Another thing that will help is to wet the roof down. The best way is to lay a weep hose along the roofline and put it on a timer so that it does its thing from about 10:30 - 4:30.
We had this issue in the last location our Taekwondo school was in. The a/c units were very old and couldn’t cool the school down very well. In addition, we had really bad insulation and west-facing windows, so we got cooked in the summer afternoons.
I went up on the roof with a sprinkler and a garden hose. I set the sprinkler dead center on the roof, taped it in place and put a flow timer on the hose. When I came in to open the school up, I’d go out the back door and set the flow timer for about 2 hours. The sprinkler would come on and cool the roof down, and it made a big difference. Our water bill went up about $25 a month and our electricity bill came down about $80 a month. And our students weren’t dropping like flies.
Jiminy christmas, I’m not an old person or a mother, but if I had anyone living in my house (who was old enough to have their own children but NOT able to pay their own bills) that was lying to me, costing me extra money, and complaining incessantly, then I would kick them out on their butt. I’m sure they’d be much happier and cooler sleeping on the street! :rolleyes:
On the hottest day ever yet recorded in this town, I was outside scrubbing drips of paint from the floor of our front porch (because the Mensa rejects who painted the ceiling didn’t even think of putting a tarp down or moving the outside table while they were slinging paint around, that’s why). I didn’t even realize it was so hot because:
A) The porch had a ceiling fan
B) I had sprayed the entire porch down with water, several times, to make the paint easier to scrape up. I was soaked. The floor was soaked. Together, we made it about 80 degrees in there rather than 118.
Also – I believe this is true and I have no pressing reason to think otherwise – the Littlefield Mansion, now used mostly for office space, is still cooled by the same system originally put into the house in 1890something. Water is piped through the walls in order to keep the place comfortable. It certainly is; the temperature approaches downright chilly in there.
You took the words right out of my mouth! That is not behavior you want to model for the kids.
I happen to agree that 85 is not dangerous for healthy adults (or children).
However, heat exhaustion is a dangerous condition, and if the attic gets above a certain temperature (100 or so depending on humidity) it could become more serious. If you are worried about this, find some literature on heat exhaustion and show it to your mother.
That being said, if the temperature doesn’t go much above 90-95 degrees it’s more a matter of comfort. Here are a few suggestions.
I lived in an apartment with no air conditioning in Chicago the summer many people died. (100 degrees or more) I survived by opening all the windows so there was a breeze, plugging in a fan, and most importantly, taking a cold shower before I went to bed. A long cold shower is a miracle in a hot place. Have you tried this? It really cools down your core temperature and gets rid of that feeling that you’ll never be able to cool off. This is especially effective if you have a fan blowing on you. I was almost shivering when I did this and I had no problem sleeping.
Take a shower and sleep downstairs on the floor with a fan on, or sleep outside.
If you are in dire financial straits apply for federal aid to help with the utility bills and such. Even if you live in your mom’s house, you can get aid, especially if you have kids.
I happen to agree that air conditioning is a very energy inefficient luxury. There are ways to live without it, and you do save money by turning it off.
You need a multipronged approach IMHO some suggestions:
If there are no pets - remove the covers on the vents upstairs totally - this will increase airflow.
Close off the downstairs - but you can’t close off too many vents of a a/c system you risk freeze up.
Stop the cold air upstairs from falling downstairs - install a curtain or close the door. - Depending on your setup this could be a biggie.
Where are the intakes, close (block) the downstairs one, and remove (of no pets) the upstairs one This will create negative pressure upstairs and ‘suck’ more cold air from the vent system and upstairs.
Other things that could help but cost money:
Install vent boosters (basically fans in the vent or at the vent cover), that increase air flow to the upstairs.
install a window ac upstairs - probabally the best overall solution.