Keeping Cool
 

It has been rather hot recently (about 40˚C) and i am obviously wanting to get the place cooler as i'm having trouble getting to sleep. I have a fan, but when i set it to oscilate, it rattles, and i would prefer something quieter/cooler anyway. My price range is £50- and i don't want anything to big. I would like an air conditioning unit, but they are too big and expensive
.

If you want cool it's about 4˚C here this morning :)

run your wrists under cold water... free (ish)
sleep with a frozen bottle of water... free (ish)
open two windows in the house to create a draught.... free
freeze your pajamas before going to bed (okay I am taking the mick now)

seriously... what part of the world do you live in?....

sleep on top of the sheets, forget the air conditioning unit and do your bit to save the world! :D

Yeah, I'll ad my voice to the "avoid air-con for as long as possible" crowd. I mean it really is great in some circumstances (like say 40ºc), but the cost is really high (in many ways).

I suggest instead of putting the fan on oscillate, just point it at a wall and let the wall (or objects) diffuse the wind for you.

im in the UK.

i cant post much info as i am leaving my mac for til tomorrow afternoon in 2 mminutes (sniffle).

You can stop your overhead fan problems by properly adjusting and balancing the blades.

Remove all the blades and clean them.
Remove any counterweights that might be on each blade.
Set up a balance to use as a weight measuring device. I do this by hanging a yard stick from a string, place a weight on one end, and a hook for the fan blade on the other. The trick is to get ALL blades to weigh exactly the same. Add weights such as tacks or coins taped on with duct tape.
Install your blades back on.
Hold a ruler against the ceiling and measure the end of each blade by gently turn the fan. Both the incoming and outgoing height of the blade should match exactly to the incoming and outgoing height of the other blades. If not, gently bend them so that they do.

This will balance your fan and you can run it full speed with no rattle.

Where in the UK!!???!!

In my neck of the woods, it's barely reached 15?C all week..... :mad:

I've rarely known it to be above 30?C anywhere in the UK. Seriously, if there's a place in the UK which gets that hot, I'll be moving there ASAP. :D

In scotland.

It's a desk fan, and the rattle is the motor housing rattling against the motor.

are you sure 40 degrees C in scotland? something like that would be in the news, and probably spark up a climate debate

Well, it's 40˚C in the upstairs of our house sometimes. (our upstairs is rather stuffy)

Good reason to head to a pub. Then sleep in the beer cellar. :)

Would a ioniser help, as it is very stuffy here. I'm currently thinking about the Surround Air XJ-1000/Heaven Fresh XJ-1000, would it do in a small room about the size of some bathrooms, square in shape. I'll measure my room later.

Or maybe i'll get this, as it is the same price, but has a UV as well, so it does more.

UK Customs will root you with duties when that arrives.

I must say that I find the UK unbearable when it gets "hot" there. It is always such a dry heat. We usually have temperatures in the mid 30's here in the Land of Smiles and I am out in it quite a fews hours a day. Then, I visit the UK, get a scorcher, say a whole 24 degrees C and I am parched. Bizarre.

May I suggest two things:

a) Place a bowl of water in your room to raise the humidity. (serious, no joke at all) and:

b) Buy a better quality fan. Fifty quid should get you a real peach.

Air movement is all you need, your body should do the rest. I rarely use the a/c here, just a fan.

I just entered 'electric fan" into ebay.co.uk and there were plenty of options. All in the £15-25 range.

HTH.

I used to have a small glassblowing studio (1 furnace, 200 pound crucible) where on bad days temperatures sometimes reached as high as... doing conversion now... 74º C (that's not a typo - I triple checked - although low 50s C was more typical).

There were two large ventilation fans in the exterior wall or the heat would have been worse, but they weren't enough during the height of summer (unfortunately my busy season) and AC was not an option. Besides drinking LOTS of water, I had a couple of these fans as well as one on a stand. I suggest you find something similar - since you are in the UK, perhaps this. Although in a small room, a tabletop version would probably suffice.

I have my fans in my house now that I'm a stay at home dad. If I park myself in front of one set on medium (and secure any loose papers) I have no need for an air conditioner.

I don't think the fan is the problem, i think it's the stuffiness, the air is incredibly stuffy/thick/humid, so i want something that makes the air thinner/less stuffy.

This is the fan i've got.

Well, it gets plenty humid here (my studio was on Cape Cod) and when the air is humid, your body has trouble dissipating heat. Increased air circulation helps a great deal.

You could get a dehumidifier, but they generate their own heat, so they need to be placed carefully. When I was a kid, my mother kept one in our bathroom to reduce mildew. It was designed for a larger room so it worked, but I'd go for a quick pee and come out sweating.

Edit:
I hit submit instead of preview. I looked at your fan - I'd suggest not oscillating. A fan will only lower the temperature of the room if the air it displaces is replaced with cooler air; it will always help lower your body temperature, but it has to be blowing on you to do that.

An engineer I used to work with designed his house with open ventilation to allow air flow between rooms and had a vent at the top and bottom of the house so that when he wanted to cool the place down he opened the vents to let the hot air out the top and draw cool air from under the house.

You can get self-installable wind-rotating roof fans and roof vents for about £25. That might help evacuate some stuffy hot air if you are in an attic and there is no cavity between the roof and the ceiling.

Well, there's a gap between the ceiling and the roof, so i'm not sure one of those fans would work. Would an ioniser help though, or is there anything else that i need to get to fix this problem.

Describe your room. We know it is upstairs. How big? How many rooms? Any vents? How many windows? Is this an apartment? ie can you do modifications? Do you know the humidity level? Is your bedroom exposed to the sun side?

I use to sell insulation. There is some real science to getting a room cooled down. The trick is to move the hot air outside, and move the cool air from another are into yours. Is there a cellar? If you can find a way to vent from the cellar to your room, you will have a natural air conditioner.

The room is about 2 meters by 2 meters,
No door (no i'm not sealed in here, there's a door frame, but no door in it.)
All 4 other rooms upstairs(not including hallway)have 1 window
Semi-detached house
Exposed to sun but keep blinds (single-piece fabric, not plastic) closed most of the time
No vents
No cellar
Don't want modifications
Don't know humidity level. Is there a way to find out, there is a humidity level display on the de-humidifier downstairs, but bring it up here would be a bit tricky.

I've got a window (no 's' at the end, so don't worry;)), but it only opens about 3 inches at the top as a safety feature.

A big part of the problem is that you have only one window and it barely opens, is exposed to the sun, and blocked by a curtain.

If you switch to venetian blinds, you could increase ventilation slightly. If you could open the window a bit more you could install a window fan to vent the warm air.

But without making any modifcations at all, you could open all the windows and doors in all the upstairs rooms. That would let warm air escape and draw cooler air from downstairs.

Or you could try opening all the windows in the house during the night, then closing all windows and blinds during daylight hours to trap the cooler air and block the sun. In some places I've lived this works well, but in others it just makes the house hotter. It depends on the weather, exposure to the sun, insulation, etc..

One thing you can easily do to reduce the heat getting into the room in the first place is string up some heavy duty shade cloth on the outside - covering your window (you get it at plant nurseries or hardware stores) - get the most UV block you can. Closing your blind will reduce a bit of heat getting in, but the problem is - as soon as the sun gets through the glass it's heating air - you need to block it before the glass. I do this every summer on heavily exposed windows.

I don't know if that'll work for Wee_Guy, but I might try that on my house - unless my wife thinks it will be hideous. :)

Honestly Wee_Guy, you're in quite the spot. I think if you want it to cool off in there you're going tp have to make some mods. All the hot air in the house is going up there, and then you have all the hot air riding in from this forum (har har har, finals are over, everything is funny to me :). )

Truly, something big needs to be done. I think the best option is to replace the window so you can open it properly. Though the very best option is a vent in the ceiling with a fan that draws out the hot air. Even if you did get a dehumidifier or a cooler, they'd be fighting a losing battle...

Isn't there anything that i could do to sort this problem without modding the house or spending a fortune? :S :(

An Ionizing fan will not help, infact they are actually bad for you as they increase the ozone levels dangerously in smaller rooms. As for stuffiness issues, If you can decrease the humidity in the room you might be able to aleviate the problem a little bit. Try a de-humidifier. This will not bring the temperature down, but it might make it a little bit easier to handle.

What is bad about ozone? what is ozone? if i got a de-humidifier, themn what would i do, as if that may make it easier to handle, how do i handle it to get rid of it?

The obvious first (and free) step is to open upstairs windows to vent rising warm air, but yours only opens a little. What is keeping it closed? I know some windows have tabs that pop out to limit the opening, but they can be adjusted easily by adults or older children.

What have you tried so far, and has anything made a noticeable difference?

It's not a tab, it cannot be opned any more. I've tried opening all windows upstairs, and running my fan (despite the annoying rattle). But it doesn' tmake much difference. I think i need some thing that 'filters'/'dissolves'/'eats' the stuffiness in the air.

ozone - noun - a colorless unstable toxic gas with a pungent odor and powerful oxidizing properties, formed from oxygen by electrical discharges or ultraviolet light. It differs from normal oxygen (O 2) in having three atoms in its molecule (O 3).

Thats a problem. I think it would violate fire codes where I live.

If you can't do much to reduce the temperature, you might have to settle for limiting your discomfort.

A dehumidifier will reduce the humidity, making it easier for your body to dissapate heat - sweat doesn't evaporate as easily when it's very humid.

A bowl of ice in front of the fan will feel nice.

Try going to a hardware store and purchasing a 2-3" Styrofoam insulation panel. Put this over your window for a while and see if this knocks down the heat the sun is producing through the glass. If so, you can decorate it to look alike a painting or something for looks. There is another possibility, to hang one of those shade mats that hang from the eaves of the roof. This will shade your window. But it sounds like you would need a ladder to get up there.

A ceiling fan would do wonders--even if you replace an overhead lamb with it, I would consider that. It would provide a good dose of quiet, moving air.

If it is cool at night, you need to find a way to get the outside air in. This will remedy your stuffiness problem, and will help cool the room.

If you're not the home owner, any way to rent a different flat?

Although, I still like my idea about sleeping in the pub. :)

I'm not the home owner, and i can't rent a flat as i am too young.

There's a Tree-House in the garden, i'm sure it's not too hot, but i'm definately nt sleeping in that, next to the Rabbit supplises that we keep in there.

40 degrees celsius? Sheez. That's as hot as my MacBook pro gets under normal use. (And trust me, even that feels like I'm holding fire.)

My prior suggestion of tacking up some shade cloth over your window (on the outside) should only cost you like max £15 and it does make a fair difference over the course of a day.

This was posted on Digg today

Keeping cool when temperatures reach record highs isn’t just about comfort. Dangerously high temperatures can result in heat-related illnesses ranging from heat cramps to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The following tips can help you keep cool all summer long.

1. Alter your pattern of outdoor exercise to take advantage of cooler times (early morning or late evening). If you can’t change the time of your workout, scale it down by doing fewer minutes, walking instead or running, or decreasing your level of exertion.

2. Wear loose-fitting clothing, preferably of a light color.

3. Cotton clothing will keep you cooler than many synthetics.

4. Fill a spray bottle with water and keep it in the refrigerator for a quick refreshing spray to your face after being outdoors.

5. Fans can help circulate air and make you feel cooler even in an air-conditioned house.

6. Try storing lotions or cosmetic toners in the refrigerator to use on hot, overtired feet.

7. Keep plastic bottles of water in the freezer; grab one when you’re ready to go outside. As the ice melts, you’ll have a supply of cold water with you.

8. Take frequent baths or showers with cool or tepid water.

9. Combat dehydration by drinking plenty of water along with sports drinks or other sources of electrolytes.

10. Some people swear by small, portable, battery-powered fans. At an outdoor event I even saw a version that attaches to a water bottle that sprays a cooling mist.

11. I learned this trick from a tennis pro: if you’re wearing a cap or hat, remove it and pour a bit of ice cold water into the hat, then quickly invert it and place on your head.

12. Avoid caffeine and alcohol as these will promote dehydration.

13. Instead of hot foods, try lighter summer fare including frequent small meals or snacks containing cold fruit or low fat dairy products. As an added benefit, you won’t have to cook next to a hot stove.

14. If you don’t have air-conditioning, arrange to spend at least parts of the day in a shopping mall, public library, movie theater, or other public space that is cool. Many cities have cooling centers that are open to the public on sweltering days.

15. Finally, use common sense. If the heat is intolerable, stay indoors when you can and avoid activities in direct sunlight or on hot asphalt surfaces. Pay special attention to the elderly, infants, and anyone with a chronic illness, as they may dehydrate easily and be more susceptible to heat-related illnesses. Don’t forget that pets also need protection from dehydration and heat-related illnesses too.

maybe you can try some bamboo blinds. I've had bamboo roll up shades for about 1 years and I love them. They last and last and I just take them outside twice a year and dust them and then wipe them off with a damp cloth. they make my house relatively cooler.

Bamboo blinds would be fantastic. Problem is, he is in an upper floor, the window only opens a few inches, and the house is not his to modify. Perhaps we should move this thread to the Favorite Riddle post?

I suppose you could, but i for one don't know the answer, so it may be annoying when no one here can answer it and you all start getting very curious.

actually its just hit me, the obvious answer: walk around in your underwear :p

Or just think of it as a sauna and learn to enjoy a good sweat.

Wee_Guy, have you ever seen someone make a "ship in a bottle"? They use a series of sticks and long tweezers to bring in parts piece by piece into the bottle opening. Seems to me that you can install the bamboo screen the same way. Yes, you only have three inches to work with, but if you are clever, perhaps you can build some kind of mount that will clip on to the eves--something with eye hooks that can have a string that will lower to the ground, tie to the bamboo, then hoist up. Tie the strings off inside your room through the window. Makes me wish I lived near you to give this a try. I always like a simple engineering challenge.

Really, the your solution lies with this screen, and all you need is two (or three depending on the size) eye hooks screwed into the eve overhang. Once these are in place, hoisting up or removing bamboo shades would be a snap. Maybe a good heart to heart with your landlord would help?