[Mr. Krinkle]

Here in the Central Valley, it's over 100.

My kitchen's almost 90, and the living room ac is struggling to keep it in the 80s.

I made a big mistake, one that I hope to learn from, and that was food that I was making for dinner all created heat. I need to prepare for cooler meals, stuff that won't require a toaster oven or stove top burner. And if my fridge stops working because of a blackout, I will truly be up a creek. Yes I have a backup generator, but will I want to go out and get it in the heat, set them up and run it? Not bloody likely! I'll set up my Jackery and run a fan off that, but without ac, I'm broiling. My backup gas generator is too small to run the ac, and I haven't tried running the fridge off it, yet.

I might just get my cot and set it up outside and sleep on that. Maybe around 11, when it cools down a little. 😩

 

[One Shot]

We hit 111 today

 

[Spenser]

111 that's 911, get me the hell out of there kind of temp.

We haven't been hit yet with temps over 99F, but with that said, the other day my kitchen was 97 degrees F, and I literally almost passed out while cooking. My home office at least ws around 76 F, same with bedroom AC, but damn the rest of my place was like a frying pan, in the short time it took me to make dinner my face was red and I was heavily perspiring.

I should point out, our refrigerators are not meant to be operated at temps over 80F, only garage frigs are designed to operate in temps 100+, and they aint cheap.

I made a big mistake, one that I hope to learn from, and that was food that I was making for dinner all created heat.

Mr. Krinkle, I have one of those older stoves that literally one can fry an egg on the stove near what you are cooking on the range. When temps are in the 80-100 range, I use either my slow cookers or my Instant Pot to cook dinners, they do dot give off a lot of ambient heat so they do not add to the misery. You just need to plan dinner ahead. I always cook on high setting so they are only running 3 to 4.5 hours depending on what chow it is.

 

[ItsJustMe]

I use an induction cook plate, which emits far less heat than a normal stove.

If you use a slow cooker, place it outside, in the garage, on the patio or balcony if you can. I use the slow cooker in winter because it helps to heat the house. In fact, cook outside if you can stand it.

It has been hotter than normal here, in the mid-90's. It does cool down to 60's at night. I have done the following to help:

1. Cover all windows that get direct sun. East and west facing windows have 2" styrofoam insulation, reflective side facing out, cut to pressure fit. Now, the south facing double glass door has a roll up shade temporarily hung on the outside. Best to keep that sun off those windows on the outside if you can. All inside windows have insulated curtains on the inside.

2. As soon as outside temp goes down in the evenings, doors and windows are opened to let cool air in. In the mornings, when sun comes up, close everything to keep heat out. In temps up to 100, the hottest it has been inside was 81F. Yes, it is dark in here but that is better than roasting.

3. Use 100% cotton sheets on your bed. If you have memory foam mattress, cover it with a thick mattress pad.

4. Wear 100% linen if you can, cotton is second best. No polyesters and especially no rayon and that includes blends. Heck, with windows all covered, go naked.

Or pack up your air conditioned vehicle for camping and head to the nearest mountains.

I feel for those suffering from the extreme heat. Hang in there.

 

[Spenser]

Wear 100% linen if you can, cotton is second best. No polyesters and especially no rayon and that includes blends. Heck, with windows all covered, go naked.

Umm I will forgo the going naked part... I took a bite of Eve's apple.

How old is your slow cooker as mine doesn't give off enough heat to heat a room. My GE stainless steel 2 slice pop up toaster on the other hand surely would. (nearly burned my home down not realizing how much heat that it produced and started to scorch my above rather high above cabinet.

& thx for the kind words, this summer ws killing me, I am not fond of heat, and my electric bill proves that.

 

[Kauboy]

Houses use to be built to handle the heat. Builders have long-since lost this design skill, choosing to use less material and rely on electric cooling.
@ItsJustMe offers some great suggestions.
Blocking the sun's energy is primary. Shading the windows is good, but covering them completely and keeping them closed may be worse, depending on how you can shade them.
Old farm houses used to have wrap around porches to keep an overhang of the roof blocking direct sunlight from hitting the windows, but the windows would be opened to allow the breeze to push through. Opening one or two on the north side, and one or two on the south side, for example, could provide quite a strong flow throughout the house. It helps to bring in fresh air, obviously, but also carries ambient heat out of the house.
It only takes a few days to acclimate to the warm breeze and accept that you're SUPPOSED to sweat, and that breeze will cool you off quite well as long as you're not in the sun.
Avoid labor intensive activities during the heat of the day. Wake up before the sun, get your outside stuff done before noon, and don't go back out until after 6 or so. Wet a rag or hand towel and keep it on your neck. This will enhance the effect of the breeze via evaporative cooling. The water will gather heat from your body, and the breeze will evaporate the water away, releasing the heat to the air. Old farmers used bandanas for a reason, not just fashion.
You can take some load off of your AC unit if you're able to set up a misting system around the evap coil. You can shade the unit as well. Folks around here used large canopy beach umbrellas and such. Dropping the ambient air temp around your outside unit will allow it to operate more efficiently and dump heat better. Just don't block the airflow.

I'm a born and raised Texan, and don't mind the heat so much. It looks like we may have wrapped up our 100+ temp days at 68 for the year.
Of course I've grown to enjoy creature comforts, but I still remember how to keep cool from my days of stringing cattle fence, running horses, and helping to build 3 family houses during the summertime.
Heat exhaustion can set in quick, and it can spiral out of control rapidly. Take shaded breaks often, drink water constantly.

 

[ItsJustMe]

I, too, born and raised in south Texas. No AC growing up. We had two fans, one in my parents' bedroom (and don't you dare touch it), the other one we kids would have fan wars. I remember getting up late at night, going into my brothers' room and taking the fan while they slept. I would wake up a few hours later and the fan would be back in their room. We never argued about it because that would bring down Parental Wrath. On really hot humid days we would take an old blanket outside and lay under a tree. It was cooler than inside.

Ah, the good ole days.

 

[Kauboy]

I, too, born and raised in south Texas. No AC growing up. We had two fans, one in my parents' bedroom (and don't you dare touch it), the other one we kids would have fan wars. I remember getting up late at night, going into my brothers' room and taking the fan while they slept. I would wake up a few hours later and the fan would be back in their room. We never argued about it because that would bring down Parental Wrath. On really hot humid days we would take an old blanket outside and lay under a tree. It was cooler than inside.

Ah, the good ole days.

Speaking of sleeping in the heat, I bought a compact high flow fan (one of those kind you see drying out wet carpet) and cut a long shoebox to fit over the rectangular outflow and redirect the air up under the bedspread.
The whole sheet set puffs up and you're surrounded in cool flowing air all night. On a hot and humid night, it's like heaven.
Drowns out the sound of crickets and locusts too. 😁

 

[ItsJustMe]

Speaking of sleeping in the heat, I bought a compact high flow fan (one of those kind you see drying out wet carpet) and cut a long shoebox to fit over the rectangular outflow and redirect the air up under the bedspread.
The whole sheet set puffs up and you're surrounded in cool flowing air all night. On a hot and humid night, it's like heaven.
Drowns out the sound of crickets and locusts too. 😁

What an idea! I wonder what the dog would think about that?

 

[Spenser]

It only takes a few days to acclimate to the warm breeze and accept that you're SUPPOSED to sweat, and that breeze will cool you off quite well as long as you're not in the sun.

That is not a universal truth there Kauboy. During my stint in Austin, Dallas, & Houston, where I stay with my father in the summers, I would literally go from AC house to AC vehicle to AC market and back. The heat is something that I could never acclimate to, cold on the other hand was more doable

Speaking of sleeping in the heat, I bought a compact high flow fan (one of those kind you see drying out wet carpet) and cut a long shoebox to fit over the rectangular outflow and redirect the air up under the bedspread.
The whole sheet set puffs up and you're surrounded in cool flowing air all night. On a hot and humid night, it's like heaven.
Drowns out the sound of crickets and locusts too

Someone stole your bling Kauboy, there is a device that exists that is exactly like what you just described.

I agree, blocking the windows helps, but having them closed with no AC doesn't. I use Mylar Solar blankets on my window

for the rest of my place I leave all the windows open, and I have numerous Air circulators and fans set up including an attic fan to draw in fresh air from all the windows.

Talking about fans, I have slept with a fan on since I was 6 and found one of the best fan brands called Vornado, they are extremely powerful for such a small size

 

[Kauboy]

That is not a universal truth there Kauboy. During my stint in Austin, Dallas, & Houston, where I stay with my father in the summers, I would literally go from AC house to AC vehicle to AC market and back. The heat is something that I could never acclimate to, cold on the other hand was more doable
...
Someone stole your bling Kauboy, there is a device that exists that is exactly like what you just described.

If you hop from AC to AC, you'll never acclimate. It takes a bit of suffering for the body to respond. Embrace the sweat.

It's likely that product is where I stole the idea from. Wasn't about to fork over money for what amounted to a piece of plastic ducting.

 

[Spenser]

If you hop from AC to AC, you'll never acclimate. It takes a bit of suffering for the body to respond. Embrace the sweat.

It's likely that product is where I stole the idea from. Wasn't about to fork over money for what amounted to a piece of plastic ducting.

I see I used a bad example, When I lived in California, I did not have an AC in my bedroom, and only my parents had an AC and there was one in the living room. Months worth of extreme heat, and my body never acclimated, but, it did result in numerous times me passing out completely from it. Each time it was during sports. On the flip side, I did not have the same problem with cold, as when I moved to NY my bodily quickly acclimated to the Eastern cold weather. Some people, like myself, just cannot tolerate heat, just like how some people just cannot tolerate the cold. I remember being in college playing football with a group of guys in the snow. They were all wearing winter jackets, while I was wearing a sleeveless T shirt, and it was snowing at the time.

With regard to your contraption, so many a time I have done exactly what you did, shunned my nose to the outrageous price of a thingamajig and built it myself, in the end it always was a better route, as I was able to tailor the thing I was making to my particular needs. Btw my version of your contraption was my ex wife, she had a habit of tossing and turning wrapping herself in the blanket in the process and I would wake up with only a sheet over me.

 

[Kauboy]

Months worth of extreme heat, and my body never acclimated, but, it did result in numerous times me passing out completely from it.

I've got a buddy who was raised in Chicago. He moved down here and hated the heat. During the 3 years I worked with him, he finally acclimated.
Now, he can't stand going back home. Too cold.

 

[Spenser]

In the 10 years I lived in California, I never acclimated to the heat, mind you I moved from Rhode Island to Calif. Funny thing is, there were times it got close to freezing in the winter, a rarity I was told from lifers. I remember one of these 'cold days' ( they had no clue what cold was) everyone was complaining about freezing their @$$ off, while I found it quite enjoyable. 1 year it even snowed, more of a dusting, and it freaked people out. My last experience of snow was of the blizzard of 1978 (or 77 cant remember i was only 6) so I had no clue what was freaking everyone out.

 

[Chipper]

We always watch the weather forecast and plan ahead. Hot streak we will cook and freeze meals days before when cool. So we can just microwave and still have a decent meal. NO COOKING with the AC on.

Fort Jackson for basic, June, July and August. Don't know how I survived even at 17. How do you guys live with that heat. I'd rather have snow and zero. Just throw another log on the fire. Don't have to worry about warm beer.

 

[Kauboy]

How do you guys live with that heat.

It's a mystery...

 

[ItsJustMe]

Okay, have been holding this back because it is a sexist remark and not very nice but wth...

So all you fellas that suffer with the heat, now you know how the gals feel during hot flashes. That last for years!!

There. I said it.

 

[One Shot]

It's cooler today only hitting 106 degrees by 4 pm, a few weeks ago we were visiting family on the Oregon Coast.....Wishing I was still there.

 

[OrganikRoots]

104 today.
Saturday will be 102 with 2-3 " of rain thanks to Kay.
Shade, shorts, and a cold brew will do...

 

[Mr. Krinkle]

Check out the Mosquito Fire near Foresthill. 😳

Mosquito Fire in Tahoe National Forest balloons to 5,000 acres

Get updates on California's Mosquito Fire that's burning in Tahoe National Forest and...

www.sfgate.com