I
consider myself an expert on 'chillin as I live in So Cal's San Fernando
Valley where it's super HOT. 118 is a nice day in summer. We can
deal with that with my collection of FRUGAL METHODS (below on this page).
What's really a problem is, our area is notorious for WARM SUNNY winters
--- so warm that peaches don't have the minimum chilling hours any
more. And our Springtime is six months long and you have to water your
spring greens and broccoli and lettuce plants twice a day or forget about
growing your own.
Fact is the San Fernando Valley doesn't even have enough cooling hours to get apricots, peaches or berries. This winter, 2014-2015, we had no temp under 46 degrees and that was about three nights there! First time in history.
I grew tomatoes from November til mid May picking sweet ones in January. During the hot late spring and summer months here in Southern California, the temperature regularly soared above 100 degrees hitting 118 in the San Fernando Valley regularly. What is more, these desert heated Santa Ana winds howl over us coming from the MOHAVE DESERT. Big ole Amber Gum trees that are sixty years old, die standing up.
The California summer weather may be less oppressive than the humid heat downeasters have so I motivate myself to deal with SECRET COOLING METHODS and be as happy as the orange, lemon and grapefruit trees that handle 118 degrees so well. Here are the methods the South West uses:
Turn
on the Sprinklers for five minutes while you're drinking your morning
coffee, then turn it off as water's expensive. We just want to initiate
the cooldown. Next hit the Drip irrigation lines for five minutes.
(See what those look like by surfing to the BEST
IRRIGATION IS DRIP WEBPAGE. There's no waste with the DRIP method.
It's all 'pipettes' just above the plants or pots. You customize the placement
of the small downward facing nozzles. Nothing blows thru the air to the
neighbors. Nothing evaporates in the air before it hits the ground.) The
morning WETTING takes care of the grass (if you still have that stuff and
aren't growing vegies.) The trees and plants will flourish reflecting fact
that the first mid morn surge to l00 degrees doesn't stress anybody.
During the day, you will refresh the AIR CONDITIONING factor with power hose shooting SHOWERS on all leaves up to 40 feet high. Acts like a refrigeration grid.
GET
several 50 FOOT HOSES WHEN THEY ARE ON SALE. Attach one to every outside
faucet and leave those hoses there all summer long. Throw a piece of wet
burlap over them if not in shade. A feed sack. You are going to let Mother
Nature help you cool the house inside and out. You will utilize the principle
of refrigeration from evaporation. This law of Nature will chill your outside
air and help AC's get down in the chilly 60's on the hottest day..
Plant trees all around your house, fruit and nut trees, avocados, citrus.
When the hot weather hits, after breakfast, go out and spray the trees
from ground level to 40 feet up. Do the ground itself, trees, walls, tree
tops, vines in front yard, side yards, back yards driveway strip AND curb
strip. It's now legal in SO CALIF to plant a curb strip! My own has
peache trees, avocados, loquats, apricot. But I don't trust passersby with
the low hanging pomegranate. That treasure chest of ruby goodness is parked
inside the fenced garden!
The wet leaves act as a refrigeration grid and chill the outside. The air that your AC sucks in is now very cold. It gets colder once pulled hrough the machine. Keep doing it once an hour, stopping an hour before sunset. Wet foliage in darkness causes mold. Peach or Apricot can mold black in a single nite killing the tree.
Do not rush to open your blinds at dawn. Keep them closed until the sun has risen higher into the sky. This keeps the morning sun from streaming into your house, prematurely heating it up. There is sufficient light for your indoor plants near noon and in the evening (and you will save watering them so often).
Keep inside doors closed (especially those to rooms with an outside wall). This keeps the heat from spreading throughout the house. The core of my home is pitch black dark when all the doors to it are closed. That core never rises more than a degree or two above the lowest night time temperature. This comes into play in the evening hours as those door are then opened to let this cool air into the living areas.
As the sun is setting, remember that this is a desert environment..i.e. hot days, cool to cold nights (Maybe True in the L.A. Basin which has OCEAN right next to it so seldom are nights very hot) but not true of the VALLEY which is l00 miles from an ocean. That's why they didn't put Beverly Hills here!
But here's how you cool down the architecture when it's hot at night. "Chinese Air Conditioning" (introduced to the Guy who posted this on his website, he says ' by a Chinese friend'). Here is how it works: - These is a box fan in the attic, it is tilted down to cover the open attic access panel in the evening, then turned on. It blows upward toward the roof vents (all attics are vented in some way). This creates suction which draws in the evening and night air from outside trough any open or cracked window. The house quickly cools down to match the prevailing outside temperature. It also prevents the trapped hot air in the attic from radiating back down on you as you try to sleep at night. I leave my attic fan on all night. The energy requirement is quite low. Retailers sell whole house attic fans as well. more elaborate and costly. Be aware that just putting a fan in the window, fails to correct the problem of stored hot air in the attic. Far less efficient for a thorough cool down of the entire house than my "Chinese A/C"..
Hydrate with cool non-alcoholic beverages and place a moist towel around the neck. This is important for seniors. They won't remember so DO IT FOR THEM. Fridge up a few wet towels in a bowl, keep exchanging them. Seniors have weak capillaries which dilate on hot days. That's the same as a brain stroke. Almost.
If you have money to spare, put AC's in key windows. If not, find a used swamp cooler online via Craigs List. Stick the big bog box on the roof. Does a fine job on the entire house at no monthly cost. Turn PC on before you lite up the AC as the surge can disappear data or programs.
10 ways to keep cool at home without A/C
Save energy this summer. It’s easy to keep your house cool without air
conditioning. Employing a few basic environmentally friendly principals
will help keep you cool and will help you save money.
1. Hot Air Out, Cool Air In
The most basic thing you can do to keep your house cooler without air
conditioning is to keep as much sunlight out as possible and let cooler
air in at night. During the day, keep windows, drapes, blinds, or shades
closed, especially on the southern and western sides of your home.
If
you have a porch, you can put up large plastic or bamboo shades to
cut
down on sunlight. Or put awnings on south/ west sides Use saplings
or
tree branches that are fairly straight. Set in coffee cans of cement
six
feet from house. canvas or shade cloth goes from eaves to these poles
with a cross beam on it. Use staple gun. Costs nearly nothing.
2. Windows
Use white or light colored window dressings to reflect light. You can
also apply reflective slicks to windows to further cut down on light.
At
night, leave cabinets open as well, as they will store heat.
3. Be a Fan of the Fan
Moving air is cooler air. At night, place fans in windows to bring more
cool air in. Ceiling fans can also make a big difference. In terms
of
cooling, even a one-mile-per-hour breeze will make you feel three to
four degrees cooler. In terms of energy savings, if you run a ceiling
fan full-blast for 12 hours, you will only spend about $10 a month
in
electricity. Ceiling fans have two settings, one to pull air up (for
winter use), and the other to push air down. Make sure your ceiling
fan
is blowing down.
FOR ELECTRIC FAN INFORMATION, SEE: https://basc.pnnl.gov/resource-guides/whole-house-fans
4. Turn an ELECTRIC FAN Into a LOW ENERGY PULL, CHEAP Air Conditioner
Fans do not use a lot of juice. Even the chest high ones on a stand. I love that PEDESTAL FLOOR FAN as it doesn't tip which the square, SANDWICH fan does. It doesn't oscillate which desk fans do. It just cools every corner of the room from wherever it sits or it fits. Mine was 'assemble yourself' and I could do it. See http://www.interstatemusic.com/875068-Lasko-Cyclone-1825-Floor-Fan-1825.aspx
A quirky EXTRA way to cool your home without resorting to expensive air conditioning is to place a bowl of ice or a frozen milk jug in front of one or more fans. Try it, what can you lose? YOUR FLOORING! Put a dish under it! The evaporation makes the thing DRIP. But the ice water on the plate adds chill to the air.
5. What’s Hot in Your Home?
It’s one thing to keep hot air and sunlight out; it’s another to
identify the appliances in your home that generate heat. If
you aren’t
at home during the day, it is easier to simply shut off as many electric
appliances as possible. If you spend more of your day at home, try
to
use heat-generating appliances only during the coolest part of the
day.
6. Electronics Are Hot, Too
Keeping your electronics on a power strip provides a quick way to
“power-down” before leaving for the day.
7. Light Bulbs
Change incandescent bulbs which heat the room for cooler fluorescent
bulbs. Turn off lights
when not in use.
8. Humidity
Humidity makes a room hotter. Do laundry early or late in the day. Take
showers or baths during the cooler times of day. If your bathroom,
laundry room, or kitchen has vents, use them. Invest in a dehumidifier
if you live in a humid climate.
9. Insulate Your Attic
A well-insulated attic, especially when an attic ventilating fan is
used, is one of the best ways to keep heat out of your home.
10. Landscaping
As you plan out landscaping for your home, be mindful of having
deciduous trees, trellises and shrubbery on the southern and western
portions of your home. Don’t place heat-absorbing rocks, cement, or
asphalt too close to the house. Last but best, Spray foliage
up to
thirty feet high on every tree. 3x a day. Plant trees that do not mold
all
around house. This acts like a refrigeration grid. Apricots, peaches
roses will mold, so you cannot wet them too near sunset.
HOT WEATHER
PROTOCOLS 
Are you sensitive to the extremes of hot weather? In Los Angeles, our air becomes extremely toxic. The ozone doubles as soon as hot weather starts and knocks us seniors for a loop. I get so faint that I can barely function. It is absolutely necessary to cool the gardens without letting city air into the house. So WINDOWS SEALED. AC has filters. Temps low. And do not go out into city until sunset as OZONE and midday heat can knock a senior silly.
I asked a holistic friend JUDITH the teacher at SISTEROF THE HEART ORG what I should do and she gave me her TIPS:
Keep a pump sprayer in Fridge. Spray cold water on your face. Keep little fans going...
Take garden hose to every tree and bush in back yard and front. Spray the leaves up to thirty feet high. This makes a refridgeration grid around the house, causes lowered temperatures and may cause toxins to stick to teh wet surfaces, giving you a break from ozone. The hose has a nozzle that has adjustable spray or long distance abilities. Play with that. You can't wet peach or apricot or roses after 5 pm as any dampness on leaves after dark turns to mold!!
In hot weather, don't exert yourself outside! Standing there with a hose isn't much of an exertion though.
NOW, go back in the house. While you work (indoors)
do deep, slow breathing, exaggeratedly deep and slow.
The mental practice of what the HINDUS call PRANAYAM.
Be attentive to breath called 'following your breath.' Pranayama is also
very calming.
Lay in cool tub of water w/a few drops of lavender essential oil. This is calming.
Sip room temperature water all day. Add juice of a lemon which is good for us in heat...clearing internal heat, keeps internal furnace cooler.
Probably best not to eat/drink stimulating hot herb teas or foods (THAI FOOD?) at the hot weather time, more cooling herbs, foods, wet foods at room temperature/soups.
MONO MEALS of the two FRUITs that have the ability to cool the body. There are fruits that cool us. MELONS and Grapefruit. Be wary of watermelon's sweetness if you suspect hypoglycemia.
Grapefruit juice and grapefruits are also good for us, help keep our weight down. Your mealtime mainstay should be great crisp/cool dark green salads. Perhaps we wouldn't want to eat heavy meats, nuts/seeds in warm climate (at least for the midday meal,) because it takes more for the digestion to handle those 'meaty' substances.
Chilled tofu is good for us ...put in blender to make a quick dip. Mix in a ripe peeled avocado, onion, cilantro, garlic. Or make a tomato soup with it, adding a can of Campbells or make GAZPACHO with fresh tomatos, sweet peppers, onion. Mix in your cooling herbs. (meaning no cayenne!) If you want to make a sweet milkshake with it, honey and maybe flavor it like ice cream.....mint leaves, or a few drops of extract, maple, peppermint, vanilla .
There are cooler off accessories that look like a snake made of fabric. Velcro locks it over your head. It has a special gel inside. You keep it in the freezer, start to get spacey, remove it from ice box, place around your skull, face or neck for cooling. Of course, it's real chilly, so wrap a dish towel around it until it warms somewhat. Refreeze as needed.
Get an ion machine to freshen your air, remove toxic gases. You can see what they look like online...used ones are available. Sharper Image sells re-habbed ones. Best is to use CRAIGS LIST or EBAY to find a used one super discounted.
LAST, refill your glass water bottle several times during the day. Carry it with you to the street, to work, to your desk. I say glass as Plastic gives off carcinogens, especially when you leave a plastic bottle in a hot car. Your last bottle of Cabernet or Chablis will look so attractive with a cork in it. You can re-label it H20. Even freeze it then take a second bottle to thaw during the day. It'll still be cold when you get off work. But don't swig it while sitting in the car. Cops tend to do double takes.
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