Our normal process for cooling our house is to use a couple of dual window fans like these, with one fan set to intake and one fan set to out. We put them in the master bedroom and a room across from the master, so they create a good cross-current. This fan set-up reduces the temperature in our bedroom significantly in a surprisingly short time. It also helps that Calgary has cool nights, so we usually have cool air to draw in before very long. We also have a ceiling fan in the bedroom; we don’t really feel a need for A/C in our house with all these fans.
I realize that houses in hotter places have more need for A/C than we do, but you can do a lot with fans and cross-currents to reduce your dependence on A/C.
Why just crack the windows? Throw those babies open wide! Get some fresh air moving!
The Person Who Controls The Air Conditioning in my house won’t turn it on yet, so I’ve been sleeping (upstairs, I refuse to camp out downstairs) with all the windows open, four fans running and a wet dish towel draped over me on the worst nights.
A lot of times the primary or secondary drain will clog from algae buildup(or other debris). If it’s a newer home it’s usually easy to just shop-vac the darn thing–and doing that every few months will prevent things like this from happening. A full drain pan will overflow eventually and cause expensive water damage.
It’s so great to have a reliable HVAC guy. The guy I use just comes in when I’m not home and handles any work that needs to be done. I don’t think he raids my girlfriends underwear drawer either.
Well my father was always stingy* with the AC so his solution was to just walk around in his underwear/not in is underwear. Mom wasn’t exactly thilled; but she did get him to wear clothes when we had overnight guests. I starting sleeping naked when I was 12, but I didn’t walk around naked when they were home. Fortunatly we had window units so there really wasn’t any way for him to tell if I had mine on at night.
The major exception was the summer Mom went through “the Change” when he bit his tounge and didn’t say a thing when she’d close every window and crank the AC up as far as it would go. Even when she’d then get cold and bundle up in warm blankets while the AC was still on (sometimes she’d* turn the fireplace on *too) he still kept his mouth shut.
Two windows only one fan is necessary.
Open windows (Opposite side of the room please) Place the box fan on the ledge of one window so it blows cool air IN to the room (bonus points if you can have it blow across the bed).
The warm air will exhaust out the other window with no other fan needed.
Used this for a couple of years here in the San Fernando where it gets REAL hot in the summer, when I didn’t have the $$ to fix the AC.
It sounds like the a/c issue is under control. I was going to suggest opening windows downstairs and upstairs. Put in in-blowing fan downstairs, and an exhaust fan upstairs.
Box fan, duct tape, and 1 or two sheets, depending on size of fan and child. The idea is to make a wind sock, with the fan on one end and the child inside. You don’t need an exit hole for the air, in can escape right through the sheet. Have the kid tuck the open sides and bottom of the sheet under her body.
And tell her to hop in for a couple of minutes of cold shower if she gets really hot, and get back in bed wet. Evaporative cooling is da bomb.
I’m not sure if it’s been said, but if no one is going to be in the room, keep the fan off. Remember, a fan cools a person, not the room. In fact, a running fan will actually heat the room due to heat from the motor (a lot more then most people would realize). However, this doesn’t apply if you are using a contraption that involves water/ice/etc.
Yup. You can also keep the windows and curtains closed on the sunny side of the house through the day, opening windows and curtains on the dark side after the sun has passed.
You’d think it would be uncomfortable, but it actually feels incredibly good to lay a damp towel over yourself when you’re so hot and the air is so hot and the room is just scorching. The water doesn’t last, either - the towel or t-shirt dries out in a surprisingly short time. I should say, though, that Calgary is a very dry place; I don’t know how this would work where evaporative cooling isn’t great due to too much humidity.
Unfortunately we don’t have windows facing each other in the bedrooms. We already have light-blocking fabric curtains on the sunny side of the house. But opening the windows at night isn’t terribly useful, because it’s so freaking humid, and it doesn’t start to cool down toward 70 degrees until the middle of the night.
Generally I love NC, but the summers can be so brutal. I swear someday I’m going to build one of those hobbit houses in the side of a hill, to reduce heating and cooling costs. And I sure wish I could afford (and the HOA would allow) solar panels. Our dark green front door gets so hot, you have to be careful not to burn yourself on it. It makes me sad to think of all those photons just sinking into my house and heating it up, when they could be put to better use.
Why not mount a campaign to overturn the HOA’s ban on solar panels? Find some like-minded neighbours and take it to the local news saying, ‘We’d like to “Go Green” and help to reduce Our Nation’s energy consumption. We’d like to create jobs by employing local contractors to install solar panels. We’d like to increase our property values by having desirable features such as solar power. We’d like to be responsible, patriotic Americans doing our bit for our Country. But our Politburo – I mean HOA – won’t even allow is to discuss it. They’re taking away our Freedom!’
(I can’t help you on the affordability, but there might be rebates and tax incentives to ‘go green’.)
I live in Cary as well and when I got up this morning it was in the low seventies and 93% relative humidity. Refreshing!
NC passed a law last year that HOAs cannot forbid the use of solar collection, whether it be for water or electrical. Unfortunately, they can place restrictions on placement and screening, such that they can’t be visible from the street (guess you are SOL if your house faces south like mine) and it only appears to apply to new deed restrictions and covenants put in place after some time last year.
Thanks for the info, **Baracus **- that is good to know! But yeah, our house is not new, and the front faces southeast, so I’m sure anything useful would be visible.
In the event that we can afford solar panels before we move, I would definitely lobby against the HOA to do it, but for now there’s no point.
