When I was younger my bedroom was in the unfinished upstairs of our cape cod style house. No heat in winter, no AC in summer, but I loved the privacy! On the hottest nights I would employ window fans, and a spray bottle, set to the finest mist. When I got hot, I'd spray myself with some cool water and let the air from the fan chill me.

My mother-in-law, who grew up in Houston TX---and without air-conditioning---sprinkles talcum powder on her sheets. She's had a/c for a long time now, but she still powders her sheets in the summertime.

I can say at least from personal experience, sleeping with no clothes on, as opposed to even just something skimpy actually makes me warmer at night. There's nothing right against your skin to wick away moisture. Even if my hubby takes his shirt off at night, I find I sleep warmer than if he doesn't.

If it's cooler outside at night than inside, I put my fan in the window to draw the cool air in. It's amazing how cold our bedroom gets and the gentle sound of the fan helps me to fall asleep more quickly!

like the "none at all" suggestion..lol

Put a block of ice (in a pan big enough to catch the melted volume of water) in front of the fan. Makeshift air conditioning!

I love sleeping nude, but when it's really hot I, too, need to put on the skimpiest something else I feel sticky and sweaty all night.

Great suggestions! We don't have a/c - we get so little of summer here in the Chicago area that I really don't want to miss a bit of it. That means a good few nights of whining about the heat, but I'd rather try to cool off than try to stay warm. Thanks!

Freeze a 2 liter bottle with water. Put in a pillow case and hold to your chest like a teddy. Cooling down the central core will cool down all extremities as a result. My roomie calls them "ice babies".

We like our house really cool (67-69). We recently had two solar attic fans installed. The past few days, we've noticed it is cooler in the house and the AC has been off the past 2-3 days. That should save on our light bill and makes the installation costs seem not so bad.

Fo immediate relief when you're first getting into bed, I occasional kept a couple pillow cases in the freezer. Slip it on just before crashing your head down, and it feels wonderful.

Having an extra pillow by the bedside in easy reach helps too, so that when the pillow eventually gets too hot, you can switch out to a nice, relatively cooler pillow.

Definitely wear clothing that wicks away sweat. You will feel better than going bare, which tends to trap icky warm pools of sweat between your limbs and your body.

I know this sounds odd but here i go....growing up i never had an air conditioner so we had to come up with ways to cool down. My number one way was always giving myself chills haha. i just use my finger tips and very slightly move them up and down my arms. within one minute you will get chills. Its usually good enough to let me fall asleep. Its been working since I was 4.

As someone who was born, raised, and still lives in Southeast Louisiana... I cannot imagine my life without air conditioning. The months of May - September are absolutely brutal. So I am thoroughly entertained reading all of these suggestions and imagining that people don't have A/C!! :O

Take a tip from when the cold-loving British were in hot India pre-a/c - use natural fabric curtains (linen, cotton), and leave the ends in a bucket of water. The water wicks up the fabric, and the breeze from the open window blows cool into the room. Doesn't help on still airless nights, but works a dreams with even a light breeze.

Opening East and West windows lets you take advantage of the world's natural AC.
A lot of older houses were built without vents in the attics and crawlspaces and sometimes contractors will cover up the soffit vents, trapping hot air inside. Venting will release the trapped hot air.

I highly recommend bamboo mats. They feel cool, definitely cooler than cotton. You may be able to find them thin bamboo mats specifically designed for sleeping in Chinatown. There are special ones for your pillow as well. I got through a few heat waves in an air conditioner-less, top floor walk-up apartment in NYC with a set my mom got for me from Hong Kong. Lifesaver. That, plus wet towels I kept in the refrigerator.

There's something that can boost the power of a shower -- using Dr. Bronner's peppermint liquid soap (specifically the liquid, not the bar). The liquid soap is LOADED with peppermint oil to the point that the menthol actually has a cooling effect on your skin, that lasts about a half hour and will help you drop off to sleep.

I've been known to dip my pjs into a sink full of cold water, wring them out, then put them on for bed while the fan is blowing directly on me!
I do like the bucket of water for the feet idea too.

Another good tip from the British in India: lots of gin and tonics! Just kidding: alcohol always heats me up, so my tip is no alcohol for or after dinner when it's those super hot 3 weeks of the year. (supposedly the gin and tonic was to combat malaria with the quinine). My other tip is security bars on the windows: without them, since we have ground floor windows, we wouldn't feel safe taking advantage of "nocturnal cooling."

We seal up the house in the morning (close windows and blinds/curtains) and then open wide at night and put fans in as many windows as we can to pull in the cool(er) night air.

come to san francisco - it's in the 50's.

I am in northern NJ. We have tall trees surrounding the house which provide a nice shade during summer time so my house is usually very cool in summer..so far, I only had to turn on the AC once.

Near Charlotte, NC - has been ultrahot & humid since late May. If I can manage to vent and blow out the day's hot air, and then suck in night time cool air, going without A/C might be possible. But when we get 95+ days with 90% humidity, no breezes, and night temps no lower than 80, fugeddaboudid. And I really despise dropping beads of sweat on my reading material!

I'm a big fan of wrapping an ice pack in a towel and putting it under the small of my back for a bit when I first go to bed. Then I'll keep it nearby during the night in case I need a quick cool down. Even though it melts throughout the night, it's still cold for at least 8 hours and definitely helps cut the heat.

For me the key is to have two windows with fans... one venting hot air out, and the other bringing cool air in.

Ideally, if you have double hung windows put the fan venting hot air out in the top of the window to pull out that rising heated air.

I've hung a cold, damp towel in front of the window in lieu of curtains -- it's quite nice!

I discovered the best trick last night. Goes with the washcloth thing. I wet a washrag, wrung it (mostly) out, then draped it in the freezer. Came back and got into my PJs, brushed my teeth, turned on the fan, then went to get the rag. It was nearly stiff and frozen already, but still retained water at the center. I ran it over my forehead and arms and it was freaking glorious.

Otherwise I just mist myself and turn the fan to face me in bed. I *need* to be under sheets after that, it gets so chilly!

Spray sheets (and self) with chilled Lavender water.

These suggestion are interesting, but I don't think they'll work in AZ right now.

The temp has ranged from 110-114 for the past week. Living without A/C is just not feasible.

Carly lol... love it!

I fill my hot water bottle with ice and cold water! Mmmm....

In Birmingham, AL, it starts getting hot in March and stays hot until end of November. I'll take the A/C. Kudos to those of you who can live without it! I'd love to have your electric bill in the summer.

When I was pregnant I used to climb in a tepid shower wearing my nightgown and get thoroughly soaked, then get into bed dripping wet with the fan blowing at me. Drastic measures for drastic times. It worked very well. On the worst nights, I'd get up in the middle of the night and stand in the shower again.

In less drastic times, don't forget to use a mattress pad with no man-made fibers, in addition to cotton or linen sheets.

I'm definitely looking into solar attic fans, though and the chilled lavendar water sounds wonderful, too.

The Humidity is what makes it unbearable down here.

Tuck a couple fla-vor-ice popsicles in bed with you. Sounds crazy but that's what I did in my college dorm with no AC. We used to carry them around, tuck them in tank tops, lay on them, and eventually when we got around to it, eat them. They were a life saver!

Agree with all the Southerners. Too hot to go without AC, especially when there are too many bugs to consider opening the windows (even if you have screens!) Even with AC set on about 72, an overhead fan is a necessary evil.

For me (no central air and I live in the South) its about sleeping nude and taking a cool shower before bed if its particular hot that night. That combined with a perfectly placed fan and I'm quite cool and find myself hugging blankets when I wake up. This has worked for me for 3 summer now :)

nwatrous I thought my friends were the only ones who put those in their sports bras! They work like a charm :)

I can't stand AC or even the noise of a window fan except on the hottest days.... I sleep under at least a sheet at all times, but in my skivvies if necessary. I keep the shades down in my room all the time (had to give up on potted plants in my bedroom, small sacrifice to save a few degrees every day) and vent the room out with a window fan for about an hour before I go to bed.

wrap a gel ice pak in a thin towel and apply it to your hotspots

put a fan or circulator on the floor near an open window and angle toward the ceiling or wall above your bead. the air stream bouncing off the wall will pass over you and create a sort of light current around you.

sateen sheets

voile cotton duvet (west elm's ethnic embroidered is lighter and cooler than any top sheet. period.)

modal jammies. so cool against the skin. (in fact, bring as much of this into your summer wardrobe as possible.)

We live sans air conditioning as well, and since our apartment is not capable of housing an attic fan, we use those double fan unites in our windows. During the cool nights, we use them to suck outside air in to cool everything down and then first thing in the morning all the fans get turned off and the curtains get closed to keep the cool air in and the sun's heat out. Now, since I can't live in darkness once I get home from work with all that nice summer sunshine to be had, I simply open the curtains and windows and switch the window fans so that one pulls in air from outside and the other pulls hot air out of the apartment. Repeat each night!

I second the comment above. The key isn't what you do at night, it is how you regulate the temperature all the time. Always shut up your apartment during the day and turn on ceiling fans (if you have them) to circulate air. Then at night, switch to window fans. If you mess it up you will have to wait til a 60 degree night to get things back to normal.

Ceiling fan (they do come with lights)

+ T-shirt & boxers fresh from the freezer (I'm with everyone who says sleeping nude makes it worse)

+ Single top sheet (I can't sleep with nothing on me)

+ Open windows

= Okay even in a heatwave

I grew up in Fresno, CA in an old farmhouse without AC--now totally unimaginable. I completely agree with the daytime clamp-down...that is the best way to keep the temp from spiking beyond what you can control with fans. Room darkening drapes or thermal shades really make a huge difference. Also, I am a big fan (ha!) of reversing the fans to move hot air out when inside temp is above outside temp. I also would suggest sleeping low...hot air rises, so getting as close to the floor as possible/comfortable makes a good bit of difference. Ideally--a hammock is the ultimate summer sleep vehicle, plenty of airflow--but not always an option inside!

Don't take a hot shower before bed, drink hot tea or alcohol. Also tinting the bedroom windows can make a big difference. I also have a larger (4ft) roof overhang which keeps the place cool.

I LOVE THE Artwork, where can I find it?

@ruffh20 -- in texas this is called a "swamp cooler" and will not only cause your room to be extremely humid, but could also cause mold. basically, it's a really bad idea (according to my older family members).

I have a couple of old plastic water bottles in the freezer 3/4 filled with water. When it's really warm I fill the remainder of the bottle with tap water and take them to bed with me, creating a 'hot water bottle' in reverse. I tuck one behind my back and roll the other one in a towel for the front side and I'm pretty good to go.

P.S. Works great for the 'flame on' situations too!

4 ice cubes wrapped up in a washcloth and secured with rubber band. Place on head, on neck, or on chest as needed. They melt into the washcloth, so you're left with just a nice cool, damp cloth at the end.

Everyone loves the cold side of the pillow- when I was a kid growing up in Florida, summer nights were rough, so we would stick our pillowcases in the freezer. Ahhhh.... so cool!

@ Pam C- same question. What's the painting- it looks kinda like a Chagall :).

Anyway, one year when I was living in Palm Desert, the electricity went and we were without AC on a summer night when it was about 106... it was completely unbearable. No amount of iced water or cold showers helped.

Now I'm in LA, I'll keep the house cool during the day- blackout blinds and AC in the bedroom- then just turn the AC off at night and open the windows. Which doesn't save power but means that I don't have to deal with the noise and the dry sinuses :) :).

Yes! Someone please tell us what the artwork is!!!

Could you please tell me who painted that painting hanging in the bedroom? It's awesome.

Interesting suggestions, but when it's 100+ degrees outside during the day it is impossible not to use the AC, especially as I cannot sleep if I am hot at all. My husband gets upset because I don't turn it down super cold, but they are designed to run most efficiently at 78 degrees. At night I keep it around 74 though.

I am just giggling at all these people who say "no AC is unthinkable". You all do realize that central air wasn't even invented until the late 1950s/early 1960s and most people still didn't have it until even later.

Plenty of people lived in Arizona (my in-laws grew up there), Texas (my family is from there), Louisiana, and other extremely hot places w/out air conditioning for centuries.

And people today still live in places where it gets hot and humid w/out air conditioning.

I'm not saying I want to go without it myself, but AC is a first world luxury. Anyone who says living w/out it is "impossible" is fooling themselves.

Definetely those ice packs used for sprains or injuries.

@karacooks-
As someone who lives in Arizona, I'm hoping that you could share some tips that your parents acquired while they lived here w/out ac. We are heading into 110+degree days for 3 months straight and our evaporative cooler is no longer effective.
While we utilize ceiling fans and close all blinds during the days we are away,we still haven't figured out how to cool the house to a comfortable temp w/out the ac.Also, how did they cool the 7ft high concrete block walls surrounding the property, the concrete driveway and all the desert landscape rocks that release@ night all the 110+ heat absorbed during the day. We haven't figured that out either. And we would like to cool those things w/o using precious desert water.Thanks in advance for any tips provided :)

My crazy tip only works for people with long hair: I used to french braid my hair, loosen the braid at the bottom, and stuff my hair with ice cubes. I'd then pin the ends of the braids into the bottom to keep the cubes secure. (I lived in a family where my dad used to come around every night and turn off everyone's fan to save electricity).

This one also works in full daylight!

tristacoop - I live in the ham too (Birmingham, AL) and here are a couple tips/things I've learned along the way:
1. From what I understand, the whole idea behind humans and sweat is that sweat is our body's way of cooling down - we get hot, we sweat, said sweat evaporates and as it does this, our body temp lowers - i.e. People in the sahara don't drink hot liquids when it's hot so that their internal temp matches the external temp (meaning that our body expends less energy trying to cool us down), but instead (given the dry climate), it is intended for the sweat to evaporate and cool us off.
2. Always have a sheet. Whether or not #1 is true, it works for me. I need something to cover up with, or toss off. Must be a security thing but it works for me.
3. I have used the frozen washcloth for the following 3 circumstances; hangovers, migraines (unrelated to hangovers) and HOT AND HUMID 4+ months of ridiculous summer. (according to #1, that's why it feels so much hotter down here - it's so humid, our sweat can't evaporate). This is my FAVORITE. THING. EVER.
4. Sleeping naked (nekkid, depending on who you are/what you are doing...) is a big no no. Sleeping in a pool of sweat that is not going to evaporate is never a good thing.
******On iPhone that won't let me go back up - if freezing a wash cloth, keep a bath towel folded up near your bed. No wet startling wet spot when you leave it on the bed and when wash cloth heats up, you have a nice cool towel left over.
5. POPSICLES. LOTS OF THEM.

all that said - it's definitely above 90 degrees very often during the summer nights and I sleep with it on 75-77 - 82 cat degrees during the day. Not impossible without, but ac at night is worked into my budget. On nights when it is 77 or below - window/fan technique is awesome.

If the air outside is cooler than the temp inside, try this trick. In a room other than the bedroom, place a high-velocity fan so that it level with and facing out toward an open window. Open windows in your bedroom (or all rooms) and turn the fan on high. It will pull the air from the outside through the other windows and send the hot air out the window where the fan is placed. It's especially nice if you can position your bed so it's in the air flow - it feels like a fan, with air flowing over the bed. Run it for 15 to 30 minutes before bedtime, and the room will cool right down. Even if you have A/C and decide to use it, it starts the cooling process from a much lower temp, hopefully saving money.

I used to do this all the time in an apartment with windows on only one side (but in separate rooms). The air would flow around the dividing wall.

Another advantage - if the fan is placed in a window some distance from the bed, the sound isn't so loud, and you can sleep.

I recently had my roof painted white, and it's already helped. I don't have A/C, and I find that I tolerate the heat better than people who are used to it -- in their offices and cars and at home. I close up all my windows and cover them with serious curtains (double layer or special insulated fabric) and don't crack them open until it's cooler outside than inside. I also have a venting skylight so the cross-breezes help considerably. If I'm desperate, I turn on the ceiling fan. The street tree and trees in the back help shade the house from a penetrating sun.

When I had an apartment without cross-breezes, I would mist myself and my nightgown and turn on a fan.

We go without a/c deliberately, believing that it's not an environmentally good idea and may eventually become too expensive to maintain. After a couple of weeks of hot weather the heat becomes somewhat more tolerable, although there's a limit to that. Window fans and a fan that blows on your head -- that's our strategy in SE Colorado.

My mother's house had a furnace in the basement. She would close up the house during the day and set the furnace fan to reverse, bringing cool air up through the ducts into the rest of the house.

Some friends arranged a small bedroom in the basement where they retreat on the hottest nights.

Some wonderful ideas above. Ice-cubes in the hair/ freezipops in various items of clothing or bedding / curtaining out the sun's warming rays / cross-ventilating / using a fan ...

"Real" flax-based linen sheet-sets are pretty wonderful too.

@Trish1980... I think this post is written for people who don't have AC, in which case they have no choice but to go without it...

AC is not sustainable and it makes me ill. I really appreciate the tips, though most sound a bit too much for me. I use the two fan method and it works fine in humid New England.

wear less and use fan and sleep listening to music/sound which make me feel cooler.

I happen to have one of those fancy water pillows (you know the regular pillow with a mini water bed in it). Not a big fan, but when it is hot hot hot, stick it in the freezer and it is your best friend at night. I too, suffer from an apartment that retains the heat long after the outdoors has cooled (great in the winter) so I stick my fans in the windows and that works wonderfully. great post, the responses have been mighty useful.

I find a shower, no matter how cold the water, still increases the humidity of my place. So I opt for cool baths. It cools me right to the core and I think sometimes that I heat the water on really hot days...
Oh, and coffee popsicles in the morning :)

Some good tips, above! I especially like the frozen washcloth idea and the peppermint idea. The bamboo idea sounds really intriguing too; that's a new one to me.

It's been around 100 degrees in the outer East Bay where I live now, and usually I'm too cheap to run the A/C, partly because I leave the cat door open for my 2 cats to run in and out during the day and early evening ... but the last few days, I've resorted to using it. Boy, do I miss the natural A/C of San Francisco! The city has a temperature range more suited to my liking. I've been known to put ice cubes in a baggie and hold them to my wrist when walking the 15 mins to BART during these heatwaves...

I may resort to buying a Chillow or some Cool Max sheets and am also thinking about getting security bars for my bedroom windows, since having the windows closed against the night breeze (when there is one) really irks me. I may start pricing Dyson fans, too. (no blades for the cats to run afoul of)...

In Las Vegas it can top out at about 114 at a night. To whoever called everyone a wimp because in the good old days before AC wasn't invented people just dealt with the heat... get a clue. People DIED from the heat back then. People die from the heat now. I work in an ER and we always get old codgers who think they can sleep without the AC and guess what, they end up heat stroking out. I'm all for fans and such but here in the southwest an AC is a necessity not a luxury. You really don't appreciate a crappy AC until you have to dip a toddler in an ice bath because they got over heated.

I used to not run the AC in FL summer, but since I got this 8-5 job and they keep the AC on 74 all year, I HAVE to have the AC set to a minimum of 78-79 during the night time or else I can't sleep and start getting colds from going from hot to cold to hot all the time. I wish I could open windows at night but even with screens the bugs (especially) mosquitoes manage to get in and the idiots who built my apt complex put the sprinklers RIGHT at window height so unless I want to grow a mold forest in my bedroom that is also a no go. Also, it's always in the 80s at night now.

Someday I will move north and these ridiculous 4+ month summers will be behind me.

tanya67, I'd love to know more about your painting your roof white. That sounds like a great idea. Can you tell us what kind of paint you used and did you have a painter or a roofer do it? Thanks!

I love the painting, as well! It appears to be an original work by the homeowner--the picture is from a previous housetour on AT.

Burnttoast: You are proof that I am not as crazy as everyone thinks I am! I have always soaked whatever I wore to bed on hot nights, wrung it out and been COLD! I HATE air conditioning and I would go insane if I had to have it. It shuts out the outside noise (birds etc.), the breeze, is cold and clammy and smells disgusting and I abhore it!!! Very few people seem to understand this but heat is all in the mind. If you let it get to you....it will but if you accept that it is hot and let the heat wash over and through you, then you can live quite easily through hot days and nights.

I think temperature is what you get accustomed to. My favorite sleeping temps are actually around 84-85 degrees. So i actually look forward to summer nights w/o the AC!!

I agree with emtdmt: for me, a soak in a shallow cold bath is much more effective than a shower. It's jolting to climb into a cold bath, but it cools me down like nothing else.

I have no suggestions on cooling...but I, too, t want to know about the art in the picture.

Or you can just buy a window air conditioner, they're pretty cheap nowadays and energy efficient. All those suggestions sound like too much work to do.

I've heard that a cold shower prompts the body to overcompensate by warming up and that hot tea or a hot bath switches on the bodies cooling mechanisms. that said, a cool bath on a hot night makes for wonderful instant gratification.

one more for all the brunettes out there!

Put henna in your hair! Not only will it give you subtle highlights it's an AMAZING natural conditioner. You make it into a paste, rub it into your hair, wrap your head with an old towel and place another old towel over your pillowcase and I GUARANTEE the best night's sleep ever :) there is some sort of cooling property within it and it's amazing.

After living in Texas for 35 years, with lovely central a/c, I've found it near impossible to deal with the lack of a/c in coastal Southern California. After 5 years I haven't gotten used to it. I actually enjoy going to work because I can enjoy the central a/c.

I Second Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castile Soap. Nothing better!

"I am just giggling at all these people who say "no AC is unthinkable". You all do realize that central air wasn't even invented until the late 1950s/early 1960s and most people still didn't have it until even later.

Plenty of people lived in Arizona (my in-laws grew up there), Texas (my family is from there), Louisiana, and other extremely hot places w/out air conditioning for centuries.

And people today still live in places where it gets hot and humid w/out air conditioning.

I'm not saying I want to go without it myself, but AC is a first world luxury. Anyone who says living w/out it is "impossible" is fooling themselves."

K- so since automobiles in mass production wasn't around until 1890-1900s, we should all consider going without cars....for everything??? Would we be saying it is "impossible" to travel across the country without a car because they did? Nope, can't use an airplane either...those weren't around for a few more years! Airplanes are a luxury! Oh here is a good one....indoor plumbing.... mmmmm,seeeee....doesn't sound so good to have to do what our great greats did, huh??? I don't wanna use an outhouse.....Time changes, we change....even what our what we can tolerate changes. And like EMT up there says, people died all the time of heat stroke. I live in a place that had 114 heat index today....no, I can't live without AC....sorry.....

even what we can tolerate* ...... typo...sorry, wasn't sure how to edit or if I'm allowed to

something i do is i take some hand cloths and get them wet to the point where they are almost dripping but not quite yet then freeze them till they are hard and either lay them on my stoumach or on my back

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 !!!!

pictures of wool waste thermal/sound insulation
http://madeinchina.tradekey.com/sheep-wool-insulation-machine.htm