As the mercury rise's for the next several months to the most extreme temps of the year lets offer some of your tips to stay cool.

Realizing some have central AC or mini splits systems while others have stand alone or window room units and others have swamp coolers and others have none.

What tips can your offer to help others deal with the heat and humidity.

I use a stand alone unit and use fans to circulate the cooler air.
Use inside window covers on higher windows facing south and west along with the other windows being covered both inside and out.
Unsweetened ice tea.
Keep house closed up as much as possible once morning breaks.

You guys?

I installed radiant barrier in my attic - that was well worthwhile. Get yoru a/c serviced so it is not struggling. Solar screens for the windows are a good idea too.

Many electric companies offer free energy saving inspections followed by grant-paid or supplemented improvements to do things like seal gaps and update or improve insulation.

If your home is more than just a few years old, it's worth exploring.


Also check around your exterior doors. If you can see daylight with the door closed, you're losing a lot of AC and letting a lot of hot air in. These can often be simple fixes by replacing weather stripping, or just adding some foam backer rods inside your existing weather stripping.


Rinse off your exterior AC coil with a garden hose. Not a jet nozzle. Certainly not a pressure washer. Just a plain old garden hose with no attachment and your thumb. This can clean dirt and debris off and help it work better.

Add more insulation to your attic.

I open the windows at night and we have a whole house fan (also called an attic fan). I keep an eye on the outside temp in the morning. When the outside and inside temp are equal I shut all the windows for the day.

I had a roommate in college who would come home for lunch at noon and open all the windows! Idiot would let all the hot air in!

I pretty much do as ROC. Close up the house on sunny days, open the windows as the sun sets and turn on the whole house fan which is in the 2nd floor hall ceiling at the top of the steps. It only needs to run for 10 minutes to draw the warmer 2nd floor air out.

I have central AC I might run 8-10 days each year when it's very humid and stays over 70 at night.

What are foam backer rods Rogue?

I think I could use some of this for my doors. Thanks Rogue.

We had a company blow in a lot more insulation in the attic

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
What are foam backer rods Rogue?

I think I could use some of this for my doors. Thanks Rogue.

Small diameter tubes of gray foam in various sizes. Comes in rolls at the hardware store. Search "foam backer rod" on the Lowes/HD site.

Most door weather stripping has a central void. With the right size foam (likely 1/4 or 1/3 of an inch in diameter), you can insert that in the center to cause the stripping to stand taller and hug the door better when closed to eliminate gaps.

Just don't go too large or the door won't close/latch.

Good suggestions already.

Also wear comfortable clothing that may include moisture wicking fabric. Years ago I remember wearing 100 percent cotton t shirts that became soaked in sweat and was miserable. Moisture wicking clothing eliminates that and any breeze will help cool you down. I like Under Armor 100 percent polyester T shirts and usually can get them pretty cheap at an outlet store or when a seller on Amazon has them on deal.

Of course dink plenty of fluids and make sure you have enough salt if being active. Getting dizzy/light headed and low BP is a sign one may be dehydrated or not have enough salt/electrolytes in their system and that used to include me.

Check furnace/HVAC filters and replace if need be.

Check HVAC venting to see what dampers there are and you may need to adjust to optimize air flow throughout the house. If no dampers you can also adjust at the outflow vent. Around here many complain about high heat in upper floor and didn't realize they could adjust for that by forcing more airflow to the second story. Check air return vents too and clean any dust build up as necessary and make sure not blocked. If you have floor air supply vents like we do check they are not blocked by anything including drapes and that they indeed are open for air flow. Keep door closed on upper floor rooms and any basement door closed too.

My attic was a mess with the eve vents covered with insulation. You can get eve vents to install so the insulation doesn't block the air flow.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/proVe...Rafter-Vents/3012018

I added more insulation so I now have 30+ inches of insulation.

You also need to change the attic air every 30 minutes with a fan that has the CFM capacity.

If you don’t like the heat, get out of the kitchen, and we like Northern Michigan.

Central AC.
High-efficiency windows and coverings.
Ceiling fans on in occupied rooms.
Vent fan exhausting heat from stove/oven.
Vent fan exhausting heat/humidity from laundry room.
Vent fan exhausting heat/humidity from showers.
LED bulbs.

Quiet Cool Whole House fan.

open up windows and turn on as soon as the day starts cooling down. Leave on all night (we like on lowest speed when sleeping) and turn off when the day starts heating up.

Close up house and don't open doors to outside if possible.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
If you don’t like the heat, get out of the kitchen, and we like Northern Michigan.

The heat in Texas is better than dealing with he liberals in Michigan

I once lived in an older house that used a whole house fan. It was mounted in the hallway and if it was on full speed, you could stand by a window and feel an incoming breeze. Drawback was noise. It sounded like a C-130 when running full speed. If I own another home, it will have a whole house fan.

Here in South Louisiana you do not open windows at all . Blinds , curtains , ceiling fans , pedestal fans , etc. Keep the sun out and the air moving .

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
If you don’t like the heat, get out of the kitchen, and we like Northern Michigan.

The heat in Texas is better than dealing with he liberals in Michigan

I have yet to meet a liberal where we’re at.

We have ceiling fans and central air. But I've been putting off turning on the air because it's expensive to run, and last year we had it serviced and our guy said it's leaking, so it might not work this year anyway. Our system was new when we bought the house 18 years ago, but apparently the type of freon it uses is illegal now so they don't make it anymore. Refill alone cost $500.

So now I've gotta consider replacing the whole thing, which probably means a new furnace, too, even though there's nothing wrong with that part but it's just as old. And from the numbers I've seen it'll be 5-6x what we paid for the last one .

For now, the windows are open, the fans are running, and I'm praying for a cool summer.

Last roof replacement, I had them install a ridge vent and perforated soffits. Huge difference.

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
so it might not work this year anyway. Our system was new when we bought the house 18 years ago

You're right at the end of the ~20 year usual lifespan of a HVAC system.

The small bit of good news is that new systems are typically significantly more efficient than the old ones they're replacing, so a portion of the cost of installing a new one is offset over time by lower electric bills.