This past week we’ve had a heat wave, but until now none of us have felt too hot in the house, even without a/c.  Last summer we took out our air conditioning window units, and didn’t replace them with anything.  I had wanted to do it for a couple of years but it seemed foolish to take out something of value and not replace it with something better. 

I preferred not to use the units for cost reasons, but also because I didn’t find them very effective.  The area right next to them was too cold, but the area across the room was too warm.  When I opened the windows to take advantage of the natural breeze, the units blocked any cross breeze that we might have been able to enjoy.  opened the windows.  So finally I took the leap and consigned them all to the scrap metal pile for recycling. 

It was a very good decision!  Our house was much more comfortable this summer and last than the preceding summers without them!  A couple of tips we’ve found helpful in staying cool without air conditioning are:

– open windows opposite one another so that you’ll get a cross breeze

– close the blinds on the side of the house that gets southern exposure

– we  replaced the top half of the back storm door with screening, and now leave that door locked but open all day long.  Since this door is an exit from the kitchen to outside, it helps a lot of cooking heat be moved through.

– in the kids rooms, they have window fans.  We’ve set them up so that they are positioned in two rooms opposite one another; one is set to exhaust hot air, and one to bring cool air in.  When we did this, it made a very noticeable difference in temperature on our second floor – it used to feel hotter as we went up the stairs, but now it actually feels cooler when we get to the landing on that floor.  For the third bedroom (the smallest), the ceiling fan is very helpful.  Our next step will be to buy a couple more for the living room and dining room and to install them after installing security bars on those two windows.

– if you can, do the bulk of your cooking/baking/canning in the evening or earlier morning hours when it’s still cool.  Otherwise you’re unnecessarily heating up the house. 

A very important part of staying cool in the heat is giving your body the chance to the temperature outside.  Our family is now more comfortable than most with summer temperatures.  Last year I read a great book by Eric Brende, I think it was called Lights Off.  In it the author wrote about how he got ill from the heat when working outdoors with a bunch of other Amish (type) men, and couldn’t understand why no one else was bothered by the heat.  He realized that the problem was he had just returned from a trip in which he spent most of his time in air conditioned cars and buildings, and his body hadn’t had a chance to acclimate (as I wrote this word it occurred to me the direct connection between climate and acclimate).  So he suffered from heat stroke while the other men he was working with were fine, since they had two weeks from the onset of the summer for their bodies to adapt.

Wearing light clothes, putting cold washcloths on the back of your neck to cool you off, and doing physical work during the cooler parts of the day will also be helpful.

Avivah