Is there an alternative to using air conditioning inside my home?

Question

Is there an alternative to using air conditioning inside my home?

Answer 1

We live in the desert with no air conditioning.  Currently we have no ceiling fans. We open up our home at night and close up all windows and doors early in the morning.  When it is 100 degrees outside our home is between 79 and 82 in the late afternoon. The temperature is irrelavent.  It is how hot you "feel" it is.  Going from air conditioned room to outside and back again you actually feel hotter.  You have not had a chance to adjust.  When I feel too hot, I go outside and come back in.  It feels much cooler.

Answer 2

Sweating with the window open!!

Answer 3

Keep things ventilated. Open as many windows as you can in any room and leave doors open to create airflow. Keep the shades closed where the sun shines into your home.

Another great option, though not necessarily an option if your home is already built without one, is to make the basement a main living place during the summer. Basement's are almost always in a livable state during the summer so they're a great option if you have one.

Loose clothing, lots of water, and some fans are also good ideas.

Answer 4

wear loose or no clothing, use electric fans, keep windows open (put screens on windows to prevent bugs from getting in)...

this of course is assuming you want to keep yourself cool at home :)

Answer 5

If cost is your issue (running the AC can dramatically increase one's electricity bill), you can actually make your own air conditioner out of a fan, a large garbage can, some common hardware store items, water, and some ice.  It can easily cool your room and make it more comfortable, and you'll only be expending the energy used to run your fan as you normally would.

Instructions for building your own air conditioner are listed in the links, and offer a GREAT alternative to running the ac.

Answer 6

Well you can open all the windows and put in a few fans...

Answer 7

Yes but will not work, as well all the time.

I assume you don't want to use evaporative cooling ?? I have made one, cools my whole house very cheaply.

The basic design of the house needs to be suitable for climatic conditions.

In a hot climate, the ceiling need to be at least 8 ft. The roof above need to be at least 4 ft above that and made of reflective material. Use thermal currents to assists ventilation, for example ceiling slopeing upwards to a ventilation slot. The roof needs to be say, 10 ft bigger than the room walls. A pole building lends it self to this.

Answer 8

Aside from a lot of the other answers that you've gotten, I close all the curtains and blinds in my house while I'm away, or not in the rooms because then the house stays A LOT cooler.  Many people put tin foil over windows that get the most sun to keep heat out.... and I've heard that gets excellent results.

Answer 9

De- humidifies work well. Also whole house fans and evaporative coolers.

http://www.humidexhome.com/content/humid...

http://www.wholehousefan.com/

http://www.aireze.com/

Answer 10

Yes, a fan. A fan makes cold air come in as it pushes the hot air to go up. If you have a window in the upper part of your house that would help. Having many plants in front of your house is great also, because plants will absorb the heat instead of the house. We know that hot air raise and cold air settles at the bottom, so a ceiling fan can help push hot air downwards. What's better is, unlike aircon, a fan doesn't contribute to pollution, though they use up energy.

Answer 11

#1 better insulation.  If you're in the sun-belt, your house probably has poor insulation, at least as compared to the snow-belt.

Is there a high ceiling in your house somewhere? Most of the heat will crowd up there, so put in a big exhaust fan.

There are also swamp coolers etc. which use water-evaporation for cooling.  When a pound of water evaporates, it takes 1000 BTU of heat with it.  

There are also more efficient air conditioning/heat pumps, which uses buried loops of coolant to dissipate heat.  (works in the reverse in winter to heat too.)

Or keep your A/C but make it carbon-neutral by powering it with wind or solar.  Wind would probably be a share in a windmill far away, but solar could be on your own roof, and solar is producing at peak when your A/C needs it the most! .  

How do you finance expensive upgrades, like insulation or solar?  It's cheaper than you think if you fold it into your mortgage.  On a fixed-rate 6% mortgage, $1000 more mortgage costs $6 per month PRE-tax... and most of that is tax-deductible interest so your end cost after-tax is more like $3.50-$4.50 per $1000 depending on your tax bracket. It  could be profitable for you from day one!

Answer 12

I live in North Carolina, which means we get heat and humidity.

Last year my AC went out and even in 100 degree high humidty heat I was able to open the windows and use the ceiling fans and box fans.

Look at the placement of the windows in your home and make sure to open them in a manner to cause cross breezes.  This helps with moving fresh air in and then back out.

Answer 13

Sweat and be uncomfortable.

Answer 14

There are alternatives like using electric fans and opening windows and doors (make sure the screen is closed!), but another thing you can do to make less of an impact (because most of the greenhouse gas comes from is all the power it takes to run the AC) is to install some energy source on your property. The three that come to mind are solar panels (easy to do), wind turbines (depends how much space you have and city regulations), and micro-hydro (relies on whether or not you have a stream running close/on your property). Like all ways of getting electricity, it's going to cost a bit of upfront money (about $10,000 if you want to really save money and power in the future), but it's all worth it because they all pay off in about 10 years, and some cities give you money to help pay for the projects for going greener.

Answer 15

yes. get comfortable with the heat, if possible.

Answer 16

i have one i think everyone else does i think you have it too its called a window.

try opening it, the air outside is refreshing outside than treated air inside with the use of an air conditioner

Answer 17

I lived in Las Vegas and my AC went out and couldn't get repaired for a month.  I use AC in the winter!!  ...........Anyway, had to resort to spray bottles and an oscillating fan.  Works great...........until you fall asleep and then wake up panting.  My advice is..............bite the bullet, get AC!

Answer 18

opening a window, drinking lots of water, showering.