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The Almighty Buck

Keeping Your Apartment Cool in the Summer Time? 182

Posted by Cliff from the keeping-your-air-temp-in-the-comfort-zone dept.
uvince asks: "Sure, the air is on all day at work, but when you are at home and it warms up (as the west coast is now) what do you do when a fan just won't cut it? Do you install a swamp cooler, set out a standing air conditioner, or install some air conditioner that fits in the window. How can I keep my apartment, or at least my bedroom cool? Anyone have any creative, green ideas?"
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Keeping Your Apartment Cool in the Summer Time? More

Keeping Your Apartment Cool in the Summer Time?

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  • or get an apartment with AC.

  • suggestion: (Score:3, Funny)

    by larry bagina ( 561269 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @10:47PM (#6029001) Journal
    turn off your fucking computer!
    • Actually I spent some time thinking about this long ago (what kind of person overclocks his house?) I often thought that the evaporative cooling might work wonders on a brick house, set up a sprayer outside to spray enough water to saturate the bricks, let it trickle down and entirely wet the whole wall.

      My thinking was that when we as people get out of the pool / ocean / whatever and are still wet, even a moderate breeze cools us off very quickly, to the point of chills. Soak down the outside walls of yo

  • Evaporative cooling? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Smidge204 ( 605297 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @10:50PM (#6029008) Journal
    If humidity is really low in your area (which, if you live on the coast, is probably NOT the case!) A simple evaporative cooler can run with a supply of water and very little (or possibly no) electricity.

    The idea is that water has to absorb heat form it's surroundings when it evaporates, like sweat absorbs heat from the body. But if there's no other source of heat, it will absorb it from the air. The water doesn't even need to be all that cold, though cold water will obviously absorb more heat.

    All you need is some way to expose the water to air. One suggestion would be to build an "evaporator" out of brown corregated carboard, use a small pump to trickle water over it and a small fan to draw air through it.

    If you can build a tall "stack" and place the evaporator at the top, you can take advantage of natural convection to eliminate the fan. (Cold, denser air drops down stack, pulling in more air through the evaporator)

    If you can get the materials just right, and/or have a pressurized source of water (house main), you can take advantage of capillary action/mains pressure to eliminate the pump.

    Silent and green. Too bad it doesn't work in humid regions!
    =Smidge=
    • " If humidity is really low in your area (which, if you live on the coast, is probably NOT the case!) A simple evaporative cooler can run with a supply of water and very little (or possibly no) electricity."

      I used something like this once for the purpose of keeping the room at a decent humidity, because a place I was renting had friggin' dry air. As a side effect, it did cool down the room quite a lot. (Alas, it was the winter and an undesired side effect.)

      I bought one of these [honeywellc...oducts.com] 'cool air humidifiers'

  • take a shower before bedtime (Score:5, Funny)

    by larry bagina ( 561269 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @10:52PM (#6029013) Journal
    preferably with a hot chick who will invite you over to spend the night at her (air-conditioned) apartment!

    • Re:take a shower before bedtime (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Yeah, but he posts simplistic questions to /. which means the only "chick" he's going to get is one he can buy in the supermarket - which might be a good thing since he can buy them frozen. That should keep him cool. Sleep with a few pounds of frozen chicken.
    • preferably with a hot chick who will invite you over to spend the night at her (air-conditioned) apartment!

      Better make that a cool chick? :-)

      z

  • Keeping cool (Score:2, Informative)

    by smeagols_ghost ( 644286 )
    swampies can cause fungal growth if you dont clean offen, (high temp + humidity)

  • Breath mints (Score:5, Funny)

    by Pall Agamemnides ( 673074 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @10:52PM (#6029016)
    I've seen ads on TV for breath mints that apparently turn everything in their vicinity to ice. I'm not sure I understand the science behind this phenomenon, but maybe with a little experimentation you might be able to harness this strange power for your own needs.

    Good luck!

    • Re:Breath mints (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      No, I've seen these commercials. It won't work -- there is always a female crawling all over one after taking such a product. All that excess body heat will no doubt make the situation worse in the long run. I advise avoid the breath mints, and showers for that matter, in order to avoid the proximity of warm bodies.
    • It's called "evaporative cooling".

    • Or, harness the sparks from crunching wintergreen, and use the electricity to run your AC...

  • Some simple answers... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Nathan Ramella ( 629875 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @10:54PM (#6029021) Homepage
    Some minor environmental changes..
    1. Keep your windows open at night, close them first thing in the morning.
    2. Don't cook with your oven range (Probably not a problem for most slashdot readers)
    3. Keep doors shut to isolate heat transition from room to room
    4. Turn off all PDP-11's in the house.
    If you need an air conditioner and can afford to keep it on all the time, ignore previously mentioned solutions and just keep it cranked.

    However, angels will cry, baby jesus will be vexed, and your PG&E bill will be orbital.

  • Be kind to your Athlon, for it bears you (Score:3, Informative)

    by airuck ( 300354 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @10:58PM (#6029038)
    My Athlon workstation noticed the heat before I did. It crashed three times in one day. Wasn't the OS (LeeNux for heaven's sake), couldn't be MY code, must be the hardware. Cracked the box and sure enough dust bunnies camping out all over, including the cooling fins under the cpu fan. All was well after a simple vacuum, but it got me thinking, at 90F, it isn't even hot yet for the Central California Valley.
    I hate using the AC, but most recent architecture around here assumes that you will use it. There is an earth burmed home a short distance from here. Makes perfect sense in this climate.

  • I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:4, Informative)

    by danpbrowning ( 149453 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @11:13PM (#6029085)
    We're purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU Room Air Conditioner [sears.com] for $380. This is why I like it:

    * Highest BTU A/C that runs on 115 volts
    * Isn't a no-name brand
    * Is cheap.

    I researched a *lot* of a/c's and that's what I came up with.

    (If anyone else has found a better one, let me know!)
    • >Isn't a no-name brand

      Uhh... Kenmore doesn't actually make anything, eh?

      They're like today's HP. Buy it from a cheap Taiwanese factory and slap a Kenmore sticker on it (okay, okay, not that bad, but a lot of it is actually made by Amana -- at least for fridges).

      What does suck is that sometimes lower quality parts are subbed in. A good friend who once sold power tools told me that if I was to buy Black and Decker (which, in his opinion, sucked anyways) never to buy them at Sears, as the Sears version

    • Re:I'm purchasing the Kenmore 15,100 BTU (Score:5, Insightful)

      by kinema ( 630983 ) on Saturday May 24, 2003 @02:53AM (#6029747)
      Instead of buying a single Kenmore 15,100 BTU Room Air Conditioner [sears.com] for $US380 (39.7 BTUs per dollar) why not buy three Kenmore 5,250 BTU Room Air Conditioners [sears.com] for US$99 each (53.0 BTUs per dollar)? Install each of the three units in different sections of the house or appartment. Some of the benifits of this solution are as follows:

      -> More uniform distribtion of power leads to greater effiency
      -> Slightly lower equipment cost
      -> Multipule "zones" (at night, or whenever you sleep only one "zone" needs to be cooled)
      -> Smaller units are usually quieter leading to a quieter "zone"
      -> A few more BTUs total
      Just a thought.

      --adam


      "Go back to bed America... your government is in control." --Bill Hicks [billhicks.com]
      • It's not just a thought, it's the way you should do it. That big-ass AC is going to cycle on and off all the time which is NOT efficient (motors suck tons of juice at startup). For a 12x12 room, a 5000 BTU AC is perfect. That big unit is best for something like a livingroom / dining / kitchen area of at least 20x30.
        • Thanks for sharing the advice. We have a combined living room / dining / kitchen, just like you said, that is where it is going. Even so, it has 4 fan speeds though... shouldn't we be able to put it on a lower fan speed to keep it from cycling, if it's only a slightly warm day?
          • If you put the fan on a lower speed, then the compressor is on longer but is not being quite as effective since your are not moving as much air over the coils (but what air IS moving across the coil is getting a little colder than it would at high speed.)

            It's best to just make sure the AC is sized right for the room. Most utility companies have a chart as well as the owners manuals for the AC's. I'm sure it can be found via google.

            The difference in electricity used with a Massive unit in a tiny room is mu
      • Thanks for the advice, I never thought of that. However,

        * The most important room that we need to cool doesn't have a window that we can install an a/c in. Therefore, I'm installing a *huge* a/c in the nearest window (which is in the next room, the kitchen/living room) and hoping that through some combination of fans or luck it will cool both.

        * that would be ugly (where we're putting the big one now, no one will see it from the outside of the house).

        * I am lazy, and we plan on uninstalling it eve
        • We can't buy the normal air conditioners, because we have casement windows

          Most people with this problem put a hole in the wall near the ceiling, avoiding the window altogether. Flash and caulk it right, insulate the surround, get a good support frame and a winter cover, and you don't need to worry about it until the unit dies. Fortunately the trend is always toward minaturization, so a new unit can be fitted in.

          Oh, and replace the casements with double-hung when you can. (Sorry, I hate casements).
          • Thanks for the advice. Others advised us to install the a/c through the wall as well (I never thought about doing it high, that's smart, and obvious) -- but since the house we are living in is rented, and the landlord didn't like the idea, then we have to stick to the alternatives. Thank you for the commentary, however, you've contributed to my knowledge of a/c.

            BTW, why do you hate casements? Besides the fact that they don't play nice with a/c, I've enjoyed them (easy to open, but that's not always a fu
            • BTW, why do you hate casements? Besides the fact that they don't play nice with a/c, I've enjoyed them (easy to open, but that's not always a function of window style).

              While it's possible for a double-hung to become painted shut, or old ones to get stuck (modern ones have much better jambs), in the event of an emergency it's almost always possible to open a double-hung.

              Casements rely on unreliable hardware to open. Two of the three casements in my house need the cranks replaced. Also, due to styling, t
        • Well, I did put a normal AC in a casement. What I did was put a bracket on the outside wall that holds the AC from falling out, and build a wood frame with a lexan pane that fills the space over the AC. Works just fine.
      • Instead of buying a single Kenmore 15,100 BTU Room Air Conditioner for $US380 (39.7 BTUs per dollar) why not buy three Kenmore 5,250 BTU Room Air Conditioners for US$99 each (53.0 BTUs per dollar)?

        Having just made an almost identical decision at BJ's last month, I'm backing this. I went in for the 15 KBTU $400 unit, left with 3 5 KBTU $89 units. These were Maytags with a 5-year in home service warranty and a $10 rebate. I think they were mid range in efficiency, but they sticker said they cost $38/yr t
        • MANY of these items that have rebates are a limit of one per person or one per household.

          I would often get rebates at my school apartment for stuff my mom bought - An extra "household". :)
    • If you have a heating system that involves a fan and duct pipe running to registers in each room, find out how you can run just the fan (without the heating part) and this will help distribute the cool air from the AC evenly throughout the house or apt or lean-to or beaver mound or whatever.

  • my experiences/suggestions... (Score:3, Informative)

    by jeffy124 ( 453342 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @11:18PM (#6029094) Homepage Journal
    I have a drafty apartment, with a bedroom of about 15 ft by 10 ft. Last summer I bought a box air conditioner that goes in the window. It's a 6000 BTU that I got at Wal-Mart for around (I think, dont quote me) $160.

    Some nice things about it is that it attempts to maintain a certain temperature. You can set it to a desired temperature and it'll (try to) maintain that temperature by varying it's output over time. I cant tell for sure how accurate it is, but it gets the job of done from the standpoint of maintaining a consistent "feel".

    You can also set a timer to turn it off after so many hours, or on after so many hours. This good for when I go to bed, I can set the timer to turn the a/c off after 2 hours so that it's not running all night, and then, when leaving for work/school in the morning, set it to how long I plan on being out minus one hour, this way my room is cool by the time I get home without the system running all day with no one there.

    As for how much it's added to the electric bill, I cant really tell (nor remember). I have two roomates, each of whom have their own a/c boxen in their bedrooms. But yes - the bill will go up by a significant margin.

    If you choose a box air conditioner - pick one suitable for the size of the room it'll be installed in. If it's a small room like mine, 5000 or 6000 BTUs will do, but if it's larger, go something with more strength. I highly recommend the features like those I noted above.

    oh - and the best feature of my air conditioner - It has a Remote Control!
    • pick one suitable for the size of the room it'll be installed in.

      Quick rule of thumb: For residential spaces, 20-25 BTUs of cooling per square foot is generally sufficient to keep you comfortable.
      =Smidge=
  • that with a small window a/c unit and you should be set. worked for me in Phoenix and Tucson AZ quite nicely (110 degree summers).

    swamp coolers are not so good. you only get a change of 20 degrees or so, which sucks if it is 105 or so.

  • awnings (Score:4, Interesting)

    by zogger ( 617870 ) on Friday May 23, 2003 @11:42PM (#6029166) Homepage Journal
    --if your room windows get direct sun, by all means install awnings. Just keeping the sun from streaming in is good for a few degree reduction in temp. Shade *works*. the other examples are good too. sometimes there's no replacement for just normal technology,. If it was a home you could mod away at, there are some alternatives, but in an apartment, just a room, not a lot you can do, bite the bullet, slap in the window AC unit.

    well, maybe there's one more thing you can do, if you have no qualms about it.....you can also get a metal detector, probe the walls, find the central HVAC ductwork from the people next door running their AC, tap into it, suck in cool airbandwith, PROFIT!!!!1!

    heh heh

    In the olden daze, people would sometimes use damp sheets at night, I've tried it myself, it works, The easiest way to dampen them without a big mess and a lot of hassle is to get a towel or three wet, wring them out, lay them on top of the sheet, once the amount of moisture you want (damp, not soaking) is transferred, you slip under the sheets, fall asleep. It actually works, gets cool. Another way is to sleep on an unheated water bed, they usually stay pretty cool and will wick away body heat, unless they themselves get to 98.6 obviously. Do the water bed and the damp sheet trick, at least you can fall asleep comfortable, it takes one or two nights to get used to the sheet, but then it feels real nice. That and fans and an awning is about it in the cheap and low energy range in an apartment.

    • Just rip it out of the side of Flanders' house, don't bother to cover you tracks and deny it when Ned comes over to ask about it.
    • Perhaps you should look into some safety tips before sleeping on an unheated waterbed. Last I heard, doing that can either KILL you - or cause long-term bad effects. And at the very least, it would be incredibly uncomfortable. As a (former) waterbed sleeper, un-heating the bed is NOT recommended.
  • Things I do to keep cool:
    1. Use the mass of the house to "store cold".

      Keep the windows open at night. Let it get really cold throughout the house (except maybe the bedroom). Close the windows and blinds in the morning. Having tight seals on doors and windows helps here.

    2. Set up efficient air flow.

      In the evening, use fans to bring in cooler air from outside. (This depends on where you live. In the San Francisco area, it gets down into the 50s and 60s in the evening.)

      Put the fans in the windows. Block off as much of the window as you can except the area where the fan goes. Ideally, you can find box fans that fit precisely in the window.

      Important: point the fans OUT. Open a window on the other side of the house where air will come in. Pointing fans out is more efficient at moving air than pointing them in. Although pointing them in feels better, it doesn't do as good a job at actually bringing in cool air from outside.

      Don't use interior fans except when you are in the room.

    3. Use the multiple rooms of your home at different times of day.

      At night, I cool down the non-bedroom areas. During the evening, those areas are most comfortable, so I stay there. But I'm also cooling down the bedroom so that by the time I go to bed, the bedroom is comfortable.

    4. -
    5. Amit [stanford.edu]
    • That's the way to go!The main reason (i think) for Americans huge energy consumption compared to the rest of the world, is because AC's are used everywhere, most of the time, houses, work, cars... A lot of places in Europe have comparable climate with New York; but usage of AC is A LOT lower, especially in domestic circles, people using them are considered 'wasters of energy, too lazy to open ther windows at night et.c.) admittedly, New York is not the hottest place in US of A, I guess sometimes AC's are a
      • A lot of it depends on location. In San Fran & the East Bay most houses don't have A/C because it only gets hot enough to use it about 2 weeks of the year.

        If you're really dedicated and have done all the things the grandparent of this post mentioned, it might be time to go to Lowes/HomeDepot and buy $70 worth of blow-in insulation (read: big bales of pocket-lint). Such a purchase allows you to borrow their insulation blower. You install the insulation it in your attic. If you have balls you can cha
    • Use the multiple rooms of your home at different times of day.

      One minor point here, the topic is cooling apartments... For most apartment dwellers, this is simply not at option. In most metro areas, people only rent a multi-bedroom apartment if they have roommates...

  • For God's sake, man! Turn off your computer! ;)

    Seriously. My damned machine heats up the entire apartment!

  • Sorry about the subject line...

    A swamp cooler will only work if it's hot but not very humid. Here in Boston, for example, it would only make things worse. Note that you can't leave loose papers lying around with a swamp cooler running -- it's like a hurricane in the house.

    A ceiling fan makes your air conditioner work much better.

    One thing to look for in an air conditioner is the ability to suck in a bit of its air from outside, instead of just recirculating inside air or (with the lever pulled) blow

  • drink hot beverages (Score:4, Informative)

    by falsification ( 644190 ) on Saturday May 24, 2003 @12:34AM (#6029343) Journal
    Conversely, when you drink hot beverages your body cools down, because it is trying to balance out the temperature. When you drink cool beverages, your body will heat up, because it has to expend energy to keep your body at 37 degrees. So drink hot beverages. Don't drink anything cold.

    And lose some weight. You'll sweat less.

    • I always try to tell people that when I'm drinking hot coffee on a hot day... they insist I'm wrong and get an iced drink. Nice to hear that there are others who know the truth.

    • Re:drink hot beverages (Score:3, Insightful)

      by vrt3 ( 62368 )
      I had a professor who said the same thing, and I know people in Turkey and Morocco (amongst others) drink hot tea for that reason, but my experience is different. When I drink hot soup I get hot, when I eat ice cream or drink cold water/coke/ice tea I get cold.

      The whole idea is that your body overcompensates, because its 'thermostat' is in the back of your mouth (or troath, don't remember) and it gets it contact with the beverage, measuring an incorrect temperature.

      Now that may be (though personally I dou
      • I think it might be even simpler; when it is hot, and you drink a hot beverage, you sweat more. Sweating is your body's way of cooling down.
        • You sweat more *because* you need to cool down more, to lose the extra heat that was in the beverage.

          If you leave the door of the refrigator open, or if you put hot stuff in it, it will work harder to cool down, but it won't be any cooler in it. And if it was already it at the maximum of its cooling capacity, it will warm up instead of cool down.
          • Instead of drinking something hot and adding to the problem, eat tons and tons of salsa, garlic, and horseradish. You will sweat buckets, breathe easier, and cool down without adding heat. You will also feel an urge to drink lots and lots of water, which is a good thing. But don't drink COLD water, drink lukewarm water (if you can stand it). Lukewarm water is best for temperature regulation.
  • If you do want to stay green, just put in a ceiling fan. When I was living in a place without A/C (island in Thailand... high humidity and temperature), and as long as the fan was working life was good.

    If you have heat sources other than a couple people recreationally involved, then cooling might actually be required. Simple solution... shut off the computer at night!

  • Fans fans and more fans (Score:3, Insightful)

    by NeoSkandranon ( 515696 ) on Saturday May 24, 2003 @01:30AM (#6029531)
    After seeing all these suggestions for fans, I'm surprised no one's suggested a huge copper heatsink and a vat of Arctic Silver III.

    Seriously though, having a house in the shade of something else (trees most of the time) does wonders. I know it's not the greatest idea to have trees large enough to overhang a structure (not my idea, not my tree, yes limbs have damaged the roof when falling before) between the shade from the trees and the fact that none of the windows have a clear path to catch sun, it stays a good 5-10 degrees colder most of the time.

  • plants (Score:3, Interesting)

    by mattsucks ( 541950 ) on Saturday May 24, 2003 @01:38AM (#6029558) Homepage
    I find that when I water my plants, I get a nice cooling effect. Ceiling fans + watered plants + moderate to low humidity (Texas) work like a champ. Plus it makes the plants happy.

  • Turn on the oven in the kitchen... (Score:3, Funny)

    by dotpl ( 601535 ) on Saturday May 24, 2003 @02:18AM (#6029654)
    ...that way, when you go in and out of the kitchen, you'll notice just how cool the rest of your house is compared.

  • Move (Score:2, Funny)

    by flikx ( 191915 )

    Move to a place with central air. My place is no more expensive than any other.

    Either that, or move to Alaska.

  • Keeping cool (Score:5, Insightful)

    by travail_jgd ( 80602 ) on Saturday May 24, 2003 @02:34AM (#6029703)
    My apartment's AC isn't that good, so here's some of the things that I try to do:

    1. Change your lightbulbs. Either switch to a lower wattage incandescent, or use the compact flourescent fixtures. The halogen torches stay off all summer.

    2. Turn off computers, lights, monitors and TVs when they're not being used. Yes, it will ruin your uptime, but most computers from the past few years dissipate 30-90 watts of heat. CRTs and TVs also generate a lot of heat. I had a room that I kept 10 degrees F warmer in winter just by leaving the computers (P3-866 and Athlon 1800+) and their monitors on all night.

    3. Use your bedroom for nothing but sleeping. Turn on as few lights as possible, keep the TV and computer out of there. And sex will heat up a room (done properly).

    4. Control your apartment's airflow. Put a fan in the window of your bedroom, aimed in. In another room, put a fan in the window, aiming it out. Close all other windows, and you should get a nice amount of airflow -- either to cool down your bedroom, or take heat out of the rest of the apartment.

    5. Put a fan at the foot of your bed, and crank it up.

    #2, #4, and #5 have the greatest effect in my apartment. Just remember that everything that uses electricity is going to generate some heat, and decide what you want to do from there.

    • > Turn off computers, lights, monitors and TVs when they're not being used. Yes, it will ruin your uptime, but most computers from the past few years dissipate 30-90 watts of heat. CRTs and TVs also generate a lot of heat. I had a room that I kept 10 degrees F warmer in winter just by leaving the computers (P3-866 and Athlon 1800+) and their monitors on all night.

      And if you can't turn your computer(s) off for some reason, be sure you've got DPMS set to power off the monitor(s) when you get distracted

  • Earth. Use It. Don't Abuse It! (Score:5, Funny)

    by yancey ( 136972 ) on Saturday May 24, 2003 @03:14AM (#6029787)
    The cheapest solution (green too) that I can think of is to move underground. Have you ever been in a cave? Once you get about six feet underground the temperature never changes. It's always nicely cool. Some caves even come with filtered running mineral water. Bonus!

    Once underground, your only real environmental problem is lighting, for which you should use fibre optics and solar collectors during the day and use LED lighting powered by batteries when the sun is not out. Oh, and charge the batteries using solar too.

    If there are no caves on the market in your area, just bury your house. Remember, the dirt needs to be at least three feet thick, but you will reach a point of diminishing returns at around five or six feet so there's no need to waste your money and labor on extra dirt. Where you get the dirt is up to you, but please ask your neighbor before digging in their yard!

    Note: author not responsible for damage to buried houses
  • Live in a basement. Basements, almost by definition, are cold -- even in the summer. I love it here in my grandparent's basement :)
    • Word. My floor (linoleum tile / basement) is cool to the touch all year round, which sort of sucks in December, but ceiling fans in the summer just blow the hottest air onto the cooling floor tiles. The place stays cool in the summer and warm in the winter. I'm thinking about installing a timed 'bleeding' hose up around the whole house up where the foundation ends, that way I can keep the outer concrete damp, that should keep it a bit cooler in here. I also have a section of ceiling that extends from the ho

  • Cold Water? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by jedo ( 470842 )
    I've always wondered how effective running cold water from the tap through a radiator would be. Point a fan at it and let the heat go down the drain!
  • ... if you live in a building with a tar impermeable layer. A couple of buckets of white paint will drastically reduce the amount of heat your air conditioner has to pump out.
  • I have a second hand patton whole house air circulator, and god, do I love it. Turn it on during the day to blow all the hot air out of the house, and point it in the room at night to bring the cool air inside.

    link here from amazon [amazon.com]
    • Only 18" - That's tiny.

      We have an old but MASSIVE exhaust fan that's easily 24" or more. We have it in an upstairs room, facing out the window.

      For a significant portion of the summer (until it gets REALLY hot), all we need to do is open all the windows and turn that thing on, we get a cool breeze coming in to every window in the house.

      Even on some of the hotter days, running it at night makes the house cool enough so that the AC doesn't kick on until late afternoon.
  • ...is to move to an apartment with central air conditioning. I also have a programmable thermostat so the thing doesn't need to run when nobody's home.

  • Insulation (Score:2, Informative)

    by lowmagnet ( 646428 )
    Since I own my house, I decided to get my walls injected with tri-poly insulation. My house is all brick and hollow tile construction, so it was a bit difficult for them to do the task, but it's worth the money. On days where we hit 80 degrees here, the house has warmed up inside to at most 68-70. This, combined with opening windows at night, should make life bearable inside this summer.

  • Check out the roof (Score:3, Insightful)

    by adso ( 469590 ) on Saturday May 24, 2003 @10:46AM (#6030655)

    When I lived in Southern California, I rented an apartment on the top floor. Typical California apartment complex- the roof was six inches think, maximum. The landlords reroofed the place and all that black tar up there would help the sun cook my place in the summer. The "property managers" were unresponsive so I took matters into my own hands, climbing up on the roof with a bucket of white paint and basically spilling it about where my apartment was located (the roof was flat and not visible from the street). This made a huge difference in temperature.

    I subsequently learned that they make a paint specifically for this purpose (reflecting sunlight off of roofs instead of absorbing it) and that a lot of large buildings in the LA area were using it to lower energy usage.

    Also, the previous post about awnings was spot on. Having shades is one thing, but the heat is already inside. Being able to block direct sunlight before it gets to the window will shave a few degrees off of the temperature.

  • Attach:

    - Thermal grease
    - Water cooled heatsinks
    - Various overly large fans ...to yourself...And you're cooling problems will be over! ;_)

    -psy
  • I've lived in apartments in a lot of cities, learned a thing or two about hot summers. Now living in Montreal this isn't the hottest place in summer but there is a few weeks of high temps and most structures here are optimized for the long cold winters. Here's my advice on what has worked over the years and locations...
    • Ensure good airflow in the space. Try and figure out if the breezes come from one side of your place or another and take advantage of that. Place fans to pull in air from one side of the h
  • ...and crank up the A/C.
  • I had a real problem with the heat from my computer heating up the area around my desk, so I fabricated some simple directional ducts out of soda cans to direct the air away from behind my desk, and I've already noticed the results... mind you, this doesn't make the entire room cooler, just makes it seem cooler while I'm sitting at my desk.

  • Water evaporators are bad (Score:3, Funny)

    by Muhammar ( 659468 ) on Sunday May 25, 2003 @12:05AM (#6033710)
    Humid heat is unbearable - and that is the kind of condition when evaporator fails.

    Evaporate pure grain alcohol! At $35 a galon, it is not too expensive. (Albertson's vodka is even cheaper than Everclear). Alcohol will prevent growth of mold, give out a nice refreshing smell and make your hot appartment very enjoyable. Biodegradable - and will not hurt ozonosphere.

    If you are willing to invest, buy a big dewar. Liquid nitrogen in bulk volumes is cheaper than milk. Wach out for a frozen mailman on doorsteps.
  • I just keeep a lump of mirror matter [geocities.com] around. It couples weakly with regular matter and radiates off most of the heat as mirror photons. Also works great for cooling Pentiums, and you can run cables right through it. I thought all geeks did that.
  • Its not that complex..

    Stick a unit in the window(s).. if thats not allowed get a free standing one and drag it around the apartment with you...

    Or find another place to live..

    Not been on your own long i take it?

  • If you have more than one level (we had an apartment with a loft) open up windows on top and bottom. With just the windows on the main level open, our apartment would hold around 20F above outside temperature, but with the top windows open we got such a breeze (even though all windows faced the same direction!) that the differential was less than 10F.

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