fresh air, but it's definitely worth it.

2) Using a fan: sitting on the ledge of any window that's in the shade, blowing inward. At the moment this would be my kitchen, and it's positively chilly in there!

3) Closing doors and windows that have the sun beating down on them (stay out, warm air!!).

4) Opening doors or windows at opposite ends of the house to create a cross breeze.

5) Wearing ice packs (ahhhh!!!). (Although this is tricky if you're doing house work ;-)

Today the inside of our house reached a maximum of 29 C (84 F), whereas in the past when I haven't used the measures listed above, it has reached about 33 C - 35 C (91 F - 95 F). Obviously A/C would cool it further, but at what cost?

I suggested to my husband today that we get one or two more small fans so that we have air moving at more than one window. This will use more hydro, but it'll still be greener than A/C.