It was 110 inside my room

HooRU

I stayed with my sister because their house is cooler.

Please don’t call me a wimp: I lived without cooling for 20 years most of that time, in Texas and the South and the Desert. I’m just too old and I don’t have a good heart, I really pitty the folks suffering without cooling like I was.

We are still breaking records and the Arctic is melting down to ½ (I estimate) the ice.

If things weren’t stacked well against hurricanes, we’d already have had a few. They ARE coming though.

Somewhat-Reticent

HooRU You’re not a wimp - and not a fool. Some years ago I used a
“Kool Kollar” fabric tube around water-absorbing crystals, but only with a layer
of fabric protecting skin from chill. Even that depended on low(er) humidity.
But it worked during a power outage.
( I wish I could coat my thick black roof with white, at least for summer. )
(( Also found same crystals in a store’s garden supplies section. ))

takeahike

We have two portables air conditioners, one for the family room where we mostly hang out and one for the bedroom for at night. I don’t want solar that they push on you endlessly and using the central air would run the bill through the roof. With the portables the electric bill is about double during the summer months over the winter months but still affordable. Buying solar is just another mortgage on your house that doesn’t pay for itself for two and a half decades and would be something I would have to pay it off when and if I ever sold the house, so a losing proposition in my view. They do have those sort of lease programs but they admit that my bill would come to about what I’m paying now even with the portables. Perhaps I could use the central with solar at a more reasonable rate but someone I know who has it and uses the central pays more than I do during the summer months because at least in his case it doesn’t provide all that is necessary and therefore has to be supplemented with juice from the electric company.

urbanriot

HooRU I don’t have a good heart,

that’s fair but do you not have air conditioning? or fans? or ice for cold drinks?

Somewhat-Reticent

urbanriot ice for cold drinks

Careful - sip only.

HooRU

urbanriot Yes, I have an air conditioner, it is ineffective when it’s hot. I live in an attic in a very old house. It is very drafty here and rickety. But I cannot afford to move to a better place.

Fortunately, my sister looks out for me.

JanJ

Somewhat-Reticent
Used “Cool Collars” for years while motorcycling. 👍

DrStrange

HooRU Especially Monday was pretty brutal. Reminded me of south GA or north FL in summer, not New England. 100F with 79F dew point. Heat index comes out to 120F.

takeahike

DrStrange

The humidity is the worst part. When I lived in NYC 90°F was way worse than even 110°F that we get here in So. Cal. sometimes. 90°F is kind of a typical summer day here and is really not that bad because of the low humidity. I cannot even remember much more than about 90° when I was in NYC, so the recent 100°+ had to be unbearable. I had no A/C when I lived in the Bronx until 1964 but then when we moved to a co-op in Queens there was A/C. Most people I knew probably didn’t have A/C until the early 1970s.

HooRU

It’s tougher as you age, with your heart that is.

When I lived in CT when I was younger yup, no AC but I would go down to the river and take a long dip. You can’t do that now I don’t think. As kids we had a ball, it’s crazy because there were water mocassins, you could see the snake balls in the water. We also dived off ropes. With all I’ve done in life, the fact that I’m alive is crazy. I’ve nearly been killed so many times, just a few weeks ago for example, I was nearly TBoned from a car driving in the sun at a high rate of speed. I just barely evaded.

My wife says she constantly prays for angels to surround me, I think she’s right. God I love my wife.

Somewhat-Reticent

HooRU It’s tougher as you age

Or as one gets less aerobic exercise while not balancing diet intake therewith.
Stamina matters - helps resistance too.

ThirdShifter

HooRU It is very drafty here and rickety

Insulation is cheap to insulate a small area

Astyanax

HooRU I live in an attic

Still??

Splitpair

ThirdShifter Insulation is cheap to insulate a small area

This was advised back on DSLR, guess it never got installed.

Somewhat-Reticent

ThirdShifter Insulation is cheap to insulate a small area

Materials, perhaps, but labor costs have increased substantially.
It’s relative: retrofit cheapness may not match landlord cheapness.
Perhaps a discussion of this topic could start under Home Improvement?

HooRU

It is insulated. only thing to do is cover walls in foam and i can’t

MacLeech

HooRU It is insulated. only thing to do is cover walls in foam and i can’t

Seal the air leaks so it’s not drafty. Keep the hot air out and cool air in.

real_aurgathor

MacLeech Seal the air leaks so it’s not drafty. Keep the hot air out and cool air in.

While that works to some degree against cold, it won’t do diddly squat against heat.

There are a number of ways to deal with heat, and they normally involve adding insulation or an AC. For example. at my previous place I discovered that there was only about 1.5″ (!!) worth of insulation in a 3.5″ deep cavity. I also added ¾″ foam to the inside walls and 1.5″ foam to the ceiling.

MacLeech

real_aurgathor I’m only going by what he tells us. He said he has AC and insulation which he can’t add to, but it’s drafty. It’s difficult to keep a space cool, if the cool air keeps leaking out and being replaced with hot air.

HooRU

As funds and ability and practicaility dictates, I’ll keep working on it.

It’s 89 outside and my ceiling is very warm.

I’ll move when I’m able to, but my rent is way below the going rate here and all that I can afford. He charges less because he knows the apartment is substandard.