quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:
I saw on the news that it was like 115 degrees in Seattle and people were freaking out trying to buy the limited amount of window AC units. Why don’t you already own a window AC unit? There like $75 on Craigslist in the off season or on clearance before winter. Why are we waiting until NOW to suffer and be unprepared ? It’s mind boggling.

I don’t think they ever really needed them before.

Nothing like being prepared for the eventuality, but yeah...AC really isn't a necessity around these parts. Typically there's no need save for maybe a week or two in August when it can get downright uncomfortable. 100F+ at the end of June really never happens.

What I do is open every window in the house and the sliding glass door at night to cool things down. In the morning I lock it down and close all curtains. This'll usually prevent needing anything further. I do have a portable AC unit that vents out a window. It's a rather cheapo unit that won't cool the house down, but it does prevent it from getting any hotter.

The other problem around here is that the sun doesn't set until roughly 2200 this time of year, so it can stay into the 90s until late in the evening just adding to the misery.

Ice cold showers can lower your core temp for a bit and make the heat a little more tolerable for an hour or two.

Previous to the current weather event Western Washington has only seen 100 degree weather 3 times in recorded history- Going back to the 1890's. The most recent was a 1 day peak of 103 on July 29th 2009.

And I believe those 3 were 1 day spikes. This is the proverbial 100 year storm \ weather event.

2 converging weather events of unprecedented nature are contributing to this event.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: braillediver, June 27, 2021 09:38 AM

Spend cool, quality time in the frozen food section of your local supermarket.

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
This is the proverbial 100 year storm \ weather event.

A weather guy on CBS (?) claimed it was a one in a 1000 year event. How he came up with that I can’t imagine, but it would not be surprising if he pulled it out of his nether regions because he then “explained” the claim by demonstrating his total ignorance of probabilities.

For the sakes of everyone living there, including a sister-in-law and other relatives, I hope it doesn’t occur again for another 1000 years, but that’s probably very unlikely now.

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Originally posted by OKCGene:

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Originally posted by old rugged cross:
I am wondering about a frozen milk jug of water put in a plastic tub and place in front of a fan. Seems like that could help?

There are some youtube videos of that idea, the most popular is taking a cooler, adding ice, lots of ice and cold water, a fan and vent up from the lid, 90 degree or 45 degree bend, and it blows cooler air. I don't know why you couldn't add some Rock Salt (think home made ice cream mixer) to get the air even colder.)

Go to Youtube and search "Home made cooler AC".

Here is one example, and it will show other versions of the same basic idea:

Coworker is building one right now for his boat.

quote:

Originally posted by braillediver:
Previous to the current weather event Washington State has only seen 100 degree weather 3 times in recorded history- Going back to the 1890's. The most recent was a 1 day peak of 103 on July 29th 2009.

And I believe those 3 were 1 day spikes. This is the proverbial 100 year storm \ weather event.

2 converging weather events of unprecedented nature are contributing to this event.

For clarities sake that stat was for June only. July, August and September are different animals all together. That and you live in western Wa. Here in eastern Wa it hits triple digits most summers for a few days but nothing like what's happening now. According to AccuWeather we'll have highs in over 100 10-12 days in a row. That is unprecedented for sure in any month.

Jim

I dunno, it's not like it never gets hot around here.

I have a spare window unit if someone in the area needs one.

Strip down to underwear at bed time and wring a wet bath towel out until just damp. Cover yourself with damp towel and direct fan to blow on the damp towel.

Wet bandana, wear on head or around neck.

Added benefit of looking "metal \m/" or "cowboy" depending on wearer's choice.

Aside from that, I've signed up for replacement windows and ordered a new window AC to help out while I wait the several months for the windows.

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Originally posted by MelissaDallas:
Strip down to underwear at bed time and wring a wet bath towel out until just damp. Cover yourself with damp towel and direct fan to blow on the damp towel.

That's how it was in the barracks when I was in Va Bch in the summer time.
Walk down the hall to the showers and get wet.
Go back and lay on the plastic covered mattress with an already wet sheet.
On a single bed like that you can take a wet sheet making a tent of sorts with a fan blowing through it too.

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Originally posted by powermad:

quote:

Originally posted by MelissaDallas:
Strip down to underwear at bed time and wring a wet bath towel out until just damp. Cover yourself with damp towel and direct fan to blow on the damp towel.

That's how it was in the barracks when I was in Va Bch in the summer time.
Walk down the hall to the showers and get wet.
Go back and lay on the plastic covered mattress with an already wet sheet.
On a single bed like that you can take a wet sheet making a tent of sorts with a fan blowing through it too.

This has been my “poor college kid” or extended power outage solution in hellish Texas summers. I can usually find someplace air conditioned to be during the day.

Before we had A/C we'd have large fans in a couple windows pushing air out of the house, creating a breeze from the other windows. If we hadn't gotten A/C we'd have had a whole-house fan installed in the ceiling above the main hallway to accomplish the same more efficiently.

At night we'd place a small oscillating fan on the dresser at the foot of our bed that would intermittently blow across us all night long.

In the morning, once the sun started hitting things and the temperatures started going up, if it was significantly cooler and/or drier in the house than what it was beginning to get outside, we'd close all the windows and sun-side drapes. We'd keep them closed until either things started to equalize or it got too stuffy in the house.

Not long ago I was outside, on our patio, and our irrigation system was running for what reason I do not recall. That resulted in a fine mist floating across me. It was remarkably cooling. I'm thinking of acquiring one of those outdoor misters you can buy for doing that on-purpose.

Cold showers and cold drinks are refreshing, but they actually accomplish the opposite of what you want in hot weather. Your body compensates by generating more heat in response to the cold. When you stop the cold you actually get hotter. This is why many people in hot climates drink hot beverages during hot weather.

I crank my AC hard when it’s hot out. Since we have solar panels, it doesn’t affect my electric bill.

When my Mom’s family traveled prior to A/C in cars they put a block of ice in a dishpan in the floorboard for the circulating air to blow over.

ensigmatic, can you link to one of those misters you are referring to plz.

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Originally posted by old rugged cross:
ensigmatic, can you link to one of those misters you are referring to plz.

We use them here in Arizona also.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/RY...t-PMC1217K/311952837

I'm pulling the rip cord and checking into a hotel for the next two nights. Hotels are mostly sold out.

I'll get a window unit later this week. The one I purchased yesterday I gave to my daughter. My other daughters live in the Spokane-CDA area and they're on a slow roast over there but have air con in each of their homes.

We had a solid week of 112F-115F!! Before that I was cooling my house with an evaporative cooler, but at those temps, no way can it handle it. Even my large A/C unit could not maintain 77 degree in the house. The late afternoon, the indoor temps would reach 80-81F. Once the sun went down, the A/C could cool the house back down. Out hottest high was 117F.