What Are You Doing To Stay Sane During This Heat And Humidity?

[AbbysMom]

Well, sane is probably a relative term since at times I question my sanity when it's not hot and humid out.

It's day 3,195 of heat and humidity here in Massachusetts and a lot of the US and the rest of the world is in the same boat.

How are you staying cool?

I don't have central air conditioning, but I do have some window air conditioners. We have two on the first floor that we use to keep it tolerable during the day and one in our bedroom to use at night so we can sleep. I don't even want to see what my electric bill is going to be this month. I do realize my air conditioners are a luxury as many people and parts of the world do not have them. I feel like I am constantly going from air conditioned building to the air conditioned car and back again.

I long for a cool, crisp fall day.

 

[Kieka]

I have A/C at home (kept at 77F) and at work (kept at super cold, people seriously wear hoodies). I tend not to go outside much and go to places with A/C. In the evenings IIcan sit on the back patio, our backyard is usually cooler then surrounding area because of trees. So lately I water the back yard some and then hang out in a shady spot if I need some outdoor time. Around midnight, we open up some windows and turn on the whole house fan to bring in cooler night air but that is the joy of a desert area. When it is less humid we can turn it on earlier and the night air can keep the house cool until noon or later without the A/C running at all. But the humidity is a killer and goes later into the night so it gets muggy if we open up earlier right now.

When I was a kid we didn't have A/C, so during hot days we'd do dinner out or see movies just for the A/C. I remember laying starfish style on my bed at night with the ceiling fan going hoping to sleep when it was really bad. It doesn't help that my bedroom is very literally the hottest in the house due to its location, trees, and other buildings.

 

[sivyaleah]

We have central a/c, however, it was retrofitted into the (old) house and while it usually does a decent job of keeping the house cool, when it's really hot and humid it lags a bit. Thankfully the old huge in-wall a/c unit is still in the living room (because it would cost to much to remove and fill in the hole to match the existing hand done plaster walls). Yesterday, I had to turn on the oven and it just heated things up way too much so on went the old unit to cool the downstairs area. I also keep a small oscillating fan in our bedroom, which was put to use last night.

I think the real problem is the humidity in the house. The basement is in dire need of waterproofing - I've been putting it off for years but this summer it's gotten a lot worse. Once it gets wet in the basement that wet feeling filters into the rest of the house on really hot days. I hate to see what this will cost us!

Other than that, I run from air conditioned space to air conditioned space as much as I can. Commuting is particularly difficult on days like this. Anyone who has experienced the NYC subway in the dead of summer knows what I'm talking about. IT IS BAD

 

[aliceneko]

Being British, I don't have air conditioning at home either (though I do have it in the car). We are more natural for heating over here, so when a heatwave comes nobody knows how to cope

I've been keeping cool inside mostly and wearing as little clothing as possible. I also have a plant spray filled with water that I spray on myself to keep cool, and a portable fan. Supplies on ice lollies and cold drinks are well stocked! When I'm going out I often stay in shaded areas (or as much shade as possible).

I'm jealous of Toffee and Fudge because even with their fluffy coats they don't seem to have been affected by the heatwave at all! Thankfully the heatwave is meant to end in the middle of this week and we're having lots of rain and thunderstorms.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

AbbysMom -
Stock up on those reusable ice cold Gel Packs... you can even get the ones that also come with a velcro strap plus a cover or wrap, so that you can strap them to yourself. (You can wrap paper towels around a gel pack, if you don't have a fabric cover.) We have at least half a dozen in our freezer. We found ones we liked on Amazon. When it's hot and you are homebound, place them on your wrists, on your diaphragm area, behind your neck, even drape them over your feet while you sit at the computer. Balance one on the top of your head! It will help cool you down, trust me! We have a portable A/C for the bedroom, but we bring out the cold gel packs for quicker relief.

 

[Mother Dragon]

It's kind of warm in Texas. People are moving to hell for a cooler climate. Without AC, we'd all be like overdone soggy French fries. If we could find a way to wring it out of the air, we'd have an overabundance of hot water.

Texas summers encourage physical fitness. We have to make mad dashes to the car, where we do the hot upholstery dance. Then we race into our air conditioned destination. Anything outdoors might as well close up shop because we aren't going there.

Virtually everyone has AC, more central than window units. With the humidity, opening windows isn't an option unless we want to grow mold in the whole house.

During the day we drip sweat. During the night we drip humidity.

Electric bills? We have Go Fund Me accounts. It's too hot to stand on street corners with signs that say "Will work for electricity."

We can only swim in pools at night because the water will scald us. We just dip water out of the pool instead of using the water heater. A neighbor had a huge crawfish boil in his pool, but swore he'd never do it again because the critters kept climbing out and hiding the ice chest with the beer.

The real secret to being cool in Texas? Have central AC for every room, an AC'd tube that runs out to the car, and one that keeps the interior of the car cool. Oh, and an unlimited bank account.

 

[bodester413]

I have a window air conditioner that keeps it cool downstairs. When it's this hot I usually sleep down in the cat room/sort of home office on a daybed. I turned off the ac this morning but I'm kind of regretting it....It still feels like the dew point is in the 70s.

 

[denice]

I have central air and the office is kept very cool. I stay inside as much as possible. I don't do well at all with heat and humidity, I actually do better with cold unless it gets down to the dangerous frigid cold. We only had one week of that kind of cold last winter.

 

[foxxycat]

I feel like I have melted into a puddle. More laundry to be washed due to soaking shirt from sweating. Moody. Tired. I really hate this humidity. Theres a window unit at home that sort of keep it cool. Jon loves it hot. I detest it over 75. At work i keep ac at 73. At the vacation camp it's set to 77 because Jon doesn't like the cold air blowing on his throat..but it is better than 85 degrees in here. I am personally sick of this heat. I still go outside and try to move around but it's unbearable by 11am. This evening at 8pm stepped outside up in Maine and the air is so heavy and nasty I beat feet to get back in the AC. Normally it doesn't get over 85ish up here but nope didn't escape the heat. Tomorrow supposed to get some showers and hopefully it cools off. I like it 83ish. That's perfect for water sports. When its 90 and up even too hot to swim because sun beats down on us so hot!

 

[sabrinah]

This is my first summer since I moved up to northern California and it's pretty darn nice! The humidity is always high (currently 88%, oftentimes high 90's to 100%) but we rarely get above 75 degrees on the hottest days. Usually, it's around 70 degrees. At night it's still dropping down to the high 40's and the fog almost always rolls in around 8:30-9 pm. About 20 miles north is the closest city and since it's right along the coast it's always around 10 degrees colder than my town and generally pretty cloudy. Saturday night we went to see monster trucks (a small show that's kind enough to travel to rural areas) and I was so cold I couldn't stop shaking, even though I was bundled up in warm clothes.

I lived in Las Vegas for 10 years and those summers nearly killed me. You couldn't pay me to be outside at 2 in the morning in the middle of summer. Way too hot.

I spoke too soon. Humidity is up to 93% now. On the bright side, we aren't on fire yet

 

[neely]

I long for a cool, crisp fall day.

You and me both! I love fall weather and can't wait for this perfect season.

We recently had to give in and replace our age old furnace and a/c. This has been an awful summer, i.e. it's either pouring rain or temps. above 90F. The worst is when it's storming with heat and humidity. C'mon Fall.

 

[Kat0121]

I've been living in south Florida for 16 years. I'm used to it. This is nothing new. Typical Florida summer. Central AC is a requirement here. I also drink lots of flavored sparkling water and unsweetened iced tea. I'm also used to the scary electric bills. The upside is that they are typically very low in the winter because there's usually no need to turn the heat on so it kind of evens itself out.

 

[jcat]

No A/C here, and it's been miserable. Yesterday it got so hot that the soles of my sneakers fell off!!!

We open everything up at night to let in the cooler air, then close the windows, balcony doors and shutters by around 9 a.m.. We use an oscillating fan in the bedroom at night and also have one in the kitchen. I try to limit most physical activity to the morning and not use the oven or clothes dryer.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

We have central air and I am very grateful for it! I do my garden work later in the day. I sometimes end up watering my potted plants in the dark. The hard part for me is that my kids are cooped up inside. DS is getting over an eczema flair and neither really want to be out in the heat. But sweating will make DS more uncomfortable. We don't have a basement for me to send them to. (Although many times I consider giving them shovels so they can get their energy out digging us one. )

We all have Mission Cooling Cloths that we can use outside. DH uses them at work a lot. Mine is MIA at the moment. They do help a lot when I'm doing gardening in the heat. Sometimes I tie it around my head like a headband. Others I wear it around my neck or over my shoulders. It can give you chills for a minute. DH actually brings a separate cooler to work with ice water to dunk his cloth and hat in periodically.

Other than that; I dip into the kids Ice Pop stash.

 

[debbila]

You haven't lived ( died ) until you've experienced the heat in summer in the desert. Last week we had a heat warnng with 114 - 116 depending on what part of the state you were in. Now it's staying around 112, and we're supposed to cool down to 104 Fri. & Sat. Sure it's a dry heat but that's like standing in front of an open oven. I have central ac. I keep it on 78 and use a floor fan to make it feel cooler and keep the electric bill down.
When we go out we hurry from the air conditioned car to the ac'd building and back again. I stay cool by staying in during the day except for what's necessary. I don't even sit outside at night, it's that hot still.

It's all worth it in fall and winter with no cold or snow.

 

[di and bob]

In the summer I am always outside for all my garden tending chores by 6 AM to enjoy the cool before it gets unbearable. I open up the house and put fans in the windows at 4 AM when I get up, it really helps. But only if it is 70 degrees or lower. This year has been absolutely beautiful. Hot days that turn in to a week of cooler when you think it is nasty and are sick of watering. And RAIN! Like it use to be! We have been getting nice timely rains. Above normal for a change. After living for years in what seemed like a desert, it is nice! My tomatoes are six feet tall and loaded, onions the size of softballs.I have cantaloupe that are rivaling soccer balls!
PS It was 79 degrees at 6 PM yesterday, high of 81 today. Nineties coming back, but boy is this nice.

 

[Winchester]

I'm dying here. I don't have to move to Belize when I retire; Belize came to me. And I am not amused. It's really not the heat as much as it is the humidity. My hair turned into a huge frizz ball a couple weeks ago and, even with the oil I put into my hair, the frizz will not calm down.

We don't have central AC; every time Rick talked about installing AC I managed to talk him out of it. This summer? I'm sorry. The furkids are not doing well at all. We have fans running in the house as well as ceiling fans. But that does nothing for the humidity.

We keep both French doors open in the kitchen, open the living room windows and turn the fans on. It helps with the heat; the humidity simply sucks little green worms.

I live in the pool whenever I can.

For the last two weeks, we've been pretty much under a constant flash flood watch.

I hardly ever run the AC in my car. It's been on pretty much the last 2-3 weeks.

I, too, am looking forward to a nice, cool fall day...and I never, ever thought I'd say that.

 

[LTS3]

I have central A C but rarely use it because of the electric bill I just keep the shades down and the curtains pulled. I get nearly full sun all morning until early afternoon. The cats are fine with the windows open. They have the cool tiled bathroom and kitchen floors to lie on if they get warm. Sometimes Emma lie in front of the door to get the cool AC from the building hallway.

 

[Kal_shadowsmom]

I work at a small convenience store, if the heart gets unbearable I go "stock" beer. Mainly I go in the walk in and waft my shirt and soak up that cool cool air.

At home we have a.c. and we keep it at 74 degrees.

 

[denice]

I got my electric bill for July and it was $119 which is a lot for me. I live in a 730 square ft one bedroom apartment. It is an upstairs apartment which I am sure adds to the cost but that is still high for me.