When the sun is mercilessly hot, the apartment turns into a real Sahara. Need to cool immediately. Moreover, both yourself and your living space - and even close to heat stroke. What if there is no air conditioning? (And in general, I’m tired of catching a cold because of this monster). Eureka, we will lower the temperature using improvised means. Online forums claim that this is quite possible.
Method one: Give it a bath!
Popular wisdom advises that in the heat all surfaces and metal objects in the room (for example, door handles and batteries) wash cold water. Moreover, the colder the water, the better the effect. You shouldn’t wipe it dry either - let the moisture evaporate, they say, this way the air in the room will cool down faster.
It seems that the home thermometer is also tired of the heat and hangs with a sour face: +32! It’s okay, I’ll wash you now too.
I fill a bucket with cold water from the tap... You can call it cold with a big stretch - it’s hot outside, but the water, after all, comes from the river. I go over the floor and window sills with a rag. Sweat rolls down like hail, pouring down your face, but it doesn’t make you feel any fresher. And the thermometer won’t let you lie: the temperature seemed to start decreasing, but literally after a couple of minutes it returned to its original position. And I didn’t even have time to enjoy the coolness, I didn’t even have time to gasp.
Result: does not work.
Method two: Attention, curtain!
The advice on the next forum says: thick white curtains on the window, or even better - reflective mirror film, will save the room from straight sun rays, responsible for air overheating. It is best to close the window to stop the heat coming from the street.
I measure the air temperature immediately behind the glass - +35.5. Finnish sauna, and that's all. I close the window opening with white plastic blinds, sit on the windowsill and hypnotize the thermometer.
After 10 minutes of humble waiting, patience is rewarded: almost comfortable temperature– +30 degrees. Believe me, in a one-room brazier with south-facing windows, this is almost a victory.
If your apartment has been roasting in the sun all day, it will cool down slowly - the thermal conductivity of the air is low. It is best to cool your home with the coolness of the night, and turn it into a darkened cave and batten down the windows when the sun rises.
Result: the room became colder by 5.5 degrees. Excellent result!
Method three: Wet T-shirt competition
Traditional methods claim that increasing the humidity in the apartment will help cope with the heat - place containers of water everywhere, wet clothes and hang wet towels.
I start with a temperature of +32. I put a bucket of cold water in the hall and hang a wet sheet on the dryer. The idea of a wet T-shirt in the apartment does not stand up to criticism: streams flow disgustingly down your back, merging on the floor with the rivers loaded with the sheets. There is a disgusting squelching underfoot.
Result:
After 10 minutes the thermometer is not happy: it stubbornly shows +29. That is, the room became cooler by only 3 degrees.
Method four: Sea breeze
Place the ice cubes in a wide-necked container, add table salt and place the container in front of the fan. Ice trays are not suitable: the more ice cubes, the colder it is. They promised that in 10 minutes I would run for a jacket.
The problem of making ice is easily solved: I freeze one and a half liter plastic bottle with water, then I split the block kitchen hatchet. I mix the ice cubes with table salt(probably found in every home). The ice hisses and crackles, microgeysers explode on its surface, spraying icy water molecules in all directions. The directed air flow from the fan blows me with a fresh breeze. Bliss! No matter how I failed the experiment, I almost forgot about the measurements from the pleasure!
Of course, I don’t run for a jacket, but in 10 minutes the temperature in the room drops from 35.5 to 26! True, it’s all over pretty quickly: after an hour, all that’s left of the ice is a bowl of salty broth. But the result was still impressive.
Result: The heat has been conquered by as much as 10 degrees. Victory!
Method five: Cold accumulators
These are plastic containers filled with a special solution. They are the size of a pencil case. Sold in stores, one piece will cost around 400 rubles. When frozen, they are used to preserve perishable foods - ice cream will not turn into mush on the way from the store to home.
I managed to get hold of as many as 15 of these batteries. But it seems that this is not enough - they didn’t even think about cooling the air.
Result: does not work.
In hot weather, after working on the site, you want to relax in a house where it’s cool and fresh. Installing an air conditioner is an expensive pleasure. However, you can do without it.
1. Remove items that accumulate and retain heat from the house: woolen carpets, heavy dark-colored curtains, Stuffed Toys, winter jackets and coats. Place canvas, straw or cotton runners on the floor, and hang linen or cotton curtains on the windows. Windows facing the sun
side, keep them curtained so that direct sunlight does not heat the air in the house. These actions will help reduce the temperature by one and a half to two degrees.
Do not humidify the air too much. Wet sheets, pans of cold water, spraying water - all this should be used very sparingly. Otherwise, you risk getting not life-giving coolness in the house, but subtropical stuffiness.
2. Pour water into plastic bottles about four-fifths full, place them in freezer and when the water turns into ice, place the containers at the highest possible height (shelves, ladders, cabinets). The cooled air will begin to descend and displace warmer air, making the house cooler. The condensation formed on the bottles will slightly humidify the air, making it easier to breathe in the house. If you want to make the cooling process continuous using the described method, put a second batch of bottles in the freezer. Then simply change the containers every two hours: with melted water - in the refrigerator, with ice - in the rooms. This will cool the room a couple more degrees.
3. If there is a fan in the house, turn it on more often and leave it running even when you are working on the site. Moving air heats up much more slowly than standing air. You can put a couple of bottles of ice in front of the fan: the air will gradually cool down another degree and a half (a running fan, at least a little, heats the air around it).
4. Any electrical appliance generates heat during operation. For example, five ordinary incandescent light bulbs, when operated simultaneously, produce approximately the same amount of heat as a small radiator. Do not turn on the lights throughout the house on a stuffy evening. Another solution is to replace regular light bulbs with energy-saving ones.
No need to hang on windows facing sunny side, metal blinds: Metal heats up under the sun, raising the temperature of the air around it.
5. Cook food over an open fire outdoors more often. The dishes will turn out tastier, and the stove will not heat the air in the house. Leave all windows open at night and, if possible, open cabinets and bedside tables slightly to cool the heated air inside them.
Light curtains let in a lot of light, thereby allowing the room to warm up. Replace them! For example, on roller blinds: they completely cover the light opening, thanks to which you can dose the sunlight entering the room. Roller blinds are made from light-proof, light-diffusing and reflective fabrics, and they are also treated with dust-repellent impregnation.
Another effective method reducing the temperature in the apartment - cassette blinds. They are attached directly to the sash, so access to the window itself will always be free. In addition, due to the convenient mechanism for controlling the lamellas (plates), you can easily adjust the illumination of the room with daylight from the street. Plus: today you can choose a model that will organically fit into your interior.
But the fastest and easiest way to escape from active sunlight is to stick a reflective (thermal protective) film on the glass. It reflects infrared rays and reduces the flow of solar heat, and, unlike foil, does not affect the illumination of the room in any way.
Summer finally remembered its responsibilities and turned on the sun to the fullest. The streets are melting from the heat, and there is not the slightest breeze in the air that could somehow cool the hot streets of the city. It is especially difficult for those who cannot afford to get out into nature, but are forced to spend the summer in our cramped and stuffy stone boxes. And if the room is not equipped with air conditioning, then it’s a complete disaster.
However, there are several proven ways to keep cool even in this case. In this article you will find instructions on how to survive in the city even in the most brutal heat.
Keep your blinds or curtains closed
Very simple advice, as it may seem, but in fact, up to 30% of the heat comes from your windows. Close the shutters, blinds or blackout curtains, and you will immediately feel much cooler. This is especially true for rooms whose windows face the sunny side.
Switch your ceiling fan to summer mode
Whether you know it or not, but ceiling fans They usually have two operating modes: clockwise and counterclockwise. When it works counterclockwise, the blades rotate faster and create a stronger air flow. The clockwise direction has a slightly lower speed and serves to ensure circulation warm air in winter.
Worry about cooling the person, not the house
Our ancestors lived for thousands of years without any air conditioning and during this time developed many ways to survive in hot weather. We just need to take advantage of this and start cooling our body, and not the room around us. Cold drinks, special loose clothing, and bandages on the head and wrists moistened with water are used.
Turn on the hood in the kitchen and bathroom
if you accept hot bath or cook in the kitchen, be sure to turn on the hoods in these rooms. They will help you get rid of steam and hot air, and with it additional degrees.
Open all windows at night
In the evening the temperature usually drops slightly, and in some places the difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures can reach ten degrees. Don't miss the opportunity to take advantage of this and try to accumulate the coolness of the night for the entire first half of the day. To do this, open all the windows in the house when evening comes; you can even create a kind of wind tunnel using a draft. Just be sure to close everything before sunrise, before temperatures start to rise.
Turn off unnecessary lights
If you want to know how much heat one ordinary light bulb generates, just try holding it in your hand. To get rid of these heat sources in your apartment, turn off the lights you don’t need, or better yet, switch to modern energy-saving lighting sources that emit much less heat.
Make a long-term investment
If heat is a common seasonal phenomenon in your area, but for some reason you are opposed to air conditioning, then there are some measures you can take in advance. For example, surround your house with trees that will give you shade, install special awnings over the windows, or at least splurge on modern heat reflective films, serving to create an effective heat shield for your room.
How to escape the stifling heat? Here are some simple and practical advice that will help you cool down in hot summer weather.
1. Change your bed linen
Sleep on silk bedding, as this material is highly breathable and has hypoallergenic properties. However, pure silk is quite expensive. Therefore, you can use a little talcum powder by sprinkling it on a cotton sheet. This will help absorb sweat and keep you cool throughout the night.
2. Cool your wrists
Monkeys often lick their wrists to lower their body temperature. The same principle can help you too. You can hold your wrists cold water within 10 seconds. This lowers your body temperature for at least an hour. 
You can also rub so-called “hot spots,” including the back of your neck, knees, and feet, with a cool, damp flannel. The flannel can be placed in the freezer before use.
3. Remove metal jewelry
Heavy metal accessories absorb heat, which is then absorbed by the body.
How to escape the heat?
4. Cooling fan 
Can be done home air conditioner using a fan and water. Place a container or bottles of chilled water in front of the fan. This speeds up the cooling process in the room.
5. Turn off appliances
Many appliances in your home, including your television, generate large amounts of heat. Turn them off when not in use.
6. Sleep on the floor
Warm air rises, so if you feel hot in bed, it's best to sleep on a mattress on the floor.
7. Try yoga breathing 
Curl your tongue and inhale through your mouth. Exhale through your nose. Repeat several times.
8. Eat spices
Spicy foods actually have a cooling effect. Hot curry or hot peppers chilies increase sweating, which cools the body as it evaporates.
9. Replace ice cream with yogurt 
Instead of ice cream, eat yogurt, which has a higher water content to keep you cool.
10. Eat small meals
Overeating leads to an increase in body temperature. Finish your meal with a piece of fruit with a high water content, such as melon or pineapple.
11. Cucumber mask 
Cut the cucumber into slices, lie down and place them on your face.
12. Refreshing aerosol
Brew mint tea and cool it in the refrigerator. Fill a spray bottle with it and use it as a body spray.
13. Cooling the body
Dip the T-shirt in cool water, wring it out and put it on. As the moisture evaporates, you will cool down.
Swelling in the heat
Many people suffer from swelling in the heat, which causes severe discomfort. In hot weather, the body has a harder time removing fluid from tissues, including the skin, which can cause swollen legs, arms and ankles.
14. Less salt 
Reduce the amount of salt in your diet, avoid salty foods such as chips, salted nuts, and sausages.
15. More water
Drink more water. It may be counterintuitive, but water helps your kidneys excrete fluid better.
16. Nettle decoction 
Rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium, nettle fights swelling and poor circulation, ridding your body of excess liquid. Try nettle soup or infusion.
17. Vitamins
Vitamin B6, B5, calcium and vitamin D help get rid of excess fluid.
18. Physical activity
Move more, as a sedentary lifestyle contributes to poor circulation.
