I use the wet sheet trick and it works great for atlanta weather....how i wish i dint have carpets in the house... :(...it actually pumps up the heat..and keeping the house clutter free gives a visual calm and peace...having everythign in light shades of yellow and green (bedsheets, pillow ccovers) brings in a "cool" tinge to the house

I learned this trick sleeping upstairs at my grandparents it got VERY hot at night). A damp washcloth (cool water) across the forehead and inside of the wrists works wonders.

Move to San Francisco!

The plant thing isn't just a visual trick, plants breath air, their exhalation acts like a tiny air conditioner. They push slightly cooler air out and helping it circulate in your house. (Think how much cooler it feels when you sit in the grass outside)
Also if you can, open a window on either side of the house (or in my case apartment) the air will push in one window and out the other like a wind tunnel, if you can place a fan at one end to push air out, and a fan at one end to pull air in that can help too.
Go for loose fitting natural fibers. Silk and cotton absorb the sweat from your body and pull it away from you. Wearing around a skimpy spandex tank might seem like a cool idea, but try a loose cotton t-shirt instead.

Same as belmontmedina, in August, Ottawa can get pretty warm (for Ottawa, at least...) so when trying to sleep on a hot night, a damp washcloth with cold water, placed on your stomach (yes the first 2 seconds you do squeel and scream but it keeps you cool, I promise).

This one sounds a little obscure - put your sheets in the freezer, and remake your bed right before you go to sleep. The sheets are both crisp and cool, and it works pretty well.

Eating or drinking cooling herbs and foods: Cuccumbers, Turmeric, Mint, etc. Obviously staying hydrated with lots of water helps too.

Keep some dampened washcloths, in a zipper-style bag or container, in the freezer. Using one to wipe your face and wearing it on the back of your neck makes a big difference.

Set a fan in front of a BLOCK of ice - it lasts longer! When the weather starts warming up I store 2 or 3 blocks in my freezer just for this purpose.

As soon as the sun starts going down, open windows on opposite sides of your home, and get the fans going. Keeping the air moving, during a hot spell, seems to make the house feel up to 10F cooler.

Figure out what liquid works better for you - ice cold (lemonade, iced tea) or room temperature - and stay hydrated.

If you have hair that's long enough, braid it into two french braids or corn rows. This works really well if you do it right after washing it, while it's still wet. The water evaporates and cools off the scalp.

Do a load of laundry (wash only) and take out a loose fitting shirt. Put it on while it's wet and sit in front of a fan. I've done this when I've had to drive my car without A/C on very hot days.

I guess my ideas work better in low humidity areas.

Please also realize that air-conditioning can be a life-saver for some people. We are having a heat wave here in Houston. We are seeing highs every day near or above 100. With the heat index factored in, it was 114 degrees one day recently. I keep checking the weather and there is no end in sight.

High summer temperatures are a real danger. This is from the National Weather Service:
"Heat kills by taxing the human body beyond its abilities. In a normal year, about 175 Americans succumb to the demands of summer heat. Among the large continental family of natural hazards, only the cold of winter-not lightning, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, or earthquakes-takes a greater toll. In the 40-year period from 1936 through 1975, nearly 20,000 people were killed in the United States by the effects of heat and solar radiation. In the disastrous heat wave of 1980, more than 1,250 people died."

"Sweating, by itself, does nothing to cool the body, unless the water is removed by evaporation, and high relative humidity retards evaporation." Humidity is Houston's middle name!

I've been in someone's house that was trying the fan blowing over ice trick in lieu of a/c. That doesn't cut it in a Texas summer. I was sick and feverish for two days afterwards.

So, please stay safe!

I've heard circus workers used to wrap ice cubes in handkerchiefs and tie them around their wrists.

I just read (online) about a man in Japan that came up with plants keeping the air clean and cooler. I found it on an eco site . He place LOTS of plants inside a new office building .
There is a list of what plants work the best . But this office building is not using any A/c other than plants.So I have been buying them as I can afford them..I am Texas. it is never cool here . ever- never ever - did I mention never ever cool.
Maj .. an oh I can't wait to go home next year for a highschool renunion...SAN FRANCISCO YAHHHHHOOOOOO

"Please also realize that air-conditioning can be a life-saver for some people. We are having a heat wave here in Houston. We are seeing highs every day near or above 100. With the heat index factored in, it was 114 degrees one day recently. I keep checking the weather and there is no end in sight."

Oh puh-lease. I live in Australia, where we have weeks like that in summer, and we do just fine without AC.

There are plenty of ways to stay cool and safe without destroying the planet just because you want it to be cool inside.

don't forget hiding in the basment. Being underground, our basment is always a lot cooler and much more tolerable than the rest of out house.

Let's just make the assumption that these tips are for people with reasonable health who want to cut back on the AC use or like me don't own one. Yes, there are people who need an AC for health reasons. I'd never suggest my 85 year old grandmother give up her AC, or my friend with severe asthma. However most people can do without or reduce how much they use the AC (saving it for those 100 degree days and not when it's 85 degrees).

I put a car windshield reflector between my window and my closed blinds during the day in the summer. Worked like a dream.

I live in Sacramento, CA, where we get 110 F weeks, and this keeps the apartment liveable without AC, along with keeping the windows closed during the day and open at night.

Also, I have pet rabbits and keep them cool in the summer with frozen bottles of water and fans. Pets are often more susceptible to heat stress than healthy humans.

If you want to circulate air through the house, one particular to keep in mind is to pull air in from the cool side of the building and push it out the hot side, because you don't want to pull in hot air.

For example, I (luckily) have a corner apartment. So I have box fans to pull air in on the east side and push the air out on the south side. The air on the east side is cooler because the sun isn't hitting that wall, and the air is shaded by the building.

We live in Northern IL, where it doesn't get up past 100F, but I just wanted to note that my 85 year old grandma has never had A/C, nor does she want it. She hates it, give her headaches, and she's never had heatstroke. She uses fans and some of these other tricks to keep herself cool.

We only use A/C in my husband's home office b/c he's a software engineer and it's horrible for the machines to keep them at 80F or higher.

Only a few people have mentioned how dry heat vs. humid heat factors into their decision. I'm usually quite comfortable in dry heat, but on a muggy day, I find it difficult to breathe and I'm unable to sleep without A/C.

And regardless of my opinion in the matter, responding to someone's sincere comment on how this has affected their own health with "oh puh-lease" just makes you sound rude and nasty. Why not keep your dissent respectful?

Akay I feel the same way. I'm an AZ girl and I can handle the 128 F heat no problem. It's a dry heat though and doesn't feel too awful. Muggy swamp heat though? Eww. You sweat buckets and feel disgusting.

For me, we're stripping the paint off windows so we can open them all. My house cools off so much better when the windows are open (I'm in MO). We eat a lot of cool things like iced tea or water and Popsicle.

The best thing that works for me is sleeping with a frozen 2 liter of water in a pillow case. We call them "Ice Babies". Keeping something cold close to your chest helps ward off the heat as opposed to something on your extremities, which then gets reheated at the center of your body. This works really well for two people sleeping together. I live in Seattle and my roomie came up with it during the record heat last year.

Sit with your feet in two buckets of cold water. Apparently this is very common in the part of rural China where a friend of mine taught. I have done if for a few years and it works very well.

Water, Water, Water and a fan pointed directly on you! My husband and I have not used a A/C for 2 years (in NYC) and we are fine. Just take a shower at night and sleep in cotton clothing and you should be fine.

as of now my apt is a nice 75, while it's been 90 and humid in st louis. i told myself i'd leave the ac off till june (or longer). the one thing i will not do is leave my windows open when i go to work or when i'm sleeping. living along and in the city i just don't think it's a good idea. i will hold off on the ac and not set it below 80 (which is the coolest it will ever be set at) as long as possible, but i just don't feel safe sleeping with open window on the first floor.

I keep peppermint oil on hand and apply it to the neck, wrists, back of knees. On very hot days, applying a thin layer before exiting the shower to air dry also works WONDERS for up to an hour or two. I've even gotten chills from it. Do take care to avoid the uh ... nether regions, unless you like that sort of sensation. (Can't say you weren't warned...)

Also, windows that are shaded (north facing is best) can be left open to draw air IN, while sun exposed (south, east, west) windows should be draped entirely with one (I prefer east, after the morning heat has passed) partially cracked {{{slightly}}} and circulate air thusly- to force hot air toward that cracked window. I speak from experience having lived in extremely hot climates and never once using an actual air conditioner.

Seriously though- unless you are hyper sensitive, peppermint oil is one fierce defense.

Cold showers are the only thing that truly makes me feel better (I get really effected by the heat). It's too jarring to get into an ice cold shower, but start with cool water, and slowly lower the temperature until it's freezing. Stay in for about 15 minutes and sit in front of a fan after you get out, and you can keep cool for a couple of hours.

I put water bottles in the freezer until they are solid and then they still cold for a few hours while you're out, running errands, at the park/beach etc.

I do the same thing with a spritzer bottle and spray myself every few minutes with cold water. Ahhhh pleasure.

It's all about water.
Drink water. Play in water. Drink more water.

Iced tea and lemonade are great for bbqs, but when it comes to those 100 days, keeping hydrated is most important. You can't sweat if you don't have water to spare in your body so drink up! Also skip caffiene & alcohol which speed up dehydration.

Go swimming, play in some sprinklers, fill up the tub & soak.

Also, acclimate yourself to the climate. In Idaho, we acclimate more for cold than heat, but the concepts work just as well. If you wear your biggest coat & lots of layers when it's 32, what will you do when the expected high is 4? For heat, if you start rockin' your bikini to mow the lawn at 85 in June, what will you wear to the Johnson's BBQ in the middle of July? :/

if you keep a spray bottle of water around you can put a few drops of tea tree oil in it and it feels 10 times colder, and its good for your skin!!

We keep those microwavable rice wraps in the freezer and then pull them out to use as cooling packs. Put it on your neck or chest until it warms up and then just pop it back in the freezer.

Also, use the toaster oven instead of the bigger appliances when you have to heat/cook something. But if you just eat fresh fruits and veggies you can go a LONG time without cooking anything. ;)

Drink water! Lots and lots of water.

Sorry, Houston 100 degrees with humidity ranging from 70-80%, plus with the house trapping the heat, and nearly no wind, a cool sheet over the window won't cut it.

Just install double paned windows, a good air-conditioner (if your budget allows), and don't crank it up unless you really need it and turn it off at night.

And as far as fans, chances are if you are running them 24/7, one heavy duty one in every room of the house (what we would need here) then you are not saving electricity anyway.

I am originally from the south of Ukraine and we don't have air conditioners and people do just fine. But it is a humidity that makes the difference.

Then again if I lived in the backwoods of Louisiana, and I didn't have to look business professional coming in to work, and didn't have allergies to mosquitoes and bees...then psh I wouldn't care that much.

@Doctrine, (a) that article says the cause of the deaths is not known, and (b) people die in extreme heat because they do not know how to stay cool and safe, not because they need airconditioners. They die because they don't do the simple things like putting their feet in a bucket of cold water, taking a cool shower, and staying hydrated, that we can all do to keep ourselves cool without aircon.

It's exactly like how people claim they "need" SUVs to cart the kids around the city. It's nonsense.

@mariyaodessa, even if you have a 25 room house and a ceiling fan on in every room, which would be a pretty silly thing to do as they don't cool unless you're actually in the room, because they cool you not the air, you're still probably using less than one air conditioner.

http://www.absak.com/library/power-consumption-table

The building I live in is a very old house turned apartments. I have the pleasure of living in the attic. Lots of space, great view, and terribly hot! We would rather be outside in the 90 degree humid weather than in our stuffy apartment with teeny windows.

We just put a portable AC in our bedroom and used a shower rod and a curtain to block off the hallway. Even on the lowest setting the cool are is able to snake it's way into our living room.

there are things called "air coolers" that work great as long as it doesn't get over 90 inside and its basically just a fancy fan that blows across ice and uses a very small fraction of the electric an ac does.

I live in Florida, have all my life. The only time I had an a/c unit was a couple years back in the dorm. Wanna know how to beat the heat?

Acclimate your bloody self.

Drink plenty of water, eat plenty of light foods, wear light weight light colored clothing, keep something moist and cool on your head at all time, wear less clothing, and get out and sweat. Spend more time outdoors in the shade, or the sun if you take care of yourself, drink plenty of water, and have plenty of air flow.

Sedentary air, dead air; sedentary person, dead person.

And yes, I know the value of an a/c unit. Those of you who complain about not having any other option than one, bully for you. Do what you have to do to endure. But again, the key is less to do with the amount of refrigerant cooled air and more the actual fact that air is moving.

It sounds crazy, but I actually find that taking a very HOT shower before bed is very helpful in the summertime. My body is tricked into cooling down, which makes falling asleep in the heat easier.

I really dislike the cold, dry air that's emitted from A/Cs, and I don't mind sweating (most of the time).

Also, HATS when you're out and about are SO important. If your face, head, and ears are shaded you won't mind the sun so much. And a Panama hat looks good on everyone. =)

I'm from cape town south africa, with many 40 degree days in February (centigrade) which I find unbearable. I have picked up the most amazing tips for fighting the heat on this apartment therapy site, and wanted to add my own. My apartment I suspect, from the temperature of the ceiling when I climb up and touch it, has no insulation between me and the geyser and the hot roof catching the sun and radiating it all night (brown ceramic tiles). I sympathize with those who need aircon. I avoid it myself but by leaving my apartment from 1-7 pm, and sit in a local cafe or in the university labs that have aircon, doing my work on the computer. Its pretty inconvenient, but only for two months of the year. I read that local low cost housing is using carpet underfelt in the roof (here its made of a mix of cotton and some wool waste), its cheap here. In Europe cotton is one of the most preferred eco-insulators and its more efficient than glass wool ! They are making sheep wool insulation that works brilliantly for sound and thermal insulation in china these days (we export most of our wool waste to china), its 20 cm thick, fire retardant, doesn't change properties if wet, etc. I think its the perfect material, I just can't afford to import some, but it must be available in the U.S. and Australia. I have tried everything on this site, spritzers, showers, etc. and what works for me is avoidance of my apartment, as mentioned, the fan, and going outside to sit on the grass which feels cold to the touch in the evenings. nothing is as cooling as vegetation ! the spritzing doesn't work, it cools but it gets in the way of working... I'm definitely going to try the damp sheet on the window, feet in cold water bucket and the 'cold water bottle' in bed.. all brilliant ideas...but without insulation above me its all just band aid !!!

I'm from cape town south africa, with many 40 degree days in February (centigrade) which I find unbearable. I have picked up the most amazing tips for fighting the heat on this apartment therapy site, and wanted to add my own. My apartment I suspect, from the temperature of the ceiling when I climb up and touch it, has no insulation between me and the geyser and the hot roof catching the sun and radiating it all night (brown ceramic tiles). I sympathize with those who need aircon. I avoid it myself but by leaving my apartment from 1-7 pm, and sit in a local cafe or in the university labs that have aircon, doing my work on the computer. Its pretty inconvenient, but only for two months of the year. I read that local low cost housing is using carpet underfelt in the roof (here its made of a mix of cotton and some wool waste), its cheap here. In Europe cotton is one of the most preferred eco-insulators and its more efficient than glass wool ! They are making sheep wool insulation that works brilliantly for sound and thermal insulation in china these days (we export most of our wool waste to china), its 20 cm thick, fire retardant, doesn't change properties if wet, etc. I think its the perfect material, I just can't afford to import some, but it must be available in the U.S. and Australia. I have tried everything on this site, spritzers, showers, etc. and what works for me is avoidance of my apartment, as mentioned, the fan, and going outside to sit on the grass which feels cold to the touch in the evenings. nothing is as cooling as vegetation ! the spritzing doesn't work, it cools but it gets in the way of working... I'm definitely going to try the damp sheet on the window, feet in cold water bucket and the 'cold water bottle' in bed.. all brilliant ideas...but without insulation above me its all just band aid !!!

take a look at this if you want to identify the wool insulation..its also good for sound insulation...actually designed for that purpose
http://madeinchina.tradekey.com/sheep-wool-insulation-machine.htm

take a look at this if you want to identify the wool insulation..its also good for sound insulation...actually designed for that purpose
http://madeinchina.tradekey.com/sheep-wool-insulation-machine.htm