What do you do to keep your house cool in the summer?

snake_lady

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Summer weather is here


I don't like to run my AC much.

So what I do is:

Close all the windows and blinds on days I know it is going to be hot out. (try to do this before the the sun really shines and the temp is higher outside than inside)
Open them at night when it cools off.
We also run our ceiling fans if need be.

We try to limit using electronics like the tv, that can add heat as well.

It works well when it is not humid out, as well as our rec room stays about
10C cooler than the main house so we'll go down there more during the summer.... some of us will sleep there.

I generally turn the AC on when it gets warm and humid, and lasts for a few days.... Even then, I set the AC at 80F, just to take the humidity out of the house.

We also have a pool, not a big one, but large enough my family can all fit in. If I get in that shortly before bed, I can usually sleep through the night


Right now, I'm off to shut the windows I can because the sun is coming up. It cooled off nicely last night, got down to 70-71F in the house, slightly cooler outside.
 

theharelquinade

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We tend to just keep the doors open because we're on top of a hill so we have a nice breeze through the house.
But sometimes when it's really hot we have to use the AC. We dont have central AC because we'd rarely use it, but we have a unit which is about two feet high, sits in the corner and cools the whole house. It's awesome (:
 
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snake_lady

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Originally Posted by Trouts mom

We have to run the ac because we are 12 floors up..the sun finds us and comes right in!
oh uggggg. Yah, I bet it gets warm.... You are in the TO area, yes? (or am I thinking someone else) The smog would kill me, and I'd have to run the AC even on days like today.

Even if I were in London, I'd be running the AC more...But thankfully although I live in a mid-lg sized town (10 000 people give or take), we live in a new subdivision that feels almost like the country. If I look outside and between the houses across the road, there is a huge field. More houses, then another crescent behind us, then an open area.... so we get some nice breezes


Originally Posted by TheHarelquinade

We tend to just keep the doors open because we're on top of a hill so we have a nice breeze through the house.
But sometimes when it's really hot we have to use the AC. We dont have central AC because we'd rarely use it, but we have a unit which is about two feet high, sits in the corner and cools the whole house. It's awesome (:
ahhh, I know what you mean. My husband has a portable AC unit (substantially larger than yours) that he uses at work to keep all the computer equipment cold.

I've heard the smaller units are quite handy. When I was living in an apartment, it was the upper story of a house....so you walk in, then go up a flight of stairs that open into where I lived. I had a window AC that I put in one room, then used fans to blow it into other rooms.

Only prob, the cool air would go straight down the stairs, because it was open (just the railing and a baby gate)... I ended up buying a bunch of plastic (like painters use) and taped it from the ceiling to the railing, then threw a couple heavy blankets over the railing..... That kept the cold air up, instead of it all sinking to my front door
Wasn't pretty, but it sure did work.
 

grogs

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I'm very fortunate in this regard because my apartment is below ground and the walls are very thick. Even in the middle of Summer, it stays cool enough that I can get by with just a fan in every room. I don't have a pool, but I have found that taking a fairly cool shower just before bed really cools me off. My metabolism tends to run hot at night, so the cool shower helps counteract that and allows me to go to sleep without being too hot.
 

zoeysmom

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I grew up in a house with central air. In university, I lived in a house with central air. Once and a while the air would stop working for some reason, and it was like the world ended. I remember once going to stay with my grandma while we were waiting for the central air unit to be replaced.

Last summer, I lived in a basement apartment in a house with central air. The people upstairs had control of the thermostat. I spent the summer wearing sweatshirts and slippers because it was so darn cold.

This year, we live in an upper apartment in a large, old house with no central air. Surprisingly, heat hasn't been too much of an issue so far. This is the first week that it's been hot and somewhat humid. We have a 8000-BTU "portable" air conditioner that our landlord supplies. The thing is new, but it's huge and it's an eye sore.....and it has to be vented out a window anyway. Plus, our apartment is very choppy (all the rooms are enclosed, with only a small doorway...and we have 2 long hallways), so I don't think air will circulate very well through the long hallways. I would have much rather preferred 2 smaller 5000 BTU window units so that we could split the cooling up a bit (nevermind that window units blend in a little more).

I just decided to try to hook up the unit, but for something that's supposed to be portable, there are a lot of screws involved. So, it'll probably have to wait until the weekend at this point.

So, as it stands, I have shut the front curtains to stop the sun from getting in. I put on the ceiling fan in the living room, and that seems to help. We have good blackout curtains in the bedroom and currently a tower fan. We'll probably get a ceiling fan. I'm hoping that the air from the a/c unit, which will most likely be in our living room will make it into the bedroom, which is the next room over, but really closed off. I have no idea what we are going to do for the kitchen, which is on the opposite end of the house from the living room. We may have to get a second unit (hoping we don't need one for the bedroom, but I can't sleep when it's hot)....or else....I may just have a really good excuse not to cook supper.

So, in short, I've been spoiled in the past with central air and this year I'm still not sure what we'll be doing. It's going to be a bit of a trial and error process to see how to best, and most efficiently, get the whole apartment apartment cooled without having an a/c unit in every room.
 

arlyn

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I have reflective covering on most of my windows, it's very cave like in here.
I also run several fans and the AC.
You cannot go without AC here though, you'd dry up and blow away on the wind if you tried
 

katiemae1277

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This will the third summer that I am going without A/C, the first year was cause I couldn't afford it
and last year and this year it's cause it's broken
I live in a trailer too which is basically a metal box and we all know how hot metal gets in the sun
so yeah, it can get pretty uncomfortable, but all of my windows are open and I run my ceiling fans, oscillating fans and box fans all the time
and stock up on popsicles
 

gailc

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We don't have A/C either so yesterday before work I shut all the windows.

I have all the blinds closed as well. I have a box fan in the kitchen, and oscillating one in the living room, a box fan on the steps going upstairs and the ceiling fan in the bedroom and another oscillating fan in the bedroom. The family room isn't usually too bad and the basement has the dehumidifier running.

Tonite I'll be sleeping in either the family room or the living room on the air mattress!
 

eilcon

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I live in the upstairs apartment of a two-family, which gets pretty warm in the on the hot, humid days we get here. It's an older house, so no central air. I have two window a/c units, though, and ceilings fans in all but the living room, so it stays pretty comfortable. On really hot nights I sleep in the living room, where the a/c is.
 

libby74

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Our A/C runs 24/7 It's hotter than blazes here in the summer
Ditto. This morning the temp at 7 a.m. was 81, and the humidity was 79%. Going outside is like walking into a warm, wet blanket. We have central air, but it doesn't take care of the 2nd floor where the bedrooms are. We have window ac units in each bedroom.
When it's really hot (the heat index today is supposed to be 115*) I keep the blinds closed, as well.
 

lil maggie

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Originally Posted by libby74

Ditto. This morning the temp at 7 a.m. was 81, and the humidity was 79%. Going outside is like walking into a warm, wet blanket. We have central air, but it doesn't take care of the 2nd floor where the bedrooms are. We have window ac units in each bedroom.
When it's really hot (the heat index today is supposed to be 115*) I keep the blinds closed, as well.
We have the exact same weather here too. It's suppose to get to 97 today and opening any windows would only let all that high humidity into the house. I have all the drapes and shades shut. I worry about the cat and dog when the weather is this muggy and hot because neither one can handle being warm....they take after me lol
 

libby74

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I don't know about Cat, but I'm tired of this heat & humidity!
The long term forecast for the coming week------70s at night, high 90s during the day. UGH!
 

lil maggie

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LOL you and me both Libby! What is this, the 3rd day of summer? Mid 70's at night and upper 90's during the day ...all week. The high humidity here is horrible. I hear people come in from out of town complain that they can't breath.

I overheat something awful and can full body sweat in 70 degree weather. I dream of being able to move to Alaska! You can always dress warmer but can't run around naked! I wouldn't want to scare the neighbors


I worry about the elderly and people without a/c. We're having a fan donation at our church this weekend. You donate a fan for those who are without.
 

libby74

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You can always dress warmer but can't run around naked!
Holy cow! That's what I tell people; you can always put on more clothes, but you can only take off so many!

Gotta love mid-west weather, don't you?
 

natalie_ca

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I keep my blinds closed. But that doesn't really help very much. Typically an evening in my apartment when it's cooled off outside, still means that it's about 90 something degrees inside


I've resisted getting an air conditioner because I didn't want to block my window with a piece of unsightly plywood and didn't want to spend $500 on having a new window made to accommodate a window air conditioner.

This year however I'm buying one of those portable ones that you can plug into a wall and move from place to place! I wanted one for the last couple of years but wasn't working so I couldn't afford it. This year I am and can! My kitties will appreciate it because they look so hot in the summer
 

yosemite

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Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I keep my blinds closed. But that doesn't really help very much. Typically an evening in my apartment when it's cooled off outside, still means that it's about 90 something degrees inside


I've resisted getting an air conditioner because I didn't want to block my window with a piece of unsightly plywood and didn't want to spend $500 on having a new window made to accommodate a window air conditioner.

This year however I'm buying one of those portable ones that you can plug into a wall and move from place to place! I wanted one for the last couple of years but wasn't working so I couldn't afford it. This year I am and can! My kitties will appreciate it because they look so hot in the summer
Does it get warm enough in Winterpeg to need an AC? J/K Hope you keep cool Linda.

I close all windows and blinds during the day while we are at work and it stays lovely and cool in the house. The basement is always cool so Bijou can always head down if he gets too warm. We have central air but don't use it unless it's unbearably warm. I think we only turned it on about half a dozen times last summer.
 

tierre0

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Air conditioning and my allergies do no get along so even though I do have it I try and keep it off as much as possible.
I keep my drapes closed during the day and have several fans turned on most of the time. That seems to help a lot.
I usually take a cool shower in the evening and leave the windows open during the night.
 
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