Beating The Heat

It has been in the 100s here where I live since the spring, we also had a lot of rain which made the humidity here crazy. Things have settled now but it is still really hot and reaching the 100s again. I keep my A/C on 70 and try to keep all shades down or low and keep all doors shut. A lot of opening and closing the doors to the outside or garage in my home makes my house get a lot hotter.

 

Don't turn up your thermostat too much because it will cost extra money to get your house cooler. Get thick curtains to block out extra heat even if you have blinds. Drink lots of water and eat cool foods. Don't cook with the oven if you can. This will sound weird, but in the desert I would wear wet socks if I was sitting with my feet up.

 

We turn off the lights when the Sun is setting which is just about 2 hours for it gets cooler and save electricity too which in turn saves money. We have hand fans and try to save electricity by not using electric fans...we have no air conditioners too.

 

We also like to put the blinds down and turn off the heaters.
Wearing lighter clothes at home helps you to stay cool.
Another thing is we hang our clothes to dry outside instead of using the dryer and that saves us sooo much money.

 

Last summer (February to May) when we experienced drought, our electric bill shot up due to the continual use of the air conditioner. Aside from that, our water bill also increased for we had to water the garden twice a day. To balance the equation, my husband had put up the potable swimming pool in the terrace. It uses lots of water but the water can later be used to irrigate the garden for 3 days. And we had saved some days in running the air conditioner during the day. Much more, we were like having a picnic in a resort, huh.

The only downside is the labor needed to set up the pool and also to fold it. Fortunately we have 2 housemaids who could do that chore for us.

 

In the last few days, it has been raining frequently, which has lowered the temperature. However, before it rained, the temperature in our place was just about 40 degree Celsius. I live in the farm and we have trees around. In the day time it is cool under the trees compared to staying in the room. I also drink plenty of fluids to cool myself. I avoid eating and drinking hot food.

 

I think setting up a hammock in your garden would be a good way to beat the heat, instead of you just staying inside your room with the aircon on.

 

This weekend the heat could feel as high as 108. I try to cut costs by keeping the blinds shut, using the ceiling fans, and hanging clothes to dry rather tan using the dryer. One thing i need to also do is to stop using the heat in the dishwasher to dry the dishes. Hopefully these efforts will help my electricity bill while keeping my family cool.

 

We live in the south, and have not only the heat, but high humidity as well. Today, the humidity was at 88%, and it is hard for me to breathe when the air is that full of moisture.
Our AC does not work very well; but we have a small window unit in the main room where we spend most of the time during the daytime. We also have a ssmall one in the bedroom for at night; so we are only trying to cool the main area where we are at and not the whole house.
We also have a backyard swimming pool, like @Corzhens mentioned, and we are out there almost every day in the hot summer. The cool water not only cools off our whole body, but i always feel so clean and skin feels fresh after swimming for an hour or two. We got the pool on close-out, so almost half price, and with good care, we shoulld be able to use it for many years to come.
I go outside early in the day, before it gets too hot, and do the yard work and water the plants and flowers; so that I can be inside during the main heat of the day, or outside in the pool keeping cool.

 

We bought a portable AC unit at Home Depot for $300. We only run it when it is super hot out. We also go to the library during the peak hot hours so that we can beat the heat and not have to run our AC.

 

You could try finding a cheap humidifier or mist machine so the air will constantly be filled with moisture and it should help a little with keeping the area cool. What you should look out for when doing this though is that you should always keep the filter of it clean because I heard that some people eventually started getting sick because of not frequently changing or cleaning their filters. That's about all there is to the safety required though and otherwise it really is a very helpful tool.

 

Yeah, I just put some clothes outside instead of in the dryer. They will get dryer faster. It will save some money too. I am sure. It is in the lower 90's and sunny I think they will dry pretty fast. Even though it is humid it could be worse.

 

I would try to find some cold spring water to hang around all summer for a few hours a day or at least once in awhile. Here in north florida when the temperatures start to climb you can head to the 70 degree springs and it will cool you down a bit,and it actually feels cold when you climb out of the water after a nice dip or swim.

 

Over here it is the summer season already, and the heat is quite oppressive. It makes me not want to go out anymore during the most humid hours. If I want to keep myself cool then I eat cold food like ice cream, halo-halo, soda, coffee or chocolate drink with ice, etc.