6 ms·

Currently living with no AC in a very hot climate for the first time in a long time, and I'd forgotten how horrible it can be to not be able to escape the heat.

Currently living with no AC in a very hot climate for the first time in a long time, and I'd forgotten how horrible it can be to not be able to escape the heat. During the day it's hard to concentrate, and at night it's hard to sleep. What good alternatives are there to AC, however? The comic gives: * Building buildings with less reflective materials.. there's almost none here and it's still damn hot. Obviously the concrete traps heat but I don't really see us not using concrete anymore. * Planting trees for shade. Plenty of trees here, doesn't stop it from being hot as hell inside. * A system for getting out of the way of a heat wave.. which from experience, no one would actually use. The biggest deaths from heat waves here happen since older people insist on going to stores etc. during the day, and predictably faint on the street and die. This is completely preventable already -- they're not gonna use the system. * Growing plants on top of buildings. Maybe this will help? I don't know enough to say.

maxlamb 3y ago
Which city? I’m just curious how hot we’re talking about, without AC.
- dj_mc_merlin 3y ago
  Don't wan't to give my location but between 33-39C. Dry heat.
  - rascul 3y ago
    A swamp cooler might be helpful. They can also be cheap and simple to make.
    - dj_mc_merlin 3y ago
      Looking into this, thanks.
  - pengaru 3y ago
    Dry heat is easy mode, assuming you have plentiful water.
capableweb 3y ago
> What good alternatives are there to AC, however? The comic gives: Create a natural flow by opening windows and doors, so at least you get a breeze. Cool lots of ice during the night and use it for cold drinks during the day. If you have any outdoor space, have a little temporary pool that is always in shadow.
- dj_mc_merlin 3y ago
  Yep, creating draft to cool down is a big one. The problem becomes that if you do that at night, you're going to have a million mosquitos invading your room. So it's death by heat or mosquito. (I chose mosquito since at least I can sleep with them buzzing around.) edit: planning on getting insect screens soon. Thanks for comments pushing me to.
  - ekianjo 3y ago
    Mosquito nets have been a thing for a very long time
  - gretch 3y ago
    Perhaps also get some screens for windows. Very common in the US even in areas with low mosquitos
  - probably_wrong 3y ago
    I can vouch for a cheap, adhesive insect screen mesh for your windows. I mean, you can go for an expensive one too, but the cheap one has been enough for me and made my AC-free summer much more bearable.
  - wenc 3y ago
    Mosquito screens on windows, or mosquito nets may help.
  - ImprovedSilence 3y ago
    yeah insect screens are pretty ubiquitous in the US. Also any home ive been in that was built in the 80s or earlier seemed to have a whole house fan, or at least be setup much better for airflow. Such building features seemed to be lost since AC became the norm and not the exception.
blooalien 3y ago
> "older people insist on going to stores" > "This is completely preventable already" Sorry, but some people in some place have no other choice but to go to the store while it's open or face starvation, and when you live in a place where nobody gives a rat's ass if you live or die (because we all know that everyone over 30 should just die because they're worthless, right?), you have to go to the store. As to "completely preventable", sure. But the problem is that people don't want to prevent jack-shit. They want the world to burn and everyone to die, and sadly, I'm starting to agree with them at this point in my life. Eagerly awaiting my downvotes, because I already know that nobody wants to hear truth.
- dj_mc_merlin 3y ago
  The stores here are open during the morning and late night when the temperature is not outright deadly. You're not wrong that some older people don't have anyone to fetch groceries for them and do not have the money to pay someone.. but this is a very needlessly hostile way of saying it? I'd also clarify that by "older" I mean retirement age. Not 30 year olds who definitely won't die on their way to the store if they don't have a severe underlying condition. Also, I've never met anyone who thinks 30 year olds are old and should die that wasn't a teenager.
- bawolff 3y ago
  > Sorry, but some people in some place have no other choice but to go to the store while it's open or face starvation, and when you live in a place where nobody gives a rat's ass if you live or die (because we all know that everyone over 30 should just die because they're worthless, right?), you have to go to the store. Do these places not offer grocery delivery?
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- milsorgen 3y ago
twelvechairs 3y ago
It's very different for hot/dry vs hot/wet climates For hot/dry there's usually high day/night variation so the trick is often thick materials that don't let heat penetrate for hours. Stone and mud brick are traditional concrete can be good too. Soil does this also. You then want small openings to prevent heat escape and plants or water for evaporative cooling. Traditional middle eastern and north African buildings are great for this. Hot/wet climates are much harder. Generally you can't keep the temperature out, you can just put up a very broad roof and then encourage wind flow to your body (windows, electric or manual fans). Construction is usually much lighter (timber and steel) Below is an example of climate analysis with passive strategies overlaid https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aasem-Alabdullatief/publication/321180035/figure/fig2/AS:562989399248896@1511238540573/Psychrometric-chart-for-Riyadh-from-Climate-Consultant-Source-modified-from-Climate.png https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aasem-Alabdullatief/pub...
- notjoemama 3y ago
  For hot/wet, use dehumidifiers in-doors. This allows your sweat to evaporate better allowing your body to better self regulate.
  - sa1 3y ago
    A dehumidifier and an air conditioner are almost the same machine. For hot regions, it makes little sense to buy a dehumidifier and not an air conditioner.
    - WirelessGigabit 3y ago
      The air conditioner was invented to dehumidify air: https://www.energy.gov/articles/history-air-conditioning https://www.energy.gov/articles/history-air-conditioning The fact that it was done through cooling was merely a by-product.
    - fy20 3y ago
      We had AC installed in our bedroom precisely for this. Where I live it barely gets hot enough to warrant AC, but humidity in the summer is very high. Compared to a dehumdifier it's quieter, doesn't need emptying and has extra features (cooling / heating).
mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y ago
I realise you're reasoning from a general architectural standpoint, but if you rent, basement apartments are a nice hack. I rent one and it stays perfectly cool even on 30 degree days just because there's much less wall to get heated by the sun. There are definitely tradeoffs though; more bugs and spiders, and flooding might be an issue depending on location. As for the architecture, one ancient trick is to paint houses white.
Qem 3y ago
> and at night it's hard to sleep. In Northeastern Brazil, that has a hot and dry climate for most of the year, a very popular solution is to sleep in hammocks in the hot season. Most houses are equipped with hooks in the walls of each room, to set them. They don't bake your underside at night like mattresses, and fans cool both your topside and underside while you're in a hammock. The hooks must be well spaced, so you can avoid back pain in the morning, by laying almost straight in a diagonal position, in relation to a imaginary axis that goes through both hooks.
dirtyid 3y ago
>What good alternatives are there to AC, however Frankly, (IMO) there isn't. You can mitigate via materials, or use regional venacular only so much. And we shouldn't even try too hard with design outside of suburban density. Can't control what gets built next in dense enviroments that will interact with urban fabric to fuck up passive designs. So many sustainable projects have ended up dramatically underperforming / duds, and they've already benefit from kids of attention/engineering 99% of buildings won't. There are some ways to standardize cost efficient, sensible designs. But better off figuring out how to get power cheaper to fuel those ACs.

maxlamb 3y ago

Which city? I’m just curious how hot we’re talking about, without AC.

dj_mc_merlin 3y ago
Don't wan't to give my location but between 33-39C. Dry heat.
- rascul 3y ago
  A swamp cooler might be helpful. They can also be cheap and simple to make.
  - dj_mc_merlin 3y ago
    Looking into this, thanks.
- pengaru 3y ago
  Dry heat is easy mode, assuming you have plentiful water.

capableweb 3y ago

> What good alternatives are there to AC, however? The comic gives: Create a natural flow by opening windows and doors, so at least you get a breeze. Cool lots of ice during the night and use it for cold drinks during the day. If you have any outdoor space, have a little temporary pool that is always in shadow.

dj_mc_merlin 3y ago
Yep, creating draft to cool down is a big one. The problem becomes that if you do that at night, you're going to have a million mosquitos invading your room. So it's death by heat or mosquito. (I chose mosquito since at least I can sleep with them buzzing around.) edit: planning on getting insect screens soon. Thanks for comments pushing me to.
- ekianjo 3y ago
  Mosquito nets have been a thing for a very long time
- gretch 3y ago
  Perhaps also get some screens for windows. Very common in the US even in areas with low mosquitos
- probably_wrong 3y ago
  I can vouch for a cheap, adhesive insect screen mesh for your windows. I mean, you can go for an expensive one too, but the cheap one has been enough for me and made my AC-free summer much more bearable.
- wenc 3y ago
  Mosquito screens on windows, or mosquito nets may help.
- ImprovedSilence 3y ago
  yeah insect screens are pretty ubiquitous in the US. Also any home ive been in that was built in the 80s or earlier seemed to have a whole house fan, or at least be setup much better for airflow. Such building features seemed to be lost since AC became the norm and not the exception.

blooalien 3y ago

> "older people insist on going to stores" > "This is completely preventable already" Sorry, but some people in some place have no other choice but to go to the store while it's open or face starvation, and when you live in a place where nobody gives a rat's ass if you live or die (because we all know that everyone over 30 should just die because they're worthless, right?), you have to go to the store. As to "completely preventable", sure. But the problem is that people don't want to prevent jack-shit. They want the world to burn and everyone to die, and sadly, I'm starting to agree with them at this point in my life. Eagerly awaiting my downvotes, because I already know that nobody wants to hear truth.

dj_mc_merlin 3y ago
The stores here are open during the morning and late night when the temperature is not outright deadly. You're not wrong that some older people don't have anyone to fetch groceries for them and do not have the money to pay someone.. but this is a very needlessly hostile way of saying it? I'd also clarify that by "older" I mean retirement age. Not 30 year olds who definitely won't die on their way to the store if they don't have a severe underlying condition. Also, I've never met anyone who thinks 30 year olds are old and should die that wasn't a teenager.
bawolff 3y ago
> Sorry, but some people in some place have no other choice but to go to the store while it's open or face starvation, and when you live in a place where nobody gives a rat's ass if you live or die (because we all know that everyone over 30 should just die because they're worthless, right?), you have to go to the store. Do these places not offer grocery delivery?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
milsorgen 3y ago

twelvechairs 3y ago

It's very different for hot/dry vs hot/wet climates For hot/dry there's usually high day/night variation so the trick is often thick materials that don't let heat penetrate for hours. Stone and mud brick are traditional concrete can be good too. Soil does this also. You then want small openings to prevent heat escape and plants or water for evaporative cooling. Traditional middle eastern and north African buildings are great for this. Hot/wet climates are much harder. Generally you can't keep the temperature out, you can just put up a very broad roof and then encourage wind flow to your body (windows, electric or manual fans). Construction is usually much lighter (timber and steel) Below is an example of climate analysis with passive strategies overlaid https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aasem-Alabdullatief/publication/321180035/figure/fig2/AS:562989399248896@1511238540573/Psychrometric-chart-for-Riyadh-from-Climate-Consultant-Source-modified-from-Climate.png https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aasem-Alabdullatief/pub...

notjoemama 3y ago
For hot/wet, use dehumidifiers in-doors. This allows your sweat to evaporate better allowing your body to better self regulate.
- sa1 3y ago
  A dehumidifier and an air conditioner are almost the same machine. For hot regions, it makes little sense to buy a dehumidifier and not an air conditioner.
  - WirelessGigabit 3y ago
    The air conditioner was invented to dehumidify air: https://www.energy.gov/articles/history-air-conditioning https://www.energy.gov/articles/history-air-conditioning The fact that it was done through cooling was merely a by-product.
  - fy20 3y ago
    We had AC installed in our bedroom precisely for this. Where I live it barely gets hot enough to warrant AC, but humidity in the summer is very high. Compared to a dehumdifier it's quieter, doesn't need emptying and has extra features (cooling / heating).

mtlmtlmtlmtl 3y ago

I realise you're reasoning from a general architectural standpoint, but if you rent, basement apartments are a nice hack. I rent one and it stays perfectly cool even on 30 degree days just because there's much less wall to get heated by the sun. There are definitely tradeoffs though; more bugs and spiders, and flooding might be an issue depending on location. As for the architecture, one ancient trick is to paint houses white.

Qem 3y ago

> and at night it's hard to sleep. In Northeastern Brazil, that has a hot and dry climate for most of the year, a very popular solution is to sleep in hammocks in the hot season. Most houses are equipped with hooks in the walls of each room, to set them. They don't bake your underside at night like mattresses, and fans cool both your topside and underside while you're in a hammock. The hooks must be well spaced, so you can avoid back pain in the morning, by laying almost straight in a diagonal position, in relation to a imaginary axis that goes through both hooks.

dirtyid 3y ago

>What good alternatives are there to AC, however Frankly, (IMO) there isn't. You can mitigate via materials, or use regional venacular only so much. And we shouldn't even try too hard with design outside of suburban density. Can't control what gets built next in dense enviroments that will interact with urban fabric to fuck up passive designs. So many sustainable projects have ended up dramatically underperforming / duds, and they've already benefit from kids of attention/engineering 99% of buildings won't. There are some ways to standardize cost efficient, sensible designs. But better off figuring out how to get power cheaper to fuel those ACs.