Hot weather tips

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

OK, it's pretty hot here and most other places. I've lived in Tucson and Tampa, after decades in Wisconsin. How do you cope with the heat, besides staying inside (which drives me nuts)?

Here are some things that worked great for me:

1. It's mostly psychological. If you associate sweating with misery you will be miserable. If you associate it with sultry, lazy days, kickin back, you'll chill out. Same with cold weather in its own way, BTW. Sweat is good.

2. Clothes: long sleeves if working in the yard for more than a few minutes (learned this by watching Mexican laborere in Az waring wool flannel shirts while working in the hot sun). A Tilly had with wide brim (world's best hats, bar none). Tech fibers really work if you get good quality: they don't stick to you and let your sweat work. Almost all my tee shirts  now are the wicking kind.

3. Time: takes 10-14 days to physiologically adapt to the heat. You'll rarely get to that point on 1 week vacations, but it gets better after that. Your body sweats more efficiently, etc.

4. Exercising in the heat really helped me. I jogged as long as it was under 100 in Tucson but always with a water supply and a pulse monitor and self-permission to stop/walk/rest if needed. Here in the tropics, I only run if it's 90 or below, and in a shady neighborhood. Doing so seems to make me much more tolerant and comfortable in the heat when I'm just hanging out. But my pulse really rises fast in the heat, even at a slow jog so I monitor it still just to be safe.

What else?

 

[cube_rat]

What else?

Lots of H2O!!!

 

[Cool Dood]

1. It's mostly psychological. If you associate sweating with misery you will be miserable. If you associate it with sultry, lazy days, kickin back, you'll chill out. Same with cold weather in its own way, BTW. Sweat is good.

I'm afraid that associating cold weather with sultry, lazy days, kickin back, has never worked for me. Maybe I'm doing it wrong?

If the weather gets above your body temperature, does that mean that a fan will blow away the relatively cool air next to your body (not to mention the sweat) and heat you up more, so that in really hot places fans do the opposite of what they're supposed to?

I personally find swimming to be the most pleasant way of cooling down in the summer, although I guess you can't do that at the office (lifeguard job anyone?).

 

[Nords]

I personally find swimming to be the most pleasant way of cooling down in the summer, although I guess you can't do that at the office (lifeguard job anyone?).

I've seen lifeguards surfing but I've never seen them swimming...

 

[Dawg52]

I make sure I have plenty of beverages in my cooler as I take off in my golf cart. 

 

[TromboneAl]

It was 63 degrees in the house this morning when we lit the woodstove.

 

[Dawg52]

It was 63 degrees in the house this morning when we lit the woodstove.

Hey Trombone, when you gonna perform live for us again on the radio?

 

[Martha]

1. It's mostly psychological. If you associate sweating with misery you will be miserable. If you associate it with sultry, lazy days, kickin back, you'll chill out. Same with cold weather in its own way, BTW. Sweat is good.

  I'll try this with the hot flashes.

2. Clothes: long sleeves if working in the yard for more than a few minutes (learned this by watching Mexican laborere in Az waring wool flannel shirts while working in the hot sun). A Tilly had with wide brim (world's best hats, bar none). Tech fibers really work if you get good quality: they don't stick to you and let your sweat work. Almost all my tee shirts  now are the wicking kind.

  This just doesn't make sense to me. Doesn't having your skin exposed make the sweat evaporate faster, cooling you off?  Are the long sleeves really more about protecting you from the sun than the heat? So they are good if you are in the sun but bad if you are in the shade? Also, don't the hats trap heat from your head?  Maybe the best would be a wide brim hat with no top (unless you are bald). Or just a visor.

3. Time: takes 10-14 days to physiologically adapt to the heat. You'll rarely get to that point on 1 week vacations, but it gets better after that. Your body sweats more efficiently, etc.

  So that is why I never adapt to the heat. 

The one thing people do in the south that makes no sense to me is keeping their air conditioning on bitter cold. That seems counter productive and like it would make it more difficult to adapt.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Cold snap here, its only going to top 90. We just got back from a long walk enjoying the chilly breezes that in other areas would be comparable to a blow dryer set to 'high'.

Constant hydration. Whole house fans at night and into the early morning if its still below 75. Solar attic fan to delay heat buildup. Lots of pipe and duct insulation, and even at that I get 120-130 degree water out of the COLD faucet for 4-5 minutes if it hasnt been turned on in a while. Cheap intex $50 pool which works GREAT for a few dips a day when working outside. Coolaroo shade sails on the pergola and a ceiling fan mounted under the frame to allow actual outside relaxation in the summer. Ceiling fans in all the rooms. Couple of small high efficiency window air conditioners in the rooms we use the most so we can keep those chilly without killing the electric company. Lightweight baggy clothing of open mesh material, and not much of it. Late day trips to a shady park with lots of grass and trees where it always feels 20 degrees cooler than the rest of the area.

Fighting the heat feels like a war of attrition from when the sun comes up until it goes down again.

On really hot days when we really want to sit outside, a misting tube with four spritz outlets clamped onto a high volume floor fan set to "high" about 10' away and pointed at us. Actually feels a little chilly after a while, even though its 110 out.

I am, I should point out, getting a little tired of the summer heat after all these years and would love to live somewhere in CA that was temperate, relatively inexpensive, and without the tendencies for earthquakes, floods, mudslides or tsunami's...

But those winter months when we get weeks of 70 degree weather are ok, and our spring and fall are just like a lot of other temperate regions summer times, so I guess I cant complain too much.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

 I'll try this with the hot flashes.

If it works, PLEASE give my DW a call...

The sleeve thing is counterintuitive. But with a breathable fabric like a tech shirt or baggy light cotton, it's a tradeoff between blocking direct sunlight v. impairing sweating and its evaporation. For longer periods in the sun, the sleeves win, I guess (don't recommend flannel, though ). Yes, good in the sun and bad in the shade.

The adaptation thing is pretty amazing. I've had family visit and my brother, in particular, is miserable with the heat and humidity. After a week you can consistently watch him gradually whine less and less, and toward the end of a 10 day visit, he will happily tag along for all kinds of pretty strenuous outdoor stuff with out so much as a whimper. Most of this data comes from military research.

Of course if all you do is sit around in the air conditioning, it won't happen.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Cold snap here, its only going to top 90.

So remind me what region you live in (didn't see it in your profile).

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Just north of Excramento California. Yuba City. Central Valley. Hotter than crap in the summer.

But its a dry heat. Really, really dry.

 

[Dawg52]

I have another tip. I'm having a cold piece of watermelon as I type this. You northerners eat watermelon? Cool and refreshing.  8)

 

[laurence]

Had that whole house fan installed last week, it's a big winner.  When we go to sleep we have the window next to the bed cracked open about 4 inches and the breeze actually has us snuggling under the covers instead of sweating and miserable. Tori is sleeping better, too.    At this point we have to run the air conditioner about two hours a day, late afternoon once the hot outside air finally works it's way through all the insulation.  

 

[Nords]

Most of this data comes from military research.

My parents-in-law complained incessantly about the heat and lack of A/C when they moved to Hawaii.

After a year here, they complain incessantly about the cold winters.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

don't clog up the cooling system with antiperspirants, use undershirts if you need to look tidy. never put the top down when it goes over 89 degrees. never spend more than 30 seconds going from the air conditioned house to the air conditioned car. you can take your time going to the pool if your yard is shady. always keep at least 3 changes of t-shirts in the car trunk.

 

[unclemick]

Pretty cold here also - maybe 90 degrees(I'm from the LA swamp). Not as dry as parts of CA - but very reasonable.

Long sleeve shirt and straw cowboy hat(it is MO) when out in the sun.

heh heh heh- drink water if I'm actually working on the yard or something. Back in the pre Katrina days - eat a banana(potassium) and chase it with water, Benadryl handy for fire ant bites.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

"i don't sweat; i perspire. and i don't perspire."~~charles emerson winchester the thurd of m*a*s*h fame.

 

[JB]

lifeguard job anyone?

Apply here

My parents-in-law complained incessantly about the heat and lack of A/C when they moved to Hawaii.

After a year here, they complain incessantly about the cold winters.

I know the feeling.... those dreaded days when you're tempted to bundle up in socks.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

what are these "socks" you speak of?

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

don't clog up the cooling system with antiperspirants, use undershirts if you need to look tidy. never put the top down when it goes over 89 degrees. never spend more than 30 seconds going from the air conditioned house to the air conditioned car. you can take your time going to the pool if your yard is shady. always keep at least 3 changes of t-shirts in the car trunk.

Oh, yeah. If you are still working, they make these stretchy, lycra-like tee shirts that keep you neat and trim wearing a dress shirt, absorb sweat perspiration, and prevent that "is that a bug or is it sweat dripping down my torso" feeling.

 

[Eagle43]

In general, heat does not bother me. Specifically, I must have a hat, probably due to thinning of my hair (oops, I almost typed due to thinking). But I can tolerate most any heat. I just hate cold; below 60 degrees is too cold for me. Since I was born and raised in New Orleans, without air conditioning, humidity doesn't bother me either. Just cold. As to hot weather tips, here's one: avoid alcohol. Beer is no good outside in the heat. Drink water, plenty of it.

 

[riskadverse]

1. Live in a mild climate.
2. Live less than a few miles from the coast to catch the offshore winds.
3.  Take a dip in the pool.
4.  Run your pool solar collector at night when the pool gets over 85. 
5.  On those 3 days a year when all else fails, run the air conditioner.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

4.  Run your pool solar collector at night when the pool gets over 85.

great idea, didn't know they worked in reverse. the swimming hall of fame pool here in lauderdale runs a system at night in summer whereby the water is filtered but then returned to the pool streaming first through the air. it makes the water wonderfully refreshing to swim when it is hot out during our summer days.

i also swim the local high school pool. they do not have such a system and wow, what a huge difference an air-conditioned pool makes.

 

[Michael Moore]

We live three blocks from Ocean Beach in San Francisco, and when the temperature in the house (no a/c, no insulation) hits 70F we declare an official heat wave and complain bitterly about the beastly heat.

When you consider that I spent my jr high->university years in ABQ NM, and I used to be able to go out and ride my dirt bike all day in 95F+ temps (and enjoy it) I've really acclimated.

The best way to deal with hot weather is to not be there.

cheers,
Michael