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FIND YOUR DREAM HOME OR APARTMENT
I've owned two homes with Whole House Fans, and love them. The fan is installed in the ceiling of the second floor at the top of the stairs. It vents into the attic. If it's not humid, I turn off the AC and turn on the fan, which pulls in air from the outside. If I move again, I will install one of these fans in my next home if there isn't one already there. I've been in this house for 22 years, and it's never cause me one cent in repairs. I haven't priced them lately, but I think they run $300-400. I have a 2000 SF house. Love it!
Some of these are good tips to go along with Air Conditioning, but there's nothing that would tempt me to try going without!
What time I do spend indoors, I will adjust the temperature to my liking. I'm not about to close the blinds and turn off the lights as though I'm living in the Great Depression.
Conservation is all well and good, but there's no need to be ridiculous about it.
apoel149 you know that air conditioning is a fairly new invention. the only way you survive is because of them?!... the very fact that you are alive is because people survived before they came about... romans brought you public baths not air conditioning systems... and everybody else quit complaining...
yes it is more comfortable with ac but if people survived without it before so can we.
Evaporative coolers (swamp coolers) work well, but only in dry climates like where I live. They are much, much cheaper to run than refrigerated air conditioning, and require only a litte maintenance. Some people don't understand that swamp coolers bring in air from outside and push it though the house (different from refrigerated A/C, which recirculates air inside the house). Using a swamp cooler, you must draw the air to the other end of the house and let it exhaust outside by opening one or more windows. In our dry climate, a relatively small swamp cooler (4000 cfm) can reduce the temp in our 2800 sq. ft. house by 20-25 degrees from the outside temp. 100 degrees outside can be reduced to 75 degrees inside. Admittedly, there are limitations to swamp coolers. As the humidity increases, their effectiveness decreases. In fact, they are essentially useless in areas that have constant high humidity. Also, they do bring moisture into the house since the cooling is created by evaporation of water, but in our extremely dry climate, some moisture is welcome.
We are fortunate that we live in a dry climate where a swamp cooler works well. We are also lucky that we have a finished basement that is always cooler than upstairs, and we have a relatively short period of high heat in the summer.
This is a stupid article. EVERYONE who has lived in extreme heat knows this stuff, and IT DOES NOT solve the problrem of living without a/c. People die every year because of lack of cooling. Try caring for an infant or toddler in extreme heat or a/c. Try working in 107 heat in Ark outside, at the top of a power pole restoring electric to customers, working with hot wires, in that humidity.
Try working outside in 115 degrees in Arizona ,surveying, walking long distances across desert. THESE PEOPLE ARE OUR UNSUNG HEROES, next time you see them, thank them. Also the men laying hot black asphalt on roads, probably 130 degrees.
I really hate these so called experts telling us what to do. I hope it is helpful to some but there are many people than cannot avoid extreme heat. Sit outside under a water hose, half naked and eat watermelon. Oh, yes, then put insulation in.
Best solution is go to mall and sit and cool off, park in cool library, maybe you can sleep there too. Joking about that, but try to find someplace cool to sleep if your place is unbearable and life threatening. Drink lots and lots of water, keep hydrated, if you feel a little ill, it's too late, get to dr, drink tap water, not ice water, you will vomit. If you do not sweat, that's heat stroke, and you have high internal temp and can die within short period of time. Appy water to pulse points, set in water if possibre, drink water, get to hosp asap
