How to Survive the Summer Heat Without Air-Conditioning

There was a time in my life when I spent several years without air conditioning and I live in the state of Texas. Anyone familiar with this area knows that it can be hotter than Hell when it wants to be, and even when we don’t want it to be. When people found out I did not have air conditioning, they were totally aghast! However, I was comfortable, because I had figured out some tricks for how to survive without A/C. 

Friends have suggested that I share these tips with you, just in case you find yourself in a similar situation either due to financial concerns, storms, homelessness, or if the power grid goes down, and in Texas, well, we do have a little bit of a flaky power grid at the moment.

Now, before you freak out, remember, people had to live with out air-conditioning for CENTURIES, and in some areas they still do, so there are ways to do this. Even in these days of global warming, no matter how unpleasant it may seem to our modern lives, you CAN do this!

So, here are my 10 tips for living without air-conditioning:

1. Live wet. Keep your clothes damp.  Wet your hair.  Soak in a kiddie pool under a shade tree or an umbrella and don’t dry off. Take a brief cold shower a few times a day, with your clothes on, or run through a sprinkler with the neighbor kids, who obviously have the right idea. Keep a large sprayer bottle of water handy, and mist yourself as needed. Keep one beside your bed at night and aim it at the ceiling, because when the mist falls down onto you, it will be much colder. 

2. Drink a LOT of water.  Yes, WATER. Ice is nice, but I had no ice last year when the fridge died, so had to give up on that luxury.  Putting a bag of ice in a giant cooler, really didn’t work very well, because it was hard to slide that monster out the door to empty it every morning, but it’s an option. Oh! Here’s an ice water trick I used before the fridge died: fill a large/gallon jug half full of water. Put it in the freezer at a 45 degree angle. This gives maximum surface area for your giant ice cube when you put your drinking water into the jug with it. It also melts slower than standard ice cubes. Keep several of these in the freezer, and put them back before the giant cube totally melts, so that it will freeze faster. I currently have a 2.5 gallon jug with a spigot in my fridge so that my gardener can have ice water when needed.

3. Remember that sugar dehydrates, so limit sweet soda drinks and other sugary foods. If you feel you need an electrolyte drink, choose a “Zero sugar” brand. Or, drink a LOT of WATER.

4. Salty foods will help you retain water and stay hydrated. Try to use sea salt whenever possible because it has 80+ trace minerals in it that can help your hydration. Stay aware of your sodium/potassium balance, and add a potassium-rich avocado, banana or Swiss Chard to your diet when eating a lot of salty foods. (There is also a calcium/magnesium balance to be aware of to avoid leg cramps at night, but that’s a topic for another blog)

 5. Acclimate!  Meaning, do your best NOT to be in A/C during the day, or you will ruin your acclimation to the heat.  For example, do not turn on the car A/C. Just sweat it out and you’ll be able to acclimate to higher and higher temperatures and be more comfortable as summer progresses. If you work from home, this is a lot easier. Your air-conditioned office is your enemy, so sweat your way home without the car A/C so that you will be better able to sleep in your miserably hot bedroom. That being said, limit your time in air-conditioned stores. Get in, buy, and get out fast! If you can do curbside pickup that would be great, and if you can afford home delivery, go for it!

6. Fans are good.  I have a rather large collection of battery-operated or USB rechargable fans in many sizes. My collection grew over time: and as my budget increased, I purchased  better fans. I even have some that I can wear around my neck or hang on my computer monitor. I also have several very large USB power banks (20000 mAh) that I can plug these fans into for charging or for directly running them if the power goes out and I have run out of batteries for those versions. And I can also charge the power banks from my car. It’s actually quite amazing how power efficient these fans are! Make sure you keep your fans and power banks fully charged at all times. Especially if you see a storm coming. If you have only one little 3” fan, like I started out with, have it blow on your face at night. You’ll be amazed as to how much cooler it will make you feel than if you have that single fan on your body. Having an 8” or 10” fan blowing up from your feet rather than from the side of your body will keep you cooler as well. I had to fasten mine to the foot of my bed because I kept kicking it over. A remote controlled one for that location is best.

7. Open your windows on both sides of the house, apartment, or room to allow for cross breezes as much as possible. If you are wet, then a breeze will really help, no matter how small the fan is or how little the outside breeze is, if you are lucky enough to even have a breeze. It may seem counterintuitive to open your windows on a 100° day, but when you consider that your house without air-conditioning is probably already the same temperature as outside anyway, you’re only going to gain comfort if there’s a breeze.

8. If you still MUST have A/C, build a DYI air-conditioner out of a Styrofoam cooler, a small fan, a PVC pipe, and a bag of ice. There are many affordable ideas on the Internet, with video instructions, some are even as cheap as $8! Pick one that works for you. Mine worked only in a very small space, (the back seat of a Toyota Yaris) so take that into consideration as well. You pretty much have to be sitting next to it for it to do you much good, but a lot depends on the size and power of the fan you use, and how well you can seal your ice compartment.

9. And finally, if you are a nomad in the desert, wear light weight cotton clothing in light colors; stay in the shade (be watchful above if you have to sit under your camel); look for a breeze; near a stream or pond; or find a big palm leaf and have someone wave it at you. Oh, and did I say, drink LOTS of water?

10. By the way, this all works for your pets as well. I’m not sure if a hamster or a rabbit would approve, but I have had cats that I’ve had to wet down, and who actually enjoyed sitting in front of a fan while they were wet once they realized why I was torturing them this way. They didn’t get sick either. You don’t catch cold by being cold, contrary to what your mother may have told you when you were growing up.

And, I am happy to inform those of you who may know me from that trying period in my life that I have moved out of Hell House and I now have a well-insulated paradise house on Avalon that has air-conditioning. I have it set at 80°, both to save money and to help keep me at least somewhat acclimated if the power goes out, and I’m comfortable, and grateful to the Lord for getting me here! Thank you, everyone, for caring.