It's over 90F outside today and yet I'm feeling nice and cool inside the house, but I don't have any air conditioning. When we were looking for a house, air conditioning was a non-negotiable requirement for me. Didn't think I could make it without it. I'd still love a house with air someday but until that day comes I make the best with what I have. Here's how I beat the summer heat:
- Leave the oven off. No more being tempted to make cookies in the middle of the day, baking is reserved for when the sun goes down and the temps drop. It will require a little more planning ahead but at least your house won't have to feel as warm as the inside of that oven! You could also use a crockpot or a toaster oven instead of an oven, less electricity and you won't heat up the house. And while you are at it, skip running the dryer or any other appliance that puts off heat during the day. Wait til it cools down in the evening. Also, plan to make "cooler" meals. When it's 100F outside no one wants to eat a bowl of chili. Stick to a big slice of watermelon and a salad with all the fixin's.
- Think cool treats. Make homemade pop-sickles, freeze fruit, have plenty of ice on hand to make iced tea or ice water when you need it. If you need inspiration you can try these Strawberry Yogurt Frozen Pops or Homemade Fudgesicles. I also like to freeze grapes when they are in season (just wash and freeze) and you can make frozen banana pops buy sticking a stick in a peeled banana, dipping in chocolate and freezing. Or you can just do the frozen juice. Anything cool works!
- Invest in dark shades or curtains. I found heat blocking curtains on clearance at Shopko. They work great for my windows that face the north in the afternoon when the sun in beating in. Even a dark brown shade will work, anything to keep the hot sun out and keep the inside dark and cool.
- Fans, fans, fans. Fans are inexpensive to run and they provide relief from the sticky stiffness that summer brings. I have a ceiling fan in every single room in the house to move the air around and keep it from being still.
- Think about a window air. We have a window air conditioner but it only fits in the bathroom window because of how the windows are in my house so it does do alot of good but if you have a house where a window air will fit, try Craigslist or Freecycle to find a cheap or free window air conditioner.
- Get a pool. No, you don't have to spend a couple hundred dollars on a pool that shoots glitter and fireworks. Last year we just got one of those little kiddie pools. It was supposed to be for my puppies but we ended up all in there together when it was over 100F out.
- Make your own air conditioner. Put a bowl of ice in front of you and put a fan behind it. Instant cool down while the ice melts away.
- Get a spray bottle or a water spritzing fan. Fill them with cold water and spray on to cool down.
- Dress the part. If you are staying home for the day, try and wear whatever will keep you cool. Go for loose, light fabrics. Also try and still with natural fabrics instead of artificial, they are more breathable and will keep you cooler. I find tank tops for less than $1 at rummage sales and stick to those most of the summer. If all else fails, pretend you are all the beach all day and hang out in a swimsuit.
- Stay hydrated. When your body is correctly hydrated you will stay cooler. Stay away from sugar summer time drinks and stick with good old ice water.
- Wear a necklace. No, not a regular fancy jewlery necklace. I'm sure you've seen those gel feeling things you wrap around your neck to stay cool. If you don't want to buy one you can make one by sewing a long skinny tube, filling it with rice and freezing it until you need it.
(linked to Unwasted Homemaking)
How do you beat the summer heat?
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{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
I keep cool by waking up extra early in the morning & opening all of the windows to the house & let in all of the early morning chill. I also turn on all of the ceiling fans to high. Once I feel the temperature start to climb, at all, I close up the windows & pull down the shades on the windows where the sun is hitting..for me, that would be my East facing windows. When the sun starts to hit the West side of my house, I go around & pull all of the shades down on that side. Believe it or not, I can keep my house about 20 degrees cooler than the outside temperature, by doing this. If it is humid, then I don’t open the windows that day. I have found that it is worse to let the humidity into the house than to cool it off. We have 3 small window air conditioners that we use when it is humid. It keeps this Old House surprisingly cool, all summer. I do live in a brick house, though. We also have deciduous trees planted on the West side of our house, to shade it from the hot afternoon sun. I think before air-conditioning, people used to know how to cool a house off better than we do, now. All houses had shade trees & a nice front porch to retreat to in the heat of the day, with a nice cold glass of either lemonade or iced tea..sounds good, huh?
Oh that does sound nice! Taking a little cat nap in the shade of the porch in a comfy rocking chair with a big glass of sun tea…..
I am cracking up about the hang out in your bathing suit thing! If I did that someone like our pastor would surely come to the door! But we do have central A/C so I’ll keep my clothes on!
Haha, lucky! Well, I can mostly find something cool to wear but when it’s 100F and we head up to the river to fish you better believe I’ve got my swimsuit on to stay cool and in case I feel the need to jump in!
We have good air conditioning but during peak hours (2-7 pm) electricity costs a ton more so I try to use as little electricity as possible…today I had my boys play out back with a shallow container of water and they were perfectly content for over an hour
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I wish we could take advantage of cooler weather at night, but once summer hits, many nights it doesn’t go below 90 here and we sweat no matter what time of day or night here
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Wow, 90F at night? It usually cools down to the 60′s here so we are lucky.
We have the same problem here in Tennessee. In the middle of the summer, we’re lucky if it gets below 89 at night, so we can’t even open the windows to let the cool air in because it doesn’t cool down! Air is kind of a must-have for night time at least. I sure wish it cooled down a bit more! I love spring and fall because we can have our windows open 24/7 and take advantage of the beautiful weather.
Great ideas, we do a lot of grilling outside so we don’t heat the house. It doesn’t get below 90 degrees where I live either, 60′s would be very refreshing
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Yes, grilling outside would be a great alternative to oven cooking! Plus it’s fun
Great advice. Thank you .
This is a really great post and I might link to it on a similar post on the Amish Cook site (we REALLY should NOT have to be discussing this in March) in the near future. Quite relevant post because, as I’m sure you know, most Amish don’t have air-conditioning…So they actually employ a lot of tactics to stay cool…I’ve visited the most heat-soaked Amish settlements but have been amazed by their “stay cool” tactics. By the way, what part of the Dakotas are you in? There is an Amish settlement now – only one – in the Dakotas in the far SE part of the state.
I agree, we shouldn’t have to be talking about this in March! That sounds like a good post…I’ll be interested to read it! And we are in the Black Hills:)
I have not checked out the new settlement, just founded last year.let me know if you ever get to the SE part of the state…the community is near the town of Tripp, we might have to have a “Little House” goes on assignment project for amishcookonline if you are ever going to be near there!:)
I have family near there and we plan on heading that way again later this year. (I was just there in February:) )
we live in the desert so there’s no getting around needing an a/c. even so, i don’t like to run the oven and run up our electric bill. last year, i set up a kitchen in the garage. i moved the toaster oven from the kitchen and used the camping stove.
also, i hang my clothes. in the summer, my clothes dry faster on the rack outside than in the dryer inside!
I was my towels early and pin them on hangers. Then, i hang them in a few doorways and on the shower rod. The cool moisture evaporating keeps the house cool and smaells wonderful.
I have actually found that white or the lighter colored shades refelect the heat back outside, where the darker colors ABSORD the heat from the sun. Same goes for clothing.
In a home that that has a North facing wall with windows, I put a fan in there that draws the cooler (shaded) air in and a fan on the South side to push the air out! On a two story home I put the South fan on the South or West window to push the air out!
Works good!
On the second floor! LOL
Just found your page & love it! This is great Beat-The-Heat stuff. Hope you’ll post it again when it’s closer to summer.
And your tips for saving money, etc. (e.g. Homemade Cleaner) are invaluable! Hope to see many more of them.
Gratefully
Sharon
HOT summer nights? We wet the sheets and wrap them around ourselves to at least get to sleep. WARM summer nights? I wet a washrag with cold water and ring it out then lay it on my chest to get the same cooling effect. BLISTERING summer nights? wet sheets, wet towels, ceiling fan, air conditioner, ice packs, whatever it takes.
A nice thing not mentioned here is a whole house attic fan. If you live in a non-secure place this wouldn’t work for you as you have to have some windows open, but in a place where you could leave upstairs windows open or something? A great way to cool a house down.
Great idea! I never thought to wet the sheets before!