How can I make my house cooler during the summer without AC?

Question

My Grandma isn't capable of living by herself anymore and is moving in with my family.
The house has no AC except for two bedrooms. The living room area is horribly hot. We have a window fan in the bathroom which works great for that area but the living room windows are long and can't accommodate a window fan.
I don't want my Grandma, sister and Father to be sitting alone in the hot house all summer.

What are good ways to let the house cool down, if any?

Answer 1

There are portable coolers/ACs that don't need to be installed in a window.

Answer 2

Do you have a basement? If so, is it cooler there? Where is the door? My basement stairway door is by my kitchen, using a large fan in the basement blowing the cold air into my stairway and then a box fan at the door, I dropped the temp in my kitchen 10 deg in 1 hour. Use a fan as someone else said to move the hot air out of the room, needs to be high as possible. Hot air rises.
The portable a/c units from what consumer reports had to say are not that good. You would be better off with an in-wall a/c if you can not get one in the window. One or two story House? Attic fan are good in either case, but exhausting the hot air out the second floor helps. A lot of things to try, just keep moving fans around till comfortable.

Answer 3

You can set up window fans at opposite ends of the house, one blowing in, one blowing out. This will create a breeze through the house. Do this early in the morning to fill the house with cool(er) air, then close the house up to keep it in. Close the windows and draw the curtains to keep the heat out.

If you have a basement, spend a lot of time there - it will be cooler than upstairs.

Sometimes you can also use a hose to wet the roof of the house and cool it off. This will help draw off heat from the attic space and any 2nd floor areas.

Also, can you use a fan indoors to help move air from the rooms with AC to other spaces?

Finally, look around for places in your town or neighborhood that have AC. Many communities have set up emergency cooling places to let people get out of the heat for awhile. Malls, libraries, and so on would be good targets for this.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Removing the built up heat in the attic will do wonders-- the "spinners" you see on houses-- not a problem to put in for DIY- instructions from big box stores and not too expensive. Some folks have suggested running a sprinkler on the roof-makes sense, the water evaporation cools. If you can find one of the misters-- connect to hose and sprays a fine mist of water--instant cooling-- put that where it will do the most good-- porch? outside of fan in window that is blowing in You've probably seen one at art festivals or restruants-- -- When you are able-- have insulation put in your attic-- keeps heat out and in winter helps keep heat inside. Climbing vines on the west side of your house-- that greenery also does wonders-- from the ground to the roof is a space-- which "insulates" after the vines grow up. If money is a problem-- put nails in the board edge of the roof-- then string what ever you have-- twine-- small rope (clothes line rope?) from the nail to the ground-- the ground end can be bricks-- landscaping timber-- it doesn't matter, just need another place to attach string /your line.
Another variaton of the water cooling-- if you have driveway concrete on the west side of your house-- wet it down several times a day-- wall to the west side of your house-- especially if it is brick or stone. A carport over that west driveway really helps.
And lastly-- ask your Grandma-- she didn't have air conditioning when she grew up-- she may have some ideas herself.
Caution-- elderly lose their "thirstyness"-- she needs to drink water by the clock-- i.e. so many glasses before noon-- ask her to tell you the color of her urine-- if it's dark-- not enough intake of water.
Longer time span-- plant trees!!
I didn't have air conditioning for many years-- I have used all of these hints. I sincerely wish the best for you and grandma.

Answer 5

Fit ceiling fans, to keep the air moving and get them to damp their skin with a wet cloth if they feel very hot. Ventilate at night and shade the windows on the sun side during the day.

Answer 6

at night open all the windows then in the morning before it gets hot close them and close the drapes so the sun will not shine in and move to the basement in the middle of the day

Answer 7

Have you considered an evaporative cooler? They are also known as "swamp coolers." Do a search for them.