I live in a very old house which for some reason makes it very hard to install air conditioning (it has something to do with the thin walls) so any cool air we have comes from fans. This however does not do the best job of keeping the house cool. Is there anything I can do to keep my house cool when it's hot?
2007-05-25 11:37:53 · 16 answers · asked by Ro 2 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
How about a window unit?
2007-05-25 11:40:13 · answer #1 · answered by Mr. Niceguy 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you can pull the hot air up through the ceiling, into the attic and out, that would help. Whole house fans have the louvered opening on the highest ceiling or more often at the top of the stairway. Then there's a fan in the attic. The louvers open, the fan sucks the hot air from the house, into the attic and outside. Down stairs, in the lowest portion of the house you open a few window to draw in cooler air.
At the very least you should have supplemental attic ventilation especially in such an older home. Newer home are moving to a different system altogether.
2007-05-25 11:45:02 · answer #2 · answered by fluffernut 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If the fans are not adequate enough, then open windows will be part of answer. Have you fly screens on them ? The other thing we sell here in New Zealand is a mobile Air Conditioner. This is a thing that looks like a Dehumidifier on castors. It has a fan at front, and a tank at rear. You fill the tank with cold water,ice etc. The fan blows cold air out. Really useful gadget. We sell them at hardware and electric stores. Not cheap,but cheaper than air conditioning. Good Luck!
2007-05-25 11:51:29 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
with fans you can either push cool air into the house from the shaded side, or push the hot air out. open windows on both sides, but not all the way, just a few inches to let a breeze through. If it is 2 story or more, open the windows upstairs a little more, to let out the hot air, and just a bit downstairs to let some air in. you have to create a draft, though, or it wont work. Let cooler air from the shaded side of the house in, and let hot air out. If you live where it is not humid, a "swamp cooler" or evaporative cooler will work. Then again, you have to keep a draft going, or it will just get stuffy inside, some air has to be let out. Or you can do it the old fasioned way and hang burlap sack in the open windows, and keep them wet, so the air that comes thru them will be cooled by evaporation. this was done in Scottys castle in tunnels under the castle. This is in the Mojave Dessert, That s how they did it before electricity Even those misting lines that you can buy help a lot, hang them outside near your windows, Or even keeping your sidewalks outside wet with a hose helps a lot to cool the outside air. I used to have a pipe along the peak of my houses roof, with holes all along it that created a water curtain all around my house, and cooled the roof, as well as the outside air, as it fell all around my house off the roof. (my water was free, tho, it came from a creek)
2007-05-25 11:45:19 · answer #4 · answered by Big hands Big feet 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Do you own it or rent it, and where do you live? If you life in the southwest, then a swamp cooler is pretty cheap to install (relative to AC) and will work well. If you don't, well, the expensive answer is blow in insulation into the walls, replace the windows with modern windows, and put in air conditioners (central or window). If you only use 1 or 2 rooms during the day, you can do that for only those rooms.
If you're renting, well, window AC and just pay for it, because you won't be there long enough to get your money back from improvements.
2007-05-25 11:46:30 · answer #5 · answered by John 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Call your local hardware store or even Walmart and ask then if they have air cooling units that go in the middle of the room or on the counters. I have seen such units
Or you can buy a block of ice and put it on a towel in front of a fan and blast away!:)
good luck I am melting in a hot climate too.
2007-05-25 11:51:10 · answer #6 · answered by skyz 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
protecting the solar out will help. If the night air and early morning air is cool, putting a fan or 2 in front of the homestead windows will convey the cooler air in. Ice in front of a fan will help plenty. Ice would be made in soda bottles and packing containers. this would sense sturdy whilst you're napping and interior the nice and comfortable afternoons. moist wash rags on the ice will sense sturdy on the palms and neck. ingesting chilly water and different drinks help. eating chilly nutrients like cucumbers and tomato hunks help.
2016-11-05 09:36:16 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
open the windows in the evening when it is cool and put fans in the windows pointing in ( to draw in the cool air from the outside)
keep the windows shut during the day.
2007-05-25 11:40:25 · answer #8 · answered by Bug 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Try to keep you blinds down and closed. it will be a little cooler til 1 pm. Other than that put fans in the windows keep them turned on at night
2007-05-25 11:42:11 · answer #9 · answered by STEFANIE A 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Look into the new duct less systems that have come out in the last few years I have installed several in old homes with excellent results
2007-05-25 11:45:07 · answer #10 · answered by Tom A 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
keep the house dark, if there is a breeze open the house up, if you can get the house insulated that would help a lot, try not to cook too often or wait till it's late when it will be cooler to do your cooking...that's all i got for now
2007-05-25 11:43:02 · answer #11 · answered by hearts_on_fire 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋