Treehugger - Latest Comments in How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

Pousada em Campos do Jordão — Mon, 11 May 2020 10:15:19 -0000

This seems like a perfectly nice thing to me! Will have to remember it for next year, thanks for the post.

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

DontWorryBoutIt — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:59:22 -0000

ice your carotid arteries in your neck to cool your blood down...

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

danne — Sat, 08 May 2010 10:59:30 -0000

I used a blue foam camping pad to insulate my windows and doors. This helps keep the cooled air or heated air in when running the a/c or furnace. I also close my blinds during the day..

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

famousacandheat — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 21:42:11 -0000

Thank you for sharing these tips!!! It will be very useful especially to those who don't have an air conditioning unit on their homes. I'll also find time to dos such things.

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

Zoe — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:27:28 -0000

I live in Florida, it's late spring and I already can't stand the heat! So this is a great way for kids like me to stay cool, in the extreme heat. I'm writing this assuming everybody reading this has a freezer, at least 2 hand towels, and 2 wash-clothes. Put all of the hand towels, and wash-clothes in the freezer, then wait about 5 minutes. Then take 1 hand towel and 1 wash-cloth out of the freezer, and put the hand towel under your shirt and on your back, then put wash-cloth on your forehead. Do this quickly so it still is close to being frozen (really! Once their was ice crystals on it!) Then the best thing you can do is relax! Watch T.V. watch a movie, lounge! Any thing that lets you stay awake, and lay down is fine. Just make sure you can get up to switch out the hand towels and wash clothes. Hope this helps!

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

David — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:43:24 -0000

A good idea (although a bit more involved in the long run) is to keep fit! Your body is used to the stress that working out and keeping active induces (which produces body heat). You will find that you cope with the heat better than your rounder buddies. Body fat also acts as internal heat insulator, keeping heat in, something that is a bad idea in hot weather. Keeping fit has more important advantages than better body temp regulation and heat removal, but if you can find the time to loose the kilo's (or pounds as u americans go by, I'm aussie) in cooler weather, it will make summers slightly more bearable.

And try wetting a face towel and leaving it in the fridge for a few hours. During the worst parts of the day, cover your head with the towel (without blocking your airways).

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

Glen — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:59:13 -0000

Australian summer has just started and today is 42 degrees centigrade, which is 107.6... quite warm!

I've got 2 children and we live in a weatherboard townhouse, which can get very stuffy after 2 - 3 days of this kind of heat, fans cater for most of the circulation of air and in the evening when the temperature drops, we open all grilled windows and doors and lock them while we sleep.

When we awake in the morning and it is 21 degrees Centigrade / Celsius, the house is warm sure, that is why there are swimming pools and beaches in Australia.

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

Melanie — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:00:37 -0000

I am glad someone mentioned the warm drinks as my husband always says this also...he is from Romania (Europe) and that is what they also say. I am glad folks have explained why because I tell People I work with this and naturally they all think my husband and self are crazy! :-) Now, I can have an intelligent response! :-) Great topic! I have had posts on this topic as well! Love this site.

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

deftective — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:51:41 -0000

Another important way to stay cool is to make sure your attic's got good ventilation, and insulate the floor of your attic. The ventilation makes sure that the heat beating down on your roof doesn't cause the air in your attic to get hotter than it is outside. That's bad because you're actually adding hot air to the top of your house.

The insulation prevents the attic's hot air from heating the air in your home.

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

deftective — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:04:58 -0000

Madi's cool water in the bathtub and Elizabeth's cool wet towels should work well in low- to mid-humidity climates. But they probably WON'T cool the air in high humidity climates. This is because water in dry air will evaporate, and the water's state change from liquid to gas requires energy (heat), which the water takes from the air, thus cooling the air. But water will not evaporate into air that is already full of moisture.

Folks in the dry-aired West often use swamp coolers for the same reason that the wet towels and cool bathtub water work. Folks in the humid Northeast and Midwest tend to rely on air conditioners which also dehumidify the air.

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

Stormy — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 19:45:40 -0000

well, i have an awesome way to keep cool. it's great 4 kids like me, and it's fun!!

ok, so take your tennis shoes (i don't suggest doing this with your brand new Converse high tops or your shiny Etnies!! :D ) and soak them in the bathtub or the sink. when they are soaking wet, put them in the fridge 4 about 15-20 minutes. take them out, slide them on, and you should be good 4 a couple hours!! :D it really works! but i suggest wearing them outside and not where they can drip. you can also do this with a pair of socks, too!! but be sure to get your parents permission before doing this!!

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

arianna — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 03:05:14 -0000

i learned a trick while working at a local animal shelter for keeping animals cool in the heat and it doesnt involve ac b/c there was no money in our small budget for that. when cats/ dogs get to hot they lay down as low as they can and they pant with there mouth open. the cheapest way to cool them down safely is to wet down a towel with the coldest water you can get from a tap and place it on the floor close to were the animal is laying. dont force your animal to go on to it though. it will cool them down without the air blowing onto there cute little faces, which might cause respiratory problems later on in the animals life. i hope this helps for all you animal lovers. ad towels tend to work best cause they stay wet for a long time, animal blanket didn't seem to stay cool for very long. i hope you and your animals the best of luck this very hot summer

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

Doug — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:20:26 -0000

No matter what you do, one thing to do along with any method is, DON'T FIGHT IT. If you sit there and whine and groan and complain because its hot you will absolutely make it worse for you and anybody nearby. If you're hot you're hot. If you can't get cool at the moment then just relax. Working yourself up will make you hotter. If you CAN get cooler then shut up and do it and quit complaining and bothering the rest of us! I like it hot. I am glad its hot. It means its summer. Sometimes I like to go out in my car and sit for a few minutes. Its a sauna. It clears my sinus out. Sometimes it cures a headache. The trick is not to constantly find ways to keep cool, its to learn to be comfortable in the heat. If you constantly find air conditioning and places that are cooler then you won't be able to take the heat as well when you need to. And drinking hot liquids on a hot day and taking a hot shower IS RIDICULOUS! You might sweat a little and feel relatively cooler for a few minutes but drinking cool liquid and taking a cool shower will lower your temperature, which is very important to keep from over heating and dehydrating. Basicly, USE COMMON SENSE! If you don't have any, get some!

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

Marley — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:16:25 -0000

My mother always told me not to take cool showers in the summer, take a warm one instead. Like the previous post said you don't want your body to have to work harder to cool off and the extreme changes in temperature only make your body more exhausted. Besides you will feel cooler after getting out of a warm shower with the moisture evaporating from your skin. "evaporative cooling"

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

viena byam — Thu, 03 May 2007 04:18:41 -0000

try to hang wet towels around your bedroom it will help the air cooler.

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

Elizabeth — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 01:12:06 -0000

Allright today was the first night of me testing this way to keep cool my dad told me and so far its working really well. I filled my bathtub up with cold water (no hot water at all) and dumped some salt in it (my dad says the salt makes the water even colder). Then I put a fan in my bathroom facing towards my bedroom (which is connected to my bathroom). My bedroom is about 5 degrees cooler than the living room. It would probably cooler if I didn't have such a tiny and wimpy fan (the fan only goes halfway up my calf including the 1 1/2 inches it is off the ground) With that large mass of cold air in your tub the cold water evaporates and pushes the cooler air out through the fan. My dad probably explained it better than me because he majored in environmental science (and physics and geology..yeah triple major) in college. I don't know how well this would work for a larger space but all I needed was my bedroom cooler and it worked so its made me happy. Hope it helps someone else.

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

Madi — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 03:59:51 -0000

Umm... I like trees?

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

derek d — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:45:02 -0000

Here is what I did. http://keep-your-cool.blogs... Turned out pretty cool. I have a steady supply of 60-68 degree air.

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

Tweety — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 23:49:25 -0000

hi, i'm from England and with working in a hospital all day with no air conditioning we drink warm tea, the reason being that hot drinks make you sweat or perspire more and the reason why we sweat is to actually cool our bodies down, when drinking a hot drink and sweating more, the cooler air is able to be felt on our skin and evaporates the sweat cooling our bodies down. Thats why they say have hot drinks to cool you down.

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

marlene reynolds — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 16:28:17 -0000

Little things help psychologically:

1. do not wear jewelry

2. do not wear underwear

3. wear your hair up

4. turn on night lights only

5. hold wrists under tap water periodically. splash water on neck, behind knees and in arm pits

6. postpone stressful tasks for a cooler day

7. read all the other excellent comments posted here - great ideas

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

MGR — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 16:13:32 -0000

That's a great mental picture, KPod :)

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

KPod — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 15:59:04 -0000

My cats LOVE the heat! They lie on the porch, baking in the sun and refusing to come in. They dream they are lions on the savanna...

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

lara — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 08:31:42 -0000

I've heard that the reason for drinking hot liquids is that they warm up your core temperature and this makes the actual temperature not feel as hot.

I don't have any a.c., one thing we've found is to pull in cooler night air and then turn off the fans in the morning.

Also, there is a product called a 'chillo' out there, add water and slip it in your pillow - it really does work. They also make pet chillo's which could help the kitties. And I really wouldn't worry too much about the kittens, all of mine have found the good spots in the house, they probably deal with the heat better than I do!

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

Don B — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 07:10:18 -0000

You have to be careful if you shut off the vents to half of your house - your system was (I hope) sized to your house's Sq. footage, and if you try to force the system to effectively run on a smaller house, you're not running it efficiently.

I appreciate what you're doing, and I've spent many an hour trying to do what you're doing - but you have to be careful about it.

One thing I'd like to do is to get an attic fan, one that exhausts the hot air from the second floor into the attic. You only have to run it for a few hours at night to really cool down the house, assuming that it's cool outside...

Re: How to Stay Cool This Summer (While Saving The Earth—And Some Cash)

Paavani — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 06:16:38 -0000

or you can try coolers- cool green drink. Like having lemon juice by adding few leavess of mint. Or try raw mango juice (sweet or salty). Its very cool & healthy. Just to stay Green!