How did our ancesters in hot areas do it---no air conditioning

A month ago, my husband said funds were tight and he has put his foot down and said we will not turn on the air conditioner. I thought it was a great idea. So excited to see that bill.

But I argued today---as we reached over 100F...but was afraid to look at the checking account so I backed down. But I will say...when the house thermonitor says 98F...its not a comfortable house. I had to throw away some wine even....

So when we were going up to 95F....it wasn't that bad. I had some "acclaimating" time that wasn't easy...but with a whole house fan it seemed sweltering but ok.

But today was different---I was angry, (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)y, collasped into a chair after walking across the living room, unable to clean house. All I can do is sit still with the fan on me and type this post. Or get wet in the sprinkler (which was nice).

When I was in my twenties.....I lived in a two story with no air. The upstairs was off limits for three months and that was just how it was. But now I'm spoiled.

I'm interested in tips for those who know.....make me feel spoiled and tell me about those times you had no climate control and survived.

 

Dont waste time with curtains. Hang something outside to stop the sun from hitting the window. Depending how serious you are, and old pioneer trick is to hang sheets across open doors and keep them wet. Sort of like evaporative air-conditioner without electricity

 

Correct, in the desert area of Northern Africa they use dry underbrush or stuff in front of the windows [without glass or other, of course] and they put a little container releasing a bit of water, slowly, over it. Of course this is possible where there is still a source of water ...

Windows themselves can offer a further aid, but they need architectural modifications: think to windows in Arab countries, no glasses only odd "holes" ... those holes generate an exchange of air and of heat from inside to outside.

 

I grew up in the South without air conditioning. The vast majority of homes (and cars) had no AC back in those days. Go outside during the day. Find shade. That's what we did.

 

Older houses in hot areas were built for ventilation and for cooling. A high ceilinged house is cooler than a low ceilinged house, for example.

You have to be crazy to live in 100 degree heat without A/C.

I lived in Miami without A/C, and it was livable--but it never got to 100 degrees--inside the house it was usually in the 80s. I would take three cool (not cold) showers a day--one in the morning, one when I got off work, and one before going to sleep.

 

I have just spent a thought about Sicily. There some summer days can be extremely hot [because of a hot wind coming from Africa, the Scirocco]. Houses in old times had a room which was used as a kind of "cave" to stay a bit fresh when the Scirocco blew, they had defined "Scirocco rooms".

 

They dealt with it, staying put to conserve energy if it was extreme enough, or die. I was thinking about this recently actually. Cavemen, which I will use as a term to describe Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Mesolithic peoples could not have the luxury of air conditioning, cool water, and the ability to take very many days off. I would think, having studied prehistoric people, that given they needed to provide water and food daily, they took very few days off sort to say, even it was 100 degrees, people needed to eat. If it was hot, there's a big imperative for water, so traveling to the local stream or whatever would need to be done.

Also though, our ancestors were far better adapted for wild conditions, and comfortable. The dealt with temperature extremes, they couldn't cool off by going inside to seventy degrees. In a hot climate, this builds over time comfort and adaptation. I've had the experience of Maine and New Hampshire winters. When winter starts, fourty or fifty degrees seems cold. As I deal with negative ten to positve twenty-five degree temperatures, I adapt. At the end of winter, fourty degrees seems quite nice out. When fifty-five or sixty comes, it feels quite warm and comfortable- perfect. This winter where I live in Maine was particular bad, and now if it was fourty or fourty-five out it would of felt nice in the spring. I was inside for at least 10 hours a day, everyday through winter. Cavemen didn't get to go inside. They dealt with or died. Cavemen adapted to their environments and were temperature tolerant.

Also, in many high temperature areas, such as Africa, their pigment is darker. This makes it very hard to sunburn. In some northern areas in Europe for example, they have halpogroups (genetic genes, male and female seperately noted, with lineages that denote common ancestry) that help people be cold tolerant, and it's been scientifically proven. I'm sure some African halpogroups help with heat as well.

 

. This is the first time inside temp reached 98. And I basically didn't handle it well. You can't spend energy cleaning because you get so over heated with simple chores. It seemed cooler outside in the shade. Basement was cooler.
Luckily we are cooling to low 90's today and tomorrow.

I'm working today...so all is good. Yesterday I was grumpy.

 

Yep...shade under a leafy tree and a sprinkler running seems to help.

 

I've lived in the desert for a lot of years. Grew up with evaporative cooling (works well during dry months and is about 1/3 the cost of a/c), but now have air-conditioning. When a transformer in the neighborhood blew last summer and the electricity was down, I simply couldn't handle the heat and had to go to a motel for two nights. The best thing you can do for yourself is stay out of the sun, get some cool cross-ventilation going, and drink a lot of good water. A gallon a day is not too much.

The old houses in So. Arizona were designed without evap cooling or air-conditioning and those old codgers seemed to survive just fine.

 

A lot of posters have it right, home designs were different, high ceilings,functional transom windows, orientate the home so summer winds blow through the home, in hot climates the kitchen cooking is kept away from the living area, materials -brick or stone are better at keeping a home cool...

 

Forget about evaporative cooling above 90 degrees F. Hanging wet sheets or installing an evaporative cooler will do little. In the absence of electrial regrigerated air, your best bet is to get a bunch of ice, put it in a large ice chest and set up a fan to blow over it. Large roof overhangs or trees can block a lot of sunlight which translates into less heat as well. 98 degrees is brutal.

 

Freeze a gallon milk jug of water then place it between you and a fan and it will cool off the air that is blowing on you a fair amount.

 

One of the most important inventions of the last century was air conditioning. The other one was elevators. I found out a long time ago what it was like to live without AC. First of all, before the mid-70s, cars did not come with AC, it was a very expensive option so most of us suffered as our parents drove us to summer camping spots in the station wagon full of kids, dogs, coolers and camping gear. Yes, the kids would all cram into the back seats while the parents smoked like fiends as we drove for hours on (*)(*)(*)(*) roads in 100 degree weather with no AC. Frigging nightmare.

I can still remember one fourth of july vacation we took to Yosemite in that wagon in 65. We drove through Bakersfield which is a hell hole and hotter than (*)(*)(*)(*) in the summer. It was pure hell. We saw a sign for Buck Owens Park or something like that, it had a grandstand, some merry go rounds and a dirty brown lake filled with kids on inner tubes and inflatable rafts. We all ran straight to it and jumped in to cool off.

BTW, the easiest way to cool off is to use the swamp cooler method. Just turn on a fan, take your tee shirt and run it through water. Put it back on and sit in front of the fan. Works like a champ.

 

Actually, evap cooling works pretty well at all temperatures if the outside air is dry.

 

As some have pointed out, glass windows receiving direct sunlight tend to sharply increase indoor temperatures. That is why so many houses in hot climates have shutters. Open the glass windows and let the air filter in and out through the shutters.

The old timers in the southwest learned from the American Indians. They build their homes out of sun-dried bricks with very thick walls. The roofs were of either rushes or tiles designed to reflect sunlight. The outside was covered in white stucco to also reflect sunlight.

For 4 years, I lived on a ranch where the main building of the house was adobe built in the very early 1800s. Near or above 100° and it was always mid-70s inside.

 

Yeah if it's dry and 100F then you can cool off to about 90F using an evap....Big whoop.

 

I grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida in the late fifties, sixties and early seventies. Never had an ounce of air conditioning because my old man was too cheap to buy one. They were plentiful but as one poster mentioned, cars with AC were rare. "Window rattlers" (window AC units) were common but whole house central air systems were not popular as of yet.

It never gets above 92 degrees in Tampa, St. Pete area due to the Gulf of Mexico. Inland, yes, but not above 92 along the coast. We stayed cool by limiting activities during the day. Fans and a sheet only were okay for sleeping, never blankets.

I remember one time when I was a kid, mom had to go pick up this real old lady and take her somewhere. This old biddy complained about the "breeze" blowing on her neck from the lowered car windows. Mom made us roll up the windows so this old bat would not freeze to death. I thought it was cool though riding around with the windows up pretending we had AC in the car! I looked at the people in the next car while I tried to look as cool as possible trying to make them jealous that we had AC in our cheap ass Ford Fairlane.

 

Thanks for responding everybody. I tried hanging wet towels by the window (attic fan is sucking air in) but the duct tape didn't hold. I'm a lousy survivalist. My husband is but he's not interested.

The best thing I've found is wearing damp clothes and not doing a darn thing around the house. This is a good opportunity--we have had summer where July through august was over 100...even up to 113 several days in a row. We've had a pretty moderate summer so far.

 

The ex and I used to sit around in our underwear with a mist bottle and a fan and mist ourselves with water. The mist helped a lot.

 

not sure if same way there, but here our electricity is half the price after you use the standard amount, meaning if you cut usage from the top, the savings is not as great....

you would think the standard amount would be normal price and over that would be double the price... but not the way it is

.

 

Its hard to say. The electric guy doesn't even go up to our meter---we've caught him gauging our readings from the far off road. We've had some weird bills.

Looking at what we paid for June last year and this year--we saved only $100. I expected much more. Based on what we paid for July of last year--I estimate $150 savings.

 

your energy must be pricey, I never go over $200.00 and I have the ac on 24\7 and plenty of electric toys, a few pc's, tivo's, ruko's, ect...

I use led's in the house, do you still use the old fashion light bulbs?

this is the led's I use around the house...

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BYG7O8A/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00E678X2K/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HRFMUUY/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Looking at our past bill--June of last year we paid just over $300. This year we paid $194. We have an electric water heater.....utility lights outside. Lots of lights. But we do have energy save bulbs...don't know the exact energy used. I'll be frank with ya---we tend to keep the lights and TV on. It would be a good experiment to turn that stuff off once in a while.

 

maybe get a window ac and hang sheets on doors to room, then could at least have a nice living room temp

whats sad is now that everyone uses energy efficient items, the electric company raised the rates so you really do not see as much savings using them... but if you don' t use them... ouch