Any advice to cool down my house? It's burning in here!

[mark414]

So here's the deal. I have air conditioning but me and my roommates can't afford to turn it on because our energy bill skyrockets. It's gotta be at least 15 degrees hotter in here than it is outside. Fans in almost every window but no luck.

Anyone else ever find themselves in this situation? Any advice?

I'm getting really sick of sweating just from sitting down. God forbid I cook any dinner, leaving me with an extra 10 degree jump for an hour or two afterwards if I use the stove or oven.

HELP!

[Fridays Child]

1. Hose down the roof. It works. You can shave 10° off the interior temp.

Give it a good thirty minute hose down, when the sun is low.

[newscaster]

6. A cheap and simple way.

Set a bowl of ice cubes on a table with a table fan in back of it. Turn the fan on so the stream of air passes over the bowl. The air that has been cooled by the ice. now gets pushed around the room.

Its not foolproof and you may need more than one bowl and fan but I used that kind of cooler both in college and in the service. It worked OK for me. But it wont turn your room into a meat locker.

[newscaster]

8. Oh one more technical point....

When the ice melts, you have to put in more ice.

:headbang:

[shoopnyc123]

2. Take a shower...

...Dancers always take showers, because the layer of sweat tends to hold heat in...they sometimes take two or three a day in the summer months. While sweat is good, you must "cool down" much like a race horse has to be cooled down after a race...

[aquart]

9. Just step into the shower and out again, as often as you need to.

On hot nights, I would sleep between two towels, huge bathsheets, which I deliberately damped down. The fan on the wet towels would be cooling.

Also, liberally apply Mineral Ice to all your pulse points.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

3. Run the AC just long enough to cool the house down then open doors

[Scairp]

4. I worry about my electric bill too

But I run the air anyway. If you only run it for an hour it can really cool the house down alot. If I had to, I would make a cut in my budget somewhere else for a little comfort. I don't do well in the heat.

[wryter2000]

5. Hmmmm

Can't you set the AC on 82 or something? That would help a bit.

You're right about cooking. Forget about it. Draw some cool water in the bathtub and sit in it from time to time. I know...guys hate baths, but it's better than sweating. Also, do you have a shady bit of yard? If you wet that down with a hose pretty well, it'll cool down and you can sit out there.

[cornermouse]

7. In the old days they used to wet sheets and hang them

in front of windows. Possibly to cool off any available breezes?

[ezee]

10. make sure that some of

your fans are exhausting the air from the house and not pulling the hot air in. Especially in the upstairs, if you have one.

[mark414]

11. thanks everyone!

i'll try these out!

hopefully this job i applied for will go through and then i'll finally have some extra money!

[radwriter0555]

12. I won't endorse the idea of drilling a VERY small hole through the

bottom of the plastic dome on the front of your electric meter. It should be rather close to the back of the dome, on the bottom. Nor would I endorse the idea of placing a small, straight stick stiff wire through the hole, up to the disc that spins around as you use electricity.

You see, I wouldn't endorse the iead of that, the wire (secured by wrapping the wire around a nearby screw), when wedged against the spinning disc, STOPS it, and stops the meter from recording usage.

I don't endorse this idea, but I hear you won't get electrocuted, but that people who do it must be VERY diligent about using this method of defrauding the electric co. They have to be careful about using it modestly so as not to raise any red flags, and in particular, NOT to have that wire in place when the meter reader shows up.

Not that I would endorse such behavior, I've only heard of people doing this.

[cally]

13. You have to get air flow throught the house

Putting a fan in every window doesn't work. Just try different ways to get air flow.