how to stay cool in the summer with no AC

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Bigfoot

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This is really worrying me since I live in Houston and it is gawd awful freakin hot in the summers. AN AC unit burns too much power for a solar generator and I really cant use a gas generator because of the noise. Living in an apartment has is disadvantages for sure.

A frozen gallon of water blown on us with a fan is my best idea so far. Any others?


ANy ideas on what the best way to cool down is?
 
You can make a cool room, like we did, as a last resort. It can be the largest bedroom or a family room. You could even have more than one. Put in a unit like this than runs on less than 500 watts and very efficient.

PIONEER Air Conditioner WYS009AMFI22RL Wall Mount Ductless Inverter+ Mini Split Heat Pump, 9000 BTU-110/120V
This will run on a sir generator or solar system of just 500 watts

Or there are hybred units that will run on both DC and AC power.
 
Have you tried this?
84650576.jpg
 
Try cycling well water through a small aluminum radiator with a small fan. Returning the water back to the water table at a different location . By returning the water back to the same level, you don't expend the energy of lifting water as long as you have no leaks in your system. Water temps around here are 68 degrees and the water table is around 20 ft. I ran a test and it was 94 degrees incoming air and 72 degrees outflowing air with one pass through it . It was pulling 78 to 90 watts after the pump was primed. It was running on a small squirrel cage off a gas sniffer out of a central heater unit. I imagine you can cool or heat a small well insulated house for the price of leaving a light on. Let me know how it works for you if you do it. You could test it just by pumping some well water up and flowing it through your radiator. I don't have the tools to rate BTUs, it was just an experiment, but impressive results.
 
In parts of the Western USA people use evaporative coolers. Usually, they are mounted on top of the house or on the side or in a window like an air conditioner. They use only a tiny fraction of the energy an air conditioner uses. The components which use energy are a water pump and a fan. There is no compressor like an air conditioner has. But they work best in a dry climate or on dry days. They also work best at temperatures below 105 F. We just had two days of 106F and the cooler, we call them swamp coolers, kept the house between 70-75 degrees F. They work even better at slight elevation where the air is even dryer.

These evaporative coolers are also made as portable coolers. No vent is necessary as with a portable air conditioner. Both the swamp cooler and a small portable air conditioner are used here--I have one of each.

Here are some portable swamp coolers which you can just fill with water and plug into house current.
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Heating...ers-Portable-Evaporative-Coolers/N-5yc1vZc4kl
 
In parts of the Western USA people use evaporative coolers. Usually, they are mounted on top of the house or on the side or in a window like an air conditioner. They use only a tiny fraction of the energy an air conditioner uses. The components which use energy are a water pump and a fan. There is no compressor like an air conditioner has. But they work best in a dry climate or on dry days. They also work best at temperatures below 105 F. We just had two days of 106F and the cooler, we call them swamp coolers, kept the house between 70-75 degrees F. They work even better at slight elevation where the air is even dryer.

These evaporative coolers are also made as portable coolers. No vent is necessary as with a portable air conditioner. Both the swamp cooler and a small portable air conditioner are used here--I have one of each.

Here are some portable swamp coolers which you can just fill with water and plug into house current.
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Heating...ers-Portable-Evaporative-Coolers/N-5yc1vZc4kl


This is I believe what I will have to do since I live in an apt and do not have a well. I have been looking at these units and was wondering how well they really cool a room and if you had 105 temps and it cooled it down to 75 degrees then this is exactly what I need. Thanks for the info. Any other advice I will gladly take it. Thanks
 
I solved the problem by moving to the mountains. We normally get a week to 10 days above 90 degs. Even so I installed a central AC unit with a heat pump, all run off solar. Our bedroom and living room have ceiling fans too. Usually thats all we need.
Must be nice! I would love to move away from this city. Get away from the summer heat although I love our winters. My wife thinks she has to be near a dr and hospitals as we get older but I keep telling her living in this city is why we have to go to hospitals. Get away in the country and clean air with clean living means no more doctors. She didnt fall for it but Im still trying
 
Evap coolers or swamp coolers work really well in dry climates, like New Mexico. Not so much in humid climates.
Some things we do around here....outside heavy work is done at O dark 30. Resting is done in the heat of the afternoon. I also learned from my favorite cousin to soak my skirt slip in water and put it back on.
Drink more water, and less soda pop. If you are doing outside work, work in the shade, never in the sun.
 
This is I believe what I will have to do since I live in an apt and do not have a well. I have been looking at these units and was wondering how well they really cool a room and if you had 105 temps and it cooled it down to 75 degrees then this is exactly what I need. Thanks for the info. Any other advice I will gladly take it. Thanks

That was a full sized, roof mounted swamp cooler. The portables are only going to cool one medium sized room at best but you can roll them around and into which ever room you are using---like a bedroom at night.

Also look into the portable air conditioners. I have one as I mentioned. They come with a hose to exhaust heat out the window and a window adapter to do that BUT mine takes 1150 watts which means you will need a larger-than-portable (a roll around) generator.
 
you know a number of years ago my central AC unit died right at the beginning of summer and at that time I did not have the money to replace it so I went with fans and until August rolled around it wasn't to bad and it was a blistering hot August, I bought a window AC unit and waited for the bill to see how bad it was,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, the cost between the fans and the AC was a lousy $10 a month,,,, I no longer worry about the cost of having AC,,,,, we all piss away money every month cut out some of the crap and be comfortable
 
In parts of the Western USA people use evaporative coolers. Usually, they are mounted on top of the house or on the side or in a window like an air conditioner. They use only a tiny fraction of the energy an air conditioner uses. The components which use energy are a water pump and a fan. There is no compressor like an air conditioner has. But they work best in a dry climate or on dry days. They also work best at temperatures below 105 F. We just had two days of 106F and the cooler, we call them swamp coolers, kept the house between 70-75 degrees F. They work even better at slight elevation where the air is even dryer.

These evaporative coolers are also made as portable coolers. No vent is necessary as with a portable air conditioner. Both the swamp cooler and a small portable air conditioner are used here--I have one of each.

Here are some portable swamp coolers which you can just fill with water and plug into house current.
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Heating...ers-Portable-Evaporative-Coolers/N-5yc1vZc4kl
I live in Colorado and have an evaporative cooler, also known as a swamp cooler. Everyone on my street has one. It works really well for keeping the house cool on hot days. A swamp cooler is very easy to service and maintain. The components include a metal shell, pads for water distribution, pump, water distribution tubes, motor, turbine fan. The turbine fan moves lots of air and puts moisture into the air coming through wet pads that are on the sides of the vented shell. That air, coming in, has to be able to have a place to exit. A window that is opened a little works for the exit. Opening the front door with all the pressure from the cooler has a noticeable difference.

I also have a window AC which I rarely use. I have debated getting AC for the whole house, but the cost of running that would be so much more expensive than running the swamp cooler. Swamp cooler is running a fan and a trickle of water.
 
Here in South Texas, I know how important it is to stay cool during the summer months. I try to do all my outside work when the sun comes out at 6ish right now until it just gets too hot during the day. Then again when the sun starts going down around 6pm until sun goes down. When we had hurricanes that wiped out our electric system, we installed a window unit a/c that a generator hooked up to would run in the bedroom. Just to cool off. In the main room we would run fans. Todays temps got up to feel like 105 but yet our actual temp was 90 something. Humidity is a BIG factor in our world. We recently installed new windows where you can open both the top and bottom. It helps. . . Pulls the cool air in at the bottom, and hot air out the top.
 

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