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Luckily
for us we live in southern New York state and seldom get days so hot
that cooling is a concern. However, at various points we've lived in
both Florida and Oklahoma and certainly know about heat. But recently we've have had a serious heat wave through all the northern states too. People need ways to Beat this heat!
One thing I've learned is that the central principle in managing heat is:
HEAT RISES.
It will rise and rise no matter what you do – as we northerners who have
very warm heated ceilings all winter will be happy to tell you.
The second principle of cheap heating is that heat is transmitted by infrared rays of the sun. Just like a heat lamp.
So the fundamentals of cheap cooling involve:
1) Letting heat rise out of the building
2) Blocking infrared solar rays
One can let heat rise in a number of ways. One of the most simple is to
let the hot air move up unimpeded to the second floor and then up to an
attic space where, a preferably solar powered, attic fan will whisk the
hot air out of the house. Ceiling fans can help in this effort if the
blades are pitched in the right direction. Most are set to drive warm
air down in the winter – not whisk hot air up! So make sure the fan
blade is pitched properly, and then guide the air into a higher space
and out of the building. If you are an apartment dweller with no attic
access, then pull the upper casing of your window down and use a fan to
blow air out from the higher level where the hot air will naturally
collect. Heat rises –use this to your advantage.
The second part of blocking infrared rays can be as simple as planting
deciduous vines and trees to block sunlight on south facing windows.
However, obviously it takes time to grow trees and bushes. Apartment
dwellers don’t have these options. So one block of the infrared rays of
the sunlight is to put those light blocking films on the windows. They
can be quite inexpensive and since they adhere with just static pressure
you can pull them down to let winter light in. Shade screens can serve a
similar purpose and long term are cheaper than a yearly application of
light blocking film. In a pinch reflective materials like aluminum foil
will reflect light away from the windows. It depends on your
circumstances and level of prior preparation. Awnings are nice old
fashioned solutions also.
In really hot areas where the options I mentioned are not available to
you, simply raising the temperature at which the house is kept by air conditioning will save
you money. Seventy-five to eighty degrees is not that uncomfortable for
most people and can save people lots of money over the frigid 65 that
many people place their summer temperatures to.
We lived in the desert part of western Oklahoma with just a ceiling fan
and attic fan and the house never got over 80 degrees F --- even when out
side it was 103 degrees F or more!!! We partially opened the attic
access, used the ceiling fan to drive the hot air upwards, and then
vented it out of the attic with a fan. We did have trumpet vine on the
south side of the house which helped with south shade, but otherwise we
were completely exposed to the sun on a rocky hillside. So I know these
techniques work.
Fans can be bought cheaply at garage sales and discount stores.
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The use of water in front of a fan really makes a difference, too!
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