I'm moving into a non air-conditioned apartment, what can I do to survive during the summer?

Question

I'm moving to Portland for college and my apartment is non-air conditioned, I know the most obvious substitute are fans, but I don't want to be surrounded by 50 fans nor want to use so much electricity.

Are there any earth-friendly replacements, or suggestions?

Answer 1

i use solar convection for 100% of my homes heating/cooling. basically think of a big green house on the south side of your home with black walls and black floor. there are vents on the top and bottum of the inside wall going into my house. when the air in the room heats up the hot air rises up threw the vents in the house, pullling in cooler air from my house. then at night i simply close the vents.

i also use solar aic conditioning in the house. i have a big black metal box on the top of my home that heats up supper hot in the summer time. as hot air rises it sucks the warm  air that's collecting in my cieling, which creates a suction inside the house. i have vents on the floor that are pipes threw the dirt in the front yard which draw in the cool thermal air into the house.

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Answer 2

they make solar powerd fans i use one the only con is you have to keep them in pure sunlight but it worksout for me

Answer 3

Get some nice shades for your window... keeping out the sunlight will help keep room temperatures down.

Also get some plants. They have some small effects,but they help the room *seem* cooler too.

Drink lots and lots of water. You'll feel better... especially if you drink ice water.

Try to leave as many windows and doors open as possible. A good cross breeze helps considerably.

Don't use more appliances than you have to. Your computer can generate a surprising amount of heat, as can a microwave. Same goes for lightbulbs... think of all the heat that an incandescent bulb produces! CFLs will reduce the heat output and your energy bill.

Answer 4

The good news is that Portland does not get very many days over 85 degrees.

Some of the things I do are:

Open windows at night and in the morning, cooling the apt. down, then close everything up.  Close the blinds, so you Will have less solar gain during the day.  Do not open the windows until the outside air is cooler then the inside.

Take a cool (not cold) shower in the evening and air dry your hair.  Make sure you use the bath rm. fan because you will not want the humidity in the apt.

Change out the incandescent bulbs for CFL's. Every watt saved is one that is not needlessly heating your apt. If you reduced your lighting by 800 watts it would be like removing an 800 watt heater.

If you need to, save the original incandescent bulbs and replace the CFL's when you move out.

If you have a choice take a ground floor apt. it will be cooler, even better would be one with north facing windows.

hope this helps

Answer 5

Here are a couple easy things to help.  

If you have windows that open at the top and bottom, then open them like this  the warm air near the ceiling can exit out the open top window and as it does, it will draw in cooler air from outside through the open bottom window.  Works best at night when outside air is cooler.  Putting fans in the windows helps even more.  At the top, the fans blow out, at the bottom, they blow in.

Another simple way to cool air is to dampen a towel and hang it in front of a fan so that the moving air blows across it.  As water evaporates, it gets cooler and this will cool the air from the fan blowing past the towel and onto you.

Answer 6

I found a website that gives alternatives. It gives some real good ideas. Hope it helps here it is http://www.ehow.com/how_2045529_cool-wit...