What are your advices to cool homes without AC ?
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Only if you use a better working fluid and add compression and expansion steps, but a long pipe in a ditch filled with water isn't what I would call AC quite yet.
wrote on last edited by [email protected]Aren't there AC systems that just evapourate water from municipal supplies to the atmosphere?
I mean, yes, I'd agree that blowing air over a standing water body isn't AC, but we're getting close.
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Painting your house a lighter color. Can’t say how effective but makes sense intuitively.
Probably makes a big difference. I just measured my patio, grass and driveway temps today with an infrared themometer. Grass was 109, patio was 123, and the blacktop was a whopping 148. My wife has been talking about using a cream or neutral gray finish on the driveway, and a 20 degree difference is definitely worth it.
Yep, it's a low-tech decision that'll pay dividends. Same reason I'd opt for a white or lighter colored car if it's going to be parked outside.
Should've also mentioned roofing shingles as well. See a lot of houses with dark roofs just soaking up sunlight.
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Hi there, time to share ways to keep your home cool during hot times
So ok, usual ways I use:
- open everything during night
- close everything during day
- external sheets on windows without shutters
- some curtains to prevent heat from going upstairs
I was also wondering if plants could also help inside, any ideas ?
Share your advices !
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Hi there, time to share ways to keep your home cool during hot times
So ok, usual ways I use:
- open everything during night
- close everything during day
- external sheets on windows without shutters
- some curtains to prevent heat from going upstairs
I was also wondering if plants could also help inside, any ideas ?
Share your advices !
wrote on last edited by [email protected]Close on the sunny side during the day. If the air on the shadow side is cooler, less humid or same as inside, open that side. If your home is more humid or hot than the sunny side, close it just enough to prevent sun ray for entering.
If the heat is not also damp, put wet clothes next to windows or fan for natural refreshment. You can also spray water on your curtain.
Wear natural fiber, coton or lint. Loose clothes, that does cover you body. This way, the evaporation of sweat cools you down. You will also smell much less than if you are wearing synthetic fibers.
Wash your feet, your face, your forarm with water regularly. Do not use cold water, room-temperature or fresh is better but go all the way to the articulation (ankle, elbow), wash inside and outside and let the water dry on you.
Drink small amount of water regularly. Once again not cold.
Keep your head cover when you expose yourself to the sun. When you get home change out of your clothes that were heated by the sun.
Do not over exercice.
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Lose weight. I'm totally serious. Thin people have much higher natural tolerance for heat.
It's no coincidence that so many developed countries have become addicted to AC. The fact is that most people there are now overweight and in many (USA most obviously) over 40% are literally obese. Conversely, AC is much less common in places like France and Japan, and it's not just because they're too cheap.
If you want to stay cool in a heatwave, it helps not to be wearing a blubber overcoat that you can't remove.
I gain weight this winter. I have such a trouble cooling down the part of my body that gain the weight. It is hard...
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How is losing weight going to help right now? They can hardly lose enough weight in time for the next heatwave.
Or maybe they're in the menopause.
Or maybe it's 50C out.
Or maybe they're on one of the plethora of medications that causes heat intolerance.
Or maybe they're elderly.
AC is horrifically expensive (energy bills) and terrible for the environment, by the way. People aren't cheap, they can't afford it.
I found it good advice. We don't know every detail about OP life. Of course, some example won't apply but that's fine.
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Aren't there AC systems that just evapourate water from municipal supplies to the atmosphere?
I mean, yes, I'd agree that blowing air over a standing water body isn't AC, but we're getting close.
I think on a purely technical note, Air Conditioning goes beyond just cooling the air and involves reduction of humidity. Personally, I wouldn't consider it AC because you'd have to keep refilling the evaporator resivor, instead of just powering the device, but that is a nitpicky item that isn't technically a requirement.
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My office in Southern Germany doesn't have AC, even though it should. It's the hottest part of Germany.
Give it a couple of years and a few more heatwaves! This is the insidious problem with heatwaves, as I see it. Tolerance for heat and cold is in large part cultural - go to Portugal in winter to see how tolerant people can be of cold indoor temperatures. But with every new 3-day heatwave, Europeans are going to rush out to buy AC units to escape the immediate misery. Next thing we know the continent will be like the US, where it's just unacceptable for indoor temperature to be outside the 19-23C range. And mass AC is just a climate disaster. That's my worry.
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Hi there, time to share ways to keep your home cool during hot times
So ok, usual ways I use:
- open everything during night
- close everything during day
- external sheets on windows without shutters
- some curtains to prevent heat from going upstairs
I was also wondering if plants could also help inside, any ideas ?
Share your advices !
Sleep outside, if you have a space. Get a deck umbrella, a mosquito net and a cot and a sleeping bag (actually on super hot days I used to just sleep on a towel). It's so much cooler than trying to get by indoors with no AC, even with fans. And it's rather pleasant.
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Hi there, time to share ways to keep your home cool during hot times
So ok, usual ways I use:
- open everything during night
- close everything during day
- external sheets on windows without shutters
- some curtains to prevent heat from going upstairs
I was also wondering if plants could also help inside, any ideas ?
Share your advices !
Surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet, but awnings. Glass is a superb thermal conductor. Not even the best curtain in the world would prevent air getting hot through the window if the sun is hitting it directly. An awning is meant to shade the window glass, preventing heating way more than a curtain alone.
Also, if the home has several levels, open the upper floor windows more than the lower ones. Hot air expands and raises. If it has somewhere to escape it will keep the house cool and the windows will draw in wind. Wind moves faster at higher altitudes. That's why attic fans are so effective.
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Hi there, time to share ways to keep your home cool during hot times
So ok, usual ways I use:
- open everything during night
- close everything during day
- external sheets on windows without shutters
- some curtains to prevent heat from going upstairs
I was also wondering if plants could also help inside, any ideas ?
Share your advices !
Probably not exactly the answer you're looking for.
If you have access to sun and are tech savvy, hop on Facebook market place or equivalent. You can probably get very cheap used solar panels that still have plenty of output. Rig up a AC unit in one room and cool just it.
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Hi there, time to share ways to keep your home cool during hot times
So ok, usual ways I use:
- open everything during night
- close everything during day
- external sheets on windows without shutters
- some curtains to prevent heat from going upstairs
I was also wondering if plants could also help inside, any ideas ?
Share your advices !
Pretty good (but long) answer with historic solutions here : https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2025/06/dressing-and-undressing-the-home/
My short answer : do not let the sunshine in (stores, awnings, shutters), let it flow let it go (air), I like big walls and I cannot lie
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Hi there, time to share ways to keep your home cool during hot times
So ok, usual ways I use:
- open everything during night
- close everything during day
- external sheets on windows without shutters
- some curtains to prevent heat from going upstairs
I was also wondering if plants could also help inside, any ideas ?
Share your advices !
Not really a thing you can just do, but thick walls. I live in an old house with double layered exterior brick walls. It has such a massive impact that sometimes I wear a vest inside, while it's heatstroke temperatures outside.
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Hi there, time to share ways to keep your home cool during hot times
So ok, usual ways I use:
- open everything during night
- close everything during day
- external sheets on windows without shutters
- some curtains to prevent heat from going upstairs
I was also wondering if plants could also help inside, any ideas ?
Share your advices !
Open upstairs windows after 8-9 PM to let cool air in, blackout blinds work really well too
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Hi there, time to share ways to keep your home cool during hot times
So ok, usual ways I use:
- open everything during night
- close everything during day
- external sheets on windows without shutters
- some curtains to prevent heat from going upstairs
I was also wondering if plants could also help inside, any ideas ?
Share your advices !
If your roof is not shaded by trees, a light colored roof makes a huge difference. This can be accomplished a number of ways. Replacing your roofing material with a lighter color is ideal but expensive. Coating it with something like Henry Tropi-cool is durable but the product is also a little pricey. The absolute budget way to do this on an asphalt shingled roof is with a slurry of masonry lime. I've experimented with all of these methods and the results are dramatic. In my case the coating paid for itself within one season and made the house noticeably more comfortable.
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Hi there, time to share ways to keep your home cool during hot times
So ok, usual ways I use:
- open everything during night
- close everything during day
- external sheets on windows without shutters
- some curtains to prevent heat from going upstairs
I was also wondering if plants could also help inside, any ideas ?
Share your advices !
Live somewhere it doesn't get hot.
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Lose weight. I'm totally serious. Thin people have much higher natural tolerance for heat.
It's no coincidence that so many developed countries have become addicted to AC. The fact is that most people there are now overweight and in many (USA most obviously) over 40% are literally obese. Conversely, AC is much less common in places like France and Japan, and it's not just because they're too cheap.
If you want to stay cool in a heatwave, it helps not to be wearing a blubber overcoat that you can't remove.
This may explain why I'm wearing a hoodie in the office in late June while most everybody else is comfortable or still hot.
But, I also do lots of outdoors stuff and acclimate to heat up to a point.
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Open upstairs windows after 8-9 PM to let cool air in, blackout blinds work really well too
wrote on last edited by [email protected]This works really well. I also open the downstairs windows. The hot air going up and out creates a draft effect, sucking in cold air from the downstairs windows.
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Hi there, time to share ways to keep your home cool during hot times
So ok, usual ways I use:
- open everything during night
- close everything during day
- external sheets on windows without shutters
- some curtains to prevent heat from going upstairs
I was also wondering if plants could also help inside, any ideas ?
Share your advices !
My method is "live in Alaska."
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Pretty good (but long) answer with historic solutions here : https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2025/06/dressing-and-undressing-the-home/
My short answer : do not let the sunshine in (stores, awnings, shutters), let it flow let it go (air), I like big walls and I cannot lie
Came here to point to this.
Also, if outside noise is preventing one from keeping the windows open over night, get custom-fitted silicone earplugs.
