First of all, remisser, you can pretty well forget about the swamp cooler idea. They work great in really dry heat, but your Location tag says Quincy, MA, and up here in New England we never heard of “dry heat”. Our summers are practically subtropical - 90 degrees or more with 80 percent humidity and up. Swamp coolers work by evaporation, and when the air is already this saturated, evaporative cooling isn’t efficient enough to make any difference.
You might want to talk to your landlord about air conditioning anyway. I know everyone is telling you that AC units really suck the juice, but new units are a lot more efficient now. Even a brief online check of the specs for new air conditioners will show you that many of them only draw 7.5 amps. A few years ago, ACs commonly drew 15 or 20 amps (or more!) and blowing fuses was really common in older places with 60 amp service. You could also offer to compromise - maybe put an AC in your bedroom, but not the living room, kitchen, etc. Even with the lower-draw air conditioners, the electrical service in the house couldn’t handle five air conditioners, the fridge, the TV, lights, etc. all running (and the load is even greater when the compressors start.) The load would be too much for the wiring, but you could select a couple rooms as cool sanctuaries.
I live in an older 4-family house. Ten years ago, we had constant problems with air conditioners popping the fuses, especially when, say, the refrigerator kicked on when the AC was already running. But as the ACs got older and we replaced them with newer models, the fuse problems went away. The ACs just don’t pull the power that they used to.
To help prevent blown fuses, you can also reduce your electrical load in other areas so the total draw in your side of the house is less. Small flourescent bulbs that screw into standard light sockets, for example: Many hardware stores carry these on sale for less than a buck now, and a 26-watt compact flourescent bulb delivers the same amount of light as a 90-watt incandescent bulb. Cheaper to run and lasts longer, too.
First off, to keep the house cool (so many people I’ve encountered don’t do this), close all the windows on days of intense heat and humidity. Trust me.
THEN, close the blinds, the drapes, and if you have to, cover the windows with blankets. You want to keep the heat and humidity OUT, and covering the windows keeps the house from becoming a sweatbox.
THEN, run the fans. Nice, cool and dark.
Common sense, but I figured I’d mention it because you never know.
Y’all know Dyson makes a very effective cooling fan, right? It blows, like a fan ought, but also slightly cools.
Very popular among off grid cottagers. Not cheap, like a fan, but not expensive, like an air conditioner. Doesn’t consume huge electric and they actually do work.
No they don’t. That’s just the Dyson trade name, “Pure Cool”. Look at any of their product pages. Never mentions cooling. They do “sense particles and gases”. Any fan cools by evaporation if you blow it on yourself.
Way too late for the OP, I suspect, but somebody else may be dealing with it:
Do as @Guinastasia described above – whenever the outside temperature is hotter than the inside temperature. Whenever the outside temperature is cooler than inside – which it probably will be during at least part of the night – open everything that you can open, and chill the house as much as you can. (Make sure your heat is turned off or way down!)
If the house has old double-hung windows, and you can get them open at the top (they may be painted shut), open the windows on one side of each room or area (windward if possible) from the bottom and on the other side from the top.
That technique used to work just fine in most of the Northeast. Problem is, if there are stretches of more than a day or two when the nights don’t cool down enough, then it works poorly to not at all – and such longer stretches of hot have gotten more common.
Also, of course, a lot of modern houses don’t have the windows for it – not only that they’re not double hung, but that modern houses often only have windows on one side of the room, and they may not be tall enough to bring air into the lower parts of the rooms. ETA: plus some people live where it’s not safe to open all the windows wide and go to sleep.
If this repeats what’s said upthread, consider it +1. A few thoughts…
I used to live in a very dry climate area (El Paso) and swamp coolers will get you 10 or maybe 15 degrees of cooling. But if it’s humid, forget it. Another thing to try: get a tray of ice, blow the fan across that. How big that tray is—could be a cake pan or larger—is up to you.
Got ceiling fans? Make sure they’re turning in the correct direction, pulling the hot air up instead of pushing it down (winter mode).
Try foil on windows to reflect heat back out. When landlord complains…? Hey if you can’t have an AC what does he expect?
If you can get it cooled off, maybe cross-ventilating by opening windows at night and hanging blankets and sheets etc. around doors, blocking airflow under them with towels, to keep it insulated can help.
Any chance you can supply the power? In other words, get a generator to power an AC unit. Consider how noisy it might be and/or the cost to run.
If you weren’t renting (and other readers facing this may not be), my bro swears by his whole house fan. There’s a big fan that he installed in the ceiling of his hallway. It sucks the hot air up vertically, through a vent in the roof.
Mrs. L had a radiant barrier installed when it was time for a new roof. It really helps on heating/cooling bills. If/when landlord needs to replace roof, you might suggest it.
Cold drinks, cool showers, ice cream…some say a cold bandana or washcloth around the neck kind of tricks the body’s thermostat. And when it gets really bad, head to the mall or other free, air conditioned spaces where you can wait it out.
