apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We landed in London in time for the "Hottest day in recorded history in the city" and after a few airless trips on the underground, I bought a hand fan from a street vendor and it made ALL the difference that trip!
So, it's not as good an an electric in a hot apartment...but it's still not too bad!

I think fans blowing OUT of the apt (esp blowing out of the kitchen window) instead of just into the apt is really key. I find it so frustrating to be at a friend's place when they set up the fans so that they all blow in from the outside. We lived in Brooklyn for years without an AC. Our apartment was like a windtunnel.

Also I really like cucumber water. It's really refreshing.

I carry a hand-fan with me wherever I go. It makes a huge difference when I'm standing on the platform or at the bus station. Just the movement of the air is enough to get rid of that "I'm covered in warm wet wipes" feeling.

I rarely use it at home, though...my electric fan is just so much easier on my forearms. :)

ceiling fan, ceiling fan, ceiling fan...what would I do without it?

recipe for a cool night's sleep:

1. line your bed with towels
2. aim electric fan at bed
3. hop in cold shower
4. throw naked, dripping wet self onto bed
5. goosebumps

Cara_in_Brooklyn is right.........aim your window fan OUTWARDS. It sucks air out of the apartment, and draws fresh air IN through the remaining windows.

This works especially well at night to draw the cooler air inside.

We had a MONSTER window fan when I was a kid (It's probably illegal now, lol). It took me forever to figure out how turning the fan OUT would make it blow IN all the windows.

Also, the author, SarahC claims that it rarely creeps above 90 degrees in Chicago......I know this summer isn't as hot as usual, but are you NEW in town?

Chicago has DEADLY heat, literally.

We used to live and sleep in the basement during the hot summers. We never had A/C

We have great sliding glass doors in the bedroom and the living room. I would love to rely on open doors and fans at night, but on the first floor, I don't feel safe.

:(

ohjodi - agreed. it hit, what, 85 monday? it mosdef gets above 90. give it 3 weeks.

seconding the blowing the fan OUT of the apartment - it's where my box fan resides in my kitchen window, blowing OUT!

I only turn on our one tiny AC unit when it's unbearable, but I would keep it on all the time if I had no conscience. We live in a tiny 1-bedroom that gets NO ventilation (south-facing, middle of the building with no cross-breeze...no breeze of any sort really) and we're up on the 4th floor. It's cooler outside most days than it is in our cracker box.

I do the cold showers, lots of ice water and fans most of the time, but we pay a pretty penny to have the luxury of AC. I intend on using it when necessary.

ROTFL! You think 85 is hot? In Houston, you're lucky if it's 85 when the sun comes up most of the year, and swampy humid too. My west-facing balcony's thermometer reads 105 afternoons from may to sept (at least). My AC is usually *set* to 85.

Anyway, I deal with it using ice water and lots of it. Easiest, cheapest thing you can do and it's good for you in other ways too. Conversely, hot tea, herbals, or hot water and lemon are good for warming up in the winter.

90 and high humidity in Boston this week. I detest ac (noisy, unnatural, sucks electricity) so I use a lot of the following to keep cool:

-loose, open clothes in cotton or linen - lets your body heat move away from your body.

-don't let your roommate bake cookies. even if he offers you some. You'd be surprised at how helpful this one is.

-one small fan pointed at the bed at night. Amazingly I have to turn it off at about 4am because I'm cold.

-cool shower before bed - cools your blood and washes away all the sweat from the day.

-on any windows that get direct sun - line your curtains with white, or use a pull shade during the day. This bounces the sunlight off rather than absorbing it.

-heat rises - if you have a two floor apartment put the outward facing fans up high to suck the cool air in from below.

-experiment opening and closing different windows. We found that by keeping some closed and some open we were able to maximize wind flow through the whole apartment.

-Iced coffee...this is almost as important as preventing your roommate from using the oven. Seriously.

Also, warm drinks (such as tea) are really good for making you feel cooler. Try it, it really works!

I live in Salt Lake City -- a mountain valley desert. It's normal for July to have 30 consecutive days over 100F. We've gotten a break this week with temps in the 90s.

My cool tricks include:

--keep the blinds/curtains drawn during the day
--go barefoot or wear sandals whenever/where ever possible
--wear sarongs
--warm tea (this is an ancient african and mid-east trick, BTW) and lots of room-temperature H20 (72-ish).
--crisp cotton sheets
--eat less (food increases metabolism and heats you up)

and my favorite tip from Norma Jean really truly works:

Keep some skivvies in the fridge (in a ziplock baggie). There's nothing quite like cold panties and t-shirt. You can do this at the office too, just store your knickers in the office fridge in a brown paper bag (for privacy) and change after everyone's back from lunch.

yikes! would never put my undies in the office fridge!!!