Sunday, May 19, 2013

Keeping cool without A/C

I should clarify that even though I don't have A/C I do have 2 window air conditioners and ceiling fans. It still gets very warm on days that are near or over the 90's. So, I'm looking for ways to keep the house cool which will also help with my electric bill.



Cooking in my kitchen heats up the entire house ...  even if I cook early in the morning. So,  I'm finding alternative ways to make my meals by developing a routine to cook outside. I have a propane camp stove (high powered that I purchased at Bass Pro), a very large toaster oven and a crock-pot. I use the propane stove on the patio and the toaster oven inside my garage along with the crock-pot.I also have one electrical burner that was given to me last week.



It's a little inconvenient to cook my meals outside. I think over time I'll come up with an easy routine. I use a large tray to carry my food items out to the stove. I set a TV tray next to the camp stove for my utensils and plates. I take notice what keeps me running back and forth to the house and look for ways to reduce my steps. As a result I decided to leave a couple of potholders in the garage along with a few cooking utensils.

Cooking outside makes a huge difference when it comes to keeping my house cool.

The second thing I do is to watch where the sun is hitting my windows and keep the curtains drawn. I realized the sun hit my kitchen windows  until around 10 o'clock. I had a burgundy sheet in good condition so I made half drapes and found 2 tension rods. I keep the bottom part of the curtain up until the sun stops shining on that side of the house and then I take them down.

Thirdly, I ,like to take advantage of the cool air outside so I open up the windows in the early morning hours and allow the air to flow inside. Once the air outside starts turning warm I close all my windows to trap the cool air.

Fourthly, I use small personal table fans in several of my rooms. I have a small table fan in my kitchen, office, bathroom and next to my bed. Oftentimes I can use the small fan in place of the ceiling fan which I believe costs less electricity.Last night I was warm but my husband was not so I was able to turn the small fan on next to my bed and save using the overhead fan.

Lastly, I wear lighter clothes on hot days. It's amazing the difference between wearing capri's and a  long pair of pants. I've collected a few light cotton tops for the summer which really help. Putting my hair up helps, too.

I read last week to run some water in your bathtub about ankle deep and to dip your feet when you get too warm. I haven't tried it yet but I think it would help.

How about you? Could you add anything to this list?

9 comments:

  1. I have a little turbo oven I bought at an Aldi store for ? I think it was less than $30. use it instead of an oven. also use a couple of crock pots and a grill. So very little hot cooking here--at least not anything that requires a lot of time to cook.

    Cold food is good too. :)

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  2. Moisture! I know this because when I'm I Texas (sometimes 100% humidity) I can't stand the A/C, it gets way too cold. I try to keep a water bottle around for light misting, hang dry my clothes inside, and sometimes I just jump in the shower for a quick cool off. You can find out which appliance uses more by taking a look at the little wheel inside your electric meter. Time it with each appliance running separately, to get an accurate result. Awesome post!! You know I cook in my garage all summer, it works great!

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  3. I keep a lots of wet wace washers in the fridge and spange my self a few times a day.
    Only wear cotton and loose skirts and tops.
    In Australia gets hot but most of people are used to it.

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  4. When I lived in the Miami area in the 1980s and 1990s, my late husband and I didn't use our wall units very often. We opened the windows and had ceiling fans. We also had solar heat for the water heater and our electric bills were very low--$60-$95 a month. We would often stay in the part of the house that was the coolest. After Hurricane Andrew, we slept on the back porch which was the coolest place with no electricity for I believe two weeks. The young lady who bought the house, however, actually put central air into the house.

    We put in new windows in our current house and our electric bill is about $135 a month. Hubby can't live without air conditioning here in Plant City, Florida.

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  5. I think you have hit the main ones, I don't mind the heat as long as the air is moving, such as with a fan. Cool washrags at the back of the neck help when overheated. I also think you can get used to the heat, and going in and out of air-conditioning is what makes us feel like it's so hot.

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  6. I do those things as well and they really make a difference. We don't sleep as well when the house is too hot, so I actually open my windows as soon as it cools off in the early evening. If it's cooler out than in, I open just 2-4 windows. The idea is to get air moving from the lowest level to the highest and out of the house. I put a box fan in 1 or two upstairs windows pointing out. Then I open the front and back door (exposing the screen doors) downstairs. This flushes the hot air out and cools it down nicely before bed.

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  7. All of your 'keep cool' ideas are wonderful!!!
    It's really warming up here in Texas. I have my ceiling fans going full speed ...... the movement of air sure helps.

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  8. In the hottest months I try to use my crockpots for most of my cooking, as well as my small toaster oven. It's amazing just how much the regular oven will heat up the kitchen.

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  9. Running cool water over your wrists helps to cool you also...I like the bathtub idea, I always feel better when my feet are cool.
    I also apply a peppermint foot lotion onto my feet. It is very soothing and cooling...I got it at the dollar store.
    A recent change in our income with future changes anticipated has made it necessary to cut more costs, so I will be using some of these ideas when the weather starts to heat up...Hubby and I are prepared to do most of our living in just one room if necessary...we actually did a trial run during the winter, and it is easier than people think to live comfortably in a small space!

    The nice thing about summer is the fact that big hot meals are not as appealing as smaller ones, so salads and grilled meat are great...You can also wrap your veggies in tinfoil and grill them too!
    ~God bless~
    Lisa

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