staying cool

[JoB]

Ok.. for some of you this is going to be a big DUH…

but for others who have lived with AC all of their lives.. and perhaps have opted for a greener lifestyle… i thought i would share some of the wisdom of that great dark past before AC:)

lights generate heat. turn them off! if you must have lights on.. make sure they are the low energy variety because they generate a lot less heat.. and use them only where you need them.

cooking generates heat. this is a good time to grill outside if you can.. or to eat cold salads. If you must use your stove or oven.. do it at the end of the day (just before dark)… not in the early morning when it is cool. it’s easier to cool the house off when the sun isn’t shining… and if food needs to be reheated, the microwave generates less heat.

if you have curtains, close them when the sun is shining. if you are lucky enough to have true east and west exposures.. close the east in the morning and the west in the afternoon.

if you are using fans… blowing hot air out of the house cools it much faster than blowing cooler air in. blow it to the hottest side of the house.

cross ventilation really helps once the sun goes down and early in the morning. that means air blowing through the house.. from one side to the other.

Using your watering cycle to cool off the house. Water where there is shade and after the water has been on for a while.. use fans to pull the cooler air into the house.. hopefully exhausting the hotter on the other side.

water at night after you have exhausted the hot air and pull cooler air in..

one of the problems with being green and staying cool is that it can be a little labor intensive.. but your garden will love you for the extra water when it is this hot..

put a bowl of water in front of the fan.. just far enough away that you are not blowing droplets.. it really does help.. a bowl of ice is better…

get out of the house! It’s cooler anywhere there is a breeze.. even on your porch with a fan generating the breeze…

it really is cooler near the water.. and it is really cooler in the woods. Go take a leisurely walk in one of our forested parks. that’s the best way i know to enjoy the heat while it lasts.

anyone else with some old fashioned cooling ideas?

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[Robindianne]

Hi JoB,

Here’s an idea for pets: Picture a cute fawn colored puffy shiba just getting ready to blow his coat, panting like crazy, even actually whining a bit (although that could have been fear of the dang fire works exploding across the ally). Now picture him prancing around with a wet peach colored washcloth draped over him like a saddle, stopping ocassionally to slurp any dripping water from the corners. Eventually he settled down to sleep with it covering him like a blanket at 11pm. I woke up to damp terry cloth on my bed.

Now picture a beautiful long haired black cat the same way. OK no, don’t. The picture is not nearly so cute. Malcolm doesn’t like to wear washcloths no matter how the color matches his fur. :)

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[JoB]

robindianee…

LOL.. what a picture…

thankfully, mine have long since blown their coats.. but that hasn’t stopped them from shedding:)

mine will tolerate being washed down with a damp washcloth.. they think grooming is cool.. but if i tried to get them to wear it… no.. i don’t want to even imagine their reaction… and spray bottles are out of the question unless i would like to wear more of the water than them.

i used to keep a kid’s pool for my brother’s lab.. but let’s just say these two are not waders:)

thanks for making my morning.

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