Post by sunshine on Jun 30, 2005 5:17:45 GMT 10
Cool Tips for Hot Days
Your Guide, Pat Veretto From Pat Veretto,
Your Guide to Frugal Living.
Quick, cheap, and effective tips to beat the heat and stay cool.
# Run cold water over your inside wrists.
# Set a bowl of ice or cold water in front of a moving fan.
# Dampen your clothing.
# Use a wet washcloth on your forehead. Move it often to help release heat.
# Put your feet in a basin of cool (not cold) water.
# Lie on the floor, preferably hard surfaced.
# Be lazy. When the temperature soars, sit.
# Wear loose, light - colored, cotton clothing.
# Drink water, and plenty of it. It's cheap preventative medicine.
# Avoid caffeine, alcohol and stress.
# Eat light, as in fruits and raw vegetables. Go easy on protein; it increases your body's heat production.
# Daydream - snowstorm, cool rain, the North Pole. Cheap relief!
Check in on neighbors in poor health, or the elderly. People who don't feel well to begin with, don't always recognize extra health problems caused by heat.
# I aim the fan right at the bed or couch while I lie there and mist myself with a spray bottle of water.
# A college roommate from India gave me this idea. She sprinkled her cotton sheets with water before she went to bed on hot nights.
# Body heat is lost through the head, so do away with long hair, hair spray and 'updos' for the summer. Keep your hair short and freely moving to allow heat to escape.
# There is no better personal air conditioning at any price than: a wetted white cotton dishtowel or diaper tied from forehead to nape of neck, and long enough to drape covering the head to or past the shoulders. If you wear a brimmed hat to shade nose and cheeks, just place that on top. Any slightest air movement's a delight with this renewable, recyclable evaporative cooler. Just re-wet from your water bottle when you stop to rehydrate your innards.
# Make a simple icepack, (small plastic bag and a handful of ice works just fine) and wear it on top of your head. You may wish to put a cloth underneath the pack. If you are moving around, a hat will hold the pack in place, and keep the sun off your head as well. Most body heat is lost through the head so this really helps cool your entire body! This works beautifully at home, in the car, and even in direct sun.
# Keep a spray bottle filled with water and "spritz" your head and neck as needed.
# There is a cloth tube filled with those granules (used to hold water in potted plants) that is available in drugstores. The granules soak up a lot of water. If you soak it in ice water until it is full then tie it around your head or neck, it maintains the "cool" for a long time. When it stops working, soak again in ice water.
# Close all the windows in your house except the one in the room you're in, then place a fan in a window away from the open window and direct it to blow outside. This pulls the air in from outside and creats a nice breeze for you. I place my fan blowing out my laundry room window and open my bedroom window before bed time, the room is nice and cool by the time we retire for the day.
# If the heat becomes unbearable, go to the moivies or the mall. Practically every public space has air conditioning which you can access for little or no cost.
# I un-plug the heater for my waterbed during the summer months -- keeps me nice and cool at night.
# Keep the windows closed and the curtains drawn. Use the microwave oven instead of the conventional oven as much as possible (conventional oven lets off a lot of heat along with microwave saving a lot on energy cost). Turn air conditioner on one day, off the next and use fans, on the next, and again off with fans.
# Keeping room-darkening blinds pulled which reflect more sun and heat, turn off the air conditioner, but turn the fan on rather than on automatic. That will pull up cool air from basement or will circulate the air from cool-air returns which usually are at floor level where air is cooler.
# Compact fluorescents, although not giving off as nice a light, use much less electricity and put off much less heat than incandescents.
# Unplug your tv and vcr at night and when they're not in use. Also, shutdown your computer. Those screens, both the tv and computer generate a lot of heat, and waste a lot of electricity preparing to come on when the button is pushed.
Your Guide, Pat Veretto From Pat Veretto,
Your Guide to Frugal Living.
Quick, cheap, and effective tips to beat the heat and stay cool.
# Run cold water over your inside wrists.
# Set a bowl of ice or cold water in front of a moving fan.
# Dampen your clothing.
# Use a wet washcloth on your forehead. Move it often to help release heat.
# Put your feet in a basin of cool (not cold) water.
# Lie on the floor, preferably hard surfaced.
# Be lazy. When the temperature soars, sit.
# Wear loose, light - colored, cotton clothing.
# Drink water, and plenty of it. It's cheap preventative medicine.
# Avoid caffeine, alcohol and stress.
# Eat light, as in fruits and raw vegetables. Go easy on protein; it increases your body's heat production.
# Daydream - snowstorm, cool rain, the North Pole. Cheap relief!
Check in on neighbors in poor health, or the elderly. People who don't feel well to begin with, don't always recognize extra health problems caused by heat.
# I aim the fan right at the bed or couch while I lie there and mist myself with a spray bottle of water.
# A college roommate from India gave me this idea. She sprinkled her cotton sheets with water before she went to bed on hot nights.
# Body heat is lost through the head, so do away with long hair, hair spray and 'updos' for the summer. Keep your hair short and freely moving to allow heat to escape.
# There is no better personal air conditioning at any price than: a wetted white cotton dishtowel or diaper tied from forehead to nape of neck, and long enough to drape covering the head to or past the shoulders. If you wear a brimmed hat to shade nose and cheeks, just place that on top. Any slightest air movement's a delight with this renewable, recyclable evaporative cooler. Just re-wet from your water bottle when you stop to rehydrate your innards.
# Make a simple icepack, (small plastic bag and a handful of ice works just fine) and wear it on top of your head. You may wish to put a cloth underneath the pack. If you are moving around, a hat will hold the pack in place, and keep the sun off your head as well. Most body heat is lost through the head so this really helps cool your entire body! This works beautifully at home, in the car, and even in direct sun.
# Keep a spray bottle filled with water and "spritz" your head and neck as needed.
# There is a cloth tube filled with those granules (used to hold water in potted plants) that is available in drugstores. The granules soak up a lot of water. If you soak it in ice water until it is full then tie it around your head or neck, it maintains the "cool" for a long time. When it stops working, soak again in ice water.
# Close all the windows in your house except the one in the room you're in, then place a fan in a window away from the open window and direct it to blow outside. This pulls the air in from outside and creats a nice breeze for you. I place my fan blowing out my laundry room window and open my bedroom window before bed time, the room is nice and cool by the time we retire for the day.
# If the heat becomes unbearable, go to the moivies or the mall. Practically every public space has air conditioning which you can access for little or no cost.
# I un-plug the heater for my waterbed during the summer months -- keeps me nice and cool at night.
# Keep the windows closed and the curtains drawn. Use the microwave oven instead of the conventional oven as much as possible (conventional oven lets off a lot of heat along with microwave saving a lot on energy cost). Turn air conditioner on one day, off the next and use fans, on the next, and again off with fans.
# Keeping room-darkening blinds pulled which reflect more sun and heat, turn off the air conditioner, but turn the fan on rather than on automatic. That will pull up cool air from basement or will circulate the air from cool-air returns which usually are at floor level where air is cooler.
# Compact fluorescents, although not giving off as nice a light, use much less electricity and put off much less heat than incandescents.
# Unplug your tv and vcr at night and when they're not in use. Also, shutdown your computer. Those screens, both the tv and computer generate a lot of heat, and waste a lot of electricity preparing to come on when the button is pushed.
Thanks! We need ways to stay cool---it's been so hot this summer! 
