Summer Adventures of the Cobbler’s Wife (Hot Fun in the Summertime)

Originally published at Am I the Only One Dancing?. Please leave any comments there.

Back when there was still a chill in the air, I wrote about being married to an HVAC (heating and air conditioning) tech and how despite that, we were still (partially) heating with wood and kerosene.

Now it is summer, in the middle of a massive heatwave, and like many people in the US, we don’t have central air. We do (fortunately) have a couple of window units, but in a 2000+ foot house with very high ceilings, only portions of the house get cool.

We don’t use the kitchen if we can avoid it.

Both boys sleep downstairs on the couch and love seat when they can, as their (temporarily) shared bedroom has no AC.

I’m not actually complaining. Until this generation, most of the US didn’t have central air, and people just dealt with it, like we are. There are still parts of the country where both central air and even window AC units are relatively rare, and this heat wave is getting to those folks. I see it on my Facebook page and my Live Journal, where people unused to crippling heat are having to ‘make do’.

If you can afford a window air conditioning unit, it’s worth the investment. Place it in the room you use most (or if you have two, place one in your bedroom and one in your most used room). Close off that room if you can to keep the cool air in and reduce the cost of running the AC.

Don’t cook. Or, at the very least, don’t bake. Use a grill outdoors, a crock pot, and the microwave for as much as you can, and the stove top when you absolutely must.

Keep your doors and windows shut. Use insulated curtains (or old sheets, or comforters, or newspaper, or cardboard) to keep the sun from beating in on your west and south facing windows.

If you don’t have and can’t afford an air conditioner, get a fan (in many urban areas there are ‘free fan clubs’. Religious organizations also often give out fans in the summer). Place a cooler (or even a bowl) full of ice or ice water in front of the fan, and it will significantly cool the area in front of the fan until the ice melts.

If worst comes to worst (and it might) go to a cooling center. In many towns, this is the Salvation Army. Alternately, lots of public places are cool – museums, movie theaters, malls, libraries – anywhere public where you can sit down out of the heat is a good idea.

The point is that not having central air is not a crisis, even in a heat wave, though not having a way to stay cool at all IS. (Just in case, it’s a good idea to know the symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke – if you have these symptoms, seek medical attention immediately).

Keep your head and create a ‘micro-climate’ of cool, and you too can have hot fun in the summertime.

 

Related articles

• Can’t Stay Cool in the Summer Heat? Try These Tips (theselfimprovementblog.com)
• 12 Heat Safety Tips for the Summer Heat Wave – ABC News (news.google.com)
• The Psychology of a Heat Wave (psychcentral.com)
• You’re Sweaty. You’re Broke. Here’s How to Stay Cool without Going Broker. [Home Mod] (gizmodo.com)