apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Our neighbor puts a fan outside and facing his open window. I thought that was an interesting approach. As you mentioned, the outside temp needs to be cooler than the interior temp to make a difference.

I like oscillating fans too. We have a vintage Eskimo fan oscillating right now.

I have a vintage eskimo too! Best $5 I ever spent.

I have a box fan in one window, an overhead then another oscillating one as well.

I have cut pieces of mylar bubblepack to fit in my east and west facing windows, neither of which are shaded. I do use fans at night to move the cooler air into the house, and though the mylar looks "wierd", it makes about a 10 degree difference in the inside temperature. When I was a child we didn't have AC either, and kept the house really darkened all day to keep out the heat.

I agree with fjorlief about keeping the house dark; my parents do this and it seem to make a big difference. Also, the way your house is aligned to the sun can make some rooms cooler than others. My parents' house has a large garage in the front which seem to take the bulk of the sun's rays and their house is always much cooler than mine; my house has the living room and some bedrooms that take the brunt of the sunshine and can be very uncomfortable during these heatwaves.

I've been using fans facing out to pull in cooler air. Even during the day. I love my east and south facing windows, but MAN it gets hot, even with the shades drawn. All I can figure is that the walls must heat up and, this being the Bay and all, the insulation is sub-par.

My other solution, at least for today, was to go out and explore Muir Woods! It was lovely and cool under all those trees this morning.

And is it just me or is it humid here lately?

Keeping a room dark, ie. not letting light in is a good tip and this can be achieved with blackout roller blinds.

15 years in Tucson ...

With humidity under 40% (listed as 22% on Wunderground), use evaporative cooling:
- hang wet sheets in the windows on the up-wind side of the house or in front of fans.
- spritz bed linens or damp the top sheets with water
- sleep on the floor, not near the ceiling
- Non-drought conditions -- hose down the hot side of the house after sunset to cool it quickly

Appliances
- Avoid using incandescant or halogen lights at all.
- Keep the frig closed as much as possible: use a cooler for drinks, fruit and veggies
- Don't cook - barbecue, get cooked dishes from the store, eat cold food
- Run the dishwasher or clothes washer between midnight-6am.
- Use someone else's dryer - hang wet laundry in your windows for evaporative cooling

Shade the sunward side of the building outside, especially windows - bamboo shades, car shades, doubleed sets of sheets - light one outside, dark one inside.

I love love that vintage fan.