[rogerhb]

So the current situation in America is you are having black outs and people can't run their air-conditioning and people are dropping like flies.

Now ask yourself how is it that the "rag heads" have managed to live for thousands of years in the Middle East? Might they be doing something right?

[azreal60]

Evaporative cooling. Read Rob Roy's Earthwood and Cordwood masonary building, and a ton of other books hes written. Great about the benifits of having an earth roof.

[rogerhb]

Mad-dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

Spain has a very different schedule during the day. I was amazed to find that restaurants did not open till after nine in the evening.

[rwwff]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rogerhb', 'S')pain has a very different schedule during the day. I was amazed to find that restaurants did not open till after nine in the evening.

[Loki]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rogerhb', 'S')o the current situation in America is you are having black outs and people can't run their air-conditioning and people are dropping like flies.

Now ask yourself how is it that the "rag heads" have managed to live for thousands of years in the Middle East? Might they be doing something right?

[gego]

I doubt that the death rate from heat is perceptably higher this year than in most; there are always summertime stories of heat deaths.

With higher energy costs, AC certainly is a luxury which will become beyond the means of the average man in the USA, and as roghehb indicates, there are alternatives, some of which are quite simple.

For most the alternative will be to suffer the heat, and yes those most vunerable will contribute to death statistics. Too bad that so many structures have not been built in recent times to function without AC, as this complicates this step back in time.

[rwwff]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gego', 'F')or most the alternative will be to suffer the heat, and yes those most vunerable will contribute to death statistics. Too bad that so many structures have not been built in recent times to function without AC, as this complicates this step back in time.

[gego]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rwwff', '
')
Nothing a sledge hammer can't fix. With the owners permission or request, of course.

[smallpoxgirl]

I suspect the concrete jungle phenomenon has a lot to do with it also. I'm nice and comfy here in the forest. Barely even need a fan. I go down to town and sit stuck in traffic (damn tourists!) and I swear the tires are going to melt off the truck.

[paoniapbud]

My evaporative cooler costs around $.30 per day to run compared to over $3.00 for refrigerated cooling. Plus fresh air all summer and nice and humid too! Good in Colorado. More people should use it.

[WisJim]

My only experience with summer in the southern USA, or similar warm humid area, was spending a summer in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, back in the early 1960s. My dad attended summer school at LSU, and the family went along. The only building that I recall that was airconditioned on the campus was the library. We stayed in a dorm, no AC, and the student center didn't have AC, either. It was warm and humid (no, it was hot and wet, to a kid from Wisconsin), but we didn't die. Air conditioning was a rarity back then. We visited relatives in Texas on the way home, and they were hot and dry, and they had no air conditioning either.

I work in air conditioned buildings, and my biggest problem is adjusting to the chill when I get to work, and then re-adjusting to the real world at the end of the work day.

[Demoth]

Air conditioning is probably the most applicable technology for solar power. Temperatures soar with more direct sunlight. When there is little or no sunlight, temps can still be high, but they are bearable with just a small personal fan.

One good thing about this issue is the poorer you are, the smaller your dwelling tends to be making it easier to keep cool. People need to learn to use spot cooling rather then central cooling and more technology needs to be available for this.

Right now, a small box fan type unit can be made that can be placed almost anywhere within a home which outputs a high volume of chilled air like a room fan. The idea is to keep the people within the airflow cool rather then attempt to keep the whole room at a stable cold temperature. Something like this would use the refrigeration characteristics of one of the new super efficient RV portable AC units or electronics cooling designs made specifically for very low power use. Nothing over 2500 BTUs is needed for a one family spot cooling solution. The unit would simply require a long wire terminating in a relatively cheap solar panel with basic sun tracking technology along with a thin hose and small pump to carry off evaportaion and exhaust heat which could be integrated into the solar wire.

There you go, a sub $250 AC unit that would be free to use, last years and solve just about every problem with this issue.

[paoniapbud]

Problem is those darn McMansions are so hard to cool. Especially in the hot, humid south. Wait until the power goes out and those places duen into dark, dank, ruined shelters.

[elocs]

Spot cooling is spot on. Here is western Wisconsin we get some hot days in the summer, but never enough where I could justify the expense of central air. I have an air conditioner in my bedroom and that is enough. I have survived those days when the heat index was 105. The house has decent shade from trees and the fans do nicely. When I was a kid, fans were all we had.

There are too many people with central air that keep it cranked all day and night. I have a retired friend who just put in central air because he can't take the heat. He and his wife cannot take the cold either, so they survive in a temperature range of 10 degrees either side of 70.

I must say that where I live I do not remember any significant power outage in decades, even in the summer. Last weekend when it was super hot a nearby small communtiy had their power zapped by a squirrel who also got zapped.

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rogerhb', 'S')o the current situation in America is you are having black outs and people can't run their air-conditioning and people are dropping like flies.

Now ask yourself how is it that the "rag heads" have managed to live for thousands of years in the Middle East? Might they be doing something right?

[rwwff]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', 'A')dvantage the Middle Easterners. On the other hand, they have very limited food-growing ability, so they're going to collapse too.

[horsestoaster]

I live south of Atlanta.My kids don't even think about a/c and neither do I or my husband.When I hear people whining about the a/c I wonder what they think people did 50 years ago.We just open the doors and windows and go for the cross draft.We have trees around the house that shade it too.If it gets real hot(90) we turn on a fan in the doorway to draw in the air.Wimpy people tick me off.

[Ingenuity_Gap]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('horsestoaster', 'I') live south of Atlanta.My kids don't even think about a/c and neither do I or my husband.When I hear people whining about the a/c I wonder what they think people did 50 years ago.We just open the doors and windows and go for the cross draft.We have trees around the house that shade it too.If it gets real hot(90) we turn on a fan in the doorway to draw in the air.Wimpy people tick me off.

[horsestoaster]

Um,the deep south is kinda well known for its humidity too.A/C spoils people.They get acclimated to it then when they go out in the real world it kicks their ass.I've worked outside for 30 years and never liked the stuff(a/c).It gets hot in the afternoon.Be sensible.If you can,take a nap.If not,drink water and enjoy the blue sky and the horses grazing.You'll survive. Learn to get up with the sun and get stuff done in the cooler morning hours.It worked for a long time before we modern folks got spoiled...

[tsakach]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rogerhb', 'S')o the current situation in America is you are having black outs and people can't run their air-conditioning and people are dropping like flies.

Now ask yourself how is it that the "rag heads" have managed to live for thousands of years in the Middle East? Might they be doing something right?