I am from Eastern Europe and this is the hottest summer on my memory. For at least 3 consecutive years the heat is breaking all records.
This stuff is unbearable, I can’t even play video games on my laptop, because it warms up very fast and the keyboard becomes uncomfortable for me to use.
So, could you please share any useful tips on how do you survive the summer?
Indian here, so experienced with hot climate.
- Wear loose cotton clothes (long-sleeved if stepping out in the hot sun)
- Keep yourself hydrated.
- Avoid soft/ aerated drinks/ soda & coffee as they’ll dehydrate you. Stick to cool water, ice chips, fresh lemonade made with water, fresh fruit juices, melons, spinach-cucumber-onion-tomato salads, yoghurt,
- Eat light.
- Stick to well-ventilated rooms with good air-circulation (fans help)
- Cold water showers to cool down
- Sweating is good. It’ll cool you down. This is also why Indians eat spicy food and drink hot tea even in hottest summer. Get sweaty then take a quick cold-water rinse.
- If you have to step outside in the hot sun, umbrella, hats, caps etc are your friends.
- Wet towel on the back of the neck for a quick cool down.
ETA: When it gets so hot that we lose our appetite, then our go-to meal is to mix up cooled cooked rice with unsweetened yoghurt and a pinch of salt. its variously called yoghurt rice/ curd rice/ thayir saadam / dahi bhaath / dahi chaawal . This is an easy to make & easy to diges meal that is guaranteed to cool a person down.
thayir = dahi = curd = yoghurt
saada = bhaath = chaawal = cooked riceGood luck.
Close the windows, curtains and shades during the day, at around 8-9AM. When it’s very warm outside, open windows are your enemy.
Open windows, curtains and shades during the night when temperature is lowering.
This is good advice to follow even if you do have air conditioning. Keeping the heat out makes the AC work less. Maybe invest a nice set of thermal curtains.
This is not good advice for poorly insulated houses, which most are that live in temperate climates. The sun will heat up the house almost immediately, making it an oven.
Like all advice obtained on the internet, YMMV.
Have central air conditioning in all buildings.
Have a place to swim.
I’m in the US and it was 40C (104F) yesterday, which is normal for my area. I spent the whole day either indoors or in the neighborhood pool, and it was perfectly comfortable.
Both AC and pools have a horrible upkeep cost.
So does winter heating.
Thats why I wear jackets indoors
The one thing I don’t see mentioned enough for keeping your apartment cool is to close all windows and draw all curtains during the day and open them when the temperature outside is lower than that inside (normally ~an hour after sunset).
Heat reflects off all surface, so it’s not just about keeping light out.
Blinds on the outside of your windows help significantly too.
Totally. Blows my mind that people can’t seem to understand that if it’s hotter outside than inside, the inside won’t get any cooler by opening windows.
Last summer in London (42 C!!) we became a box of shadows during the day. Keep the cool inside.
I’m in Phoenix. It was 112°f here today. It’s hot as balls.
However, I’m immensely more comfortable in this heat than I was when visiting Germany last summer when it was in the high 70’s. The difference is the humidity. I was constantly sweating, soaking everything while I was over there. Here? I get a little sweaty at 100°, sometimes. Our power infrastructure is pretty solid, so lots of air conditioner.
Houses are built differently in hot areas. Very few windows facing south. Shutters on all windows. All windows deeply recessed. Channel the wind, ie have a deep through channel that spans across the house so any pressure differential causes air to exchange. Tiled floors. No/low insulation.
In Northern Europe, we live in sweat boxes designed for letting in maximum light and keeping heat inside the house.
Fan + spray bottle filled with room temperature water. Divine
Are you in a humid area?
Actually yes - it’s definitely less effective when the humidity is super high, but usually on those days the temperature is also lower. Still works if the fan is strong enough.
